One Mile High

Bronco Stadium at 55mph- Picture by blogSpotter

by blogSpotter

It's Colorado rocky mountain high

I've seen it rainin' fire in the sky

Friends around the campfire and everybody's high

Rocky mountain high
-- John Denver

Last week I went to Denver, Colorado for my annual vacation. My brother Bryan and friend Eric were my traveling companions as always. Because of our busy schedules and tight budgets, we opted for a city that’s nearby and affordable. I must say I was impressed with this beautiful mountain metropolis.

MILE HIGH CITY
Denver began as an encampment for gold miners in 1858 -- settled near the South Platte River. First known as Montana City, Denver evolved into the 23rd largest city in the USA, and is now a bustling center for manufacturing, energy and real estate companies. Thinking of a comparison … I once described Seattle as a “gussied up” San Francisco. I likewise would say Denver is a cleaned up Dallas. It shares much of the land-locked, big-city character of Dallas, but Denver has maintained its beautiful Victorian buildings. The city is also remarkably tidy and well zoned. There’s very little tag art or decayed areas like you see all over Dallas. We stayed at the Red Lion Inn on the eastern edge of town – near the site of the old Stapleton Airport (now razed and replaced with upscale housing). Once we figured out the Quebec Avenue-to-Colfax route, the city was highly traversable.

WEDNESDAY OCT 24
Eric and I met up with Bryan at the beautiful but daunting Denver International Airport. The facility is worth a trip all by itself, but might confuse people with all its tram cars and far-flung terminals. We checked into our hotel which resembles a dental college and headed downtown for dinner. A freakish norther blew snow and sleet into Denver for just the 4 days we were there. It didn’t stick to the streets and started to melt on day 3 so we endured. We ate at the Cheesecake Factory that night and went back to the hotel.

THURSDAY OCT 25
We drove to Colorado Springs, which is less than 1 hour from Denver. We visited the Air Force Academy, Garden of the Gods and drove through Manitou Springs. We toured some neighborhoods that Bryan and I recalled from living there in the late 1960’s. We headed back to Denver and met Bryan’s old friend Karl at a place called Racine’s. From here, Karl took us on tour to a couple of nearby pubs. The city is extremely friendly and unpretentious – the people don’t give off any “Dallitude” which is a nice change.

FRIDAY OCT 26
We drove to Boulder which is all of 35 miles north. There we toured the Pearl Street Mall, which was fun. Boulder is so picturesque it looks like a snow-globe city or a Thomas Kincaid painting. I managed to spill a chocolate ice cream all over my jacket and pants -- drat! We had to stop at Super Target on the return trip so I could replace my messed up pants. We explored Colfax avenue upon our return. That evening we ate at Benny’s Tex Mex (a Denver standard) . Bryan returned to the hotel; Eric and I did some more pub hopping.

SATURDAY OCT 27
Saturday, we looked at Golden, CO which is really more a suburb of Denver. Golden has the look and feel of an old saloon town; its main claim to fame is the Coors Brewery.. we walked all around and snapped photos. Didn’t quite have time for a Coors tour. Later that afternoon, we stopped by in Denver to visit Karl (from Racine’s). Karl has a beautiful 1912 bungalow with a 3 car garage and new kitchen. That evening we ate at an Olive Garden in Lakewood CO. Yes we traveled 1000 miles to eat at an Olive Garden! ☺ It was good as always.

SUNDAY OCT 28
We were a little late checking out so we had to catch breakfast at the Village Inn, on the way back out to the airport. The return trip went well for all of us and I look forward to Denver Part II. 

CONCLUSION / ODDS AND ENDS
We ate all our breakfasts at the Stapleton iHop – I didn’t have one meal under 1000 high fat calories. The weather returned to 65 degrees the day we left. We looked at a nearby group of open houses – they’re pricier than Dallas but you get a full basement in Denver. There was a trade show called Feast of Blades at our hotel – some kind of fun geek fest. Goth looking people were selling game board pieces that looked like characters from Star Wars. Someone explained it to me and I still don’t understand what it was. Denver is historic, beautiful and yes – fabulous. It’s almost like getting the charm of Montreal or historic feel of San Francisco only way closer and cheaper. We already have a closer-in hotel picked out for the next visit.

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