Photo Card

View the entire collection of cards.

Things to Do In Denver When You're...

I always think of the movie, "Things to do in Denver When You're Dead," anytime someone mentions Denver. And when I first started to compile this post more than a month ago I wanted to include more pictures. However, I'm having technical difficulties with photos for this blog.
I've decided to go ahead without them.

This is by no means a comprehensive list of things to do in the city of Denver, Colo. But these are the things I did while I was there for a few days.

I was there at the invitation of my friend Jeannie, and I think we must have walked at least five miles each day. But we would have walked a lot more miles without the 16th St. shuttle bus called the RTD Free MallRide. This is a true leg saver. You can hop on and off whenever you like, and it makes getting where you need or want to go so much easier. It runs the length of 16th Street, and if you make a mistake and don't get off when you are supposed to, no worries, it circles back around.

Visit the Tattered Cover Bookstore. I already posted about this place, but this is the most amazing bookstore. In the era of digital books, finding a real independent bookstore that has two floors of book shelves and tables filled with books is comforting to book lovers such as myself.

See the Kirkland museum. It is located at the studio of Vance Kirkland, a Colorado painter who was a synesthetic artist. It showcases some of his large paintings, and visitors can go into his studio, which still has the straps hanging from the ceiling that he used for his work. He put the canvas flat on a table, on roller skates, and suspended himself over the canvas so he could reach the middle.

If you love decorative art, this is the place for you! This museum has the most comprehensive collection of modernist decorative art on this continent (North America). It's a mere $7 for adults, and the museum includes art from 1880 to 1980. You'll see furniture, paintings, Art Deco glass, some plastic, ceramic, metal, wood and dishes. I spent a little time there, but could've stayed longer if I'd had the time. (You can learn more here.)

But I wanted to make it to the Unsinkable Molly Brown exhibit. The home was owned by Mrs. Brown and her husband J.J. though she wasn't living there full time at the time of her Titanic tragedy and subsequent survival. The tour guide was very informative and knowledgable. The rooms in the house are small, however the home was quite something for its time. It always had electricity and running water, and the Browns purchased it for $30,000 in 1894, a price the tour guide said was equivalent to $800,000 today. Despite the bad rap she has as someone who did not fit in with society, she was a very educated woman who spoke six or eight languages, I can't remember for certain what the guide told us. She was a proponent of women's rights, and raised money to help build the Catholic Cathedral, and she helped transform the juvenile justice system in Colorado, and the rest of the country used it as a model.

I will stop there, because it's a pretty cool place to see.

Here's a link

If you love architecture, and Victorian architecture in the Italian Renaissance Style in particular, then you have to tour The Brown Palace Hotel. This beautiful hotel is so grand, and includes six tiers of balconies with cast iron railings, and a 2,800 square foot sky light of stained glass.

Some things have changed since its 1892 construction, but this hotel is unbelievably ornate and opulent. There's a lot more about this hotel here.

The Oxford Hotel. This hotel has the original 1930s Art Deco design. It is also really beautiful. You can check it out here.

No doubt you'll be needing a little pick-me-up snack, and I recommend a stop at Little Man Ice Cream. This ice cream shop is on 16th Street, in Highland, and you can't miss it. It's the one shaped like a big metal milk can. The ice cream is so good, and you can choose flaxseed, Parmesan Garlic, or Chipotle-Lime cones on their BOBO menu. The BOBO is a scoop of lunch in a cone. So inside one of those tasty cones you can choose a scoop of White Cheddar Mac and Cheese, Southwestern Sweet Potato Hash or California Chicken Club Salad. You can see more about it here.

I'm probably forgetting a few things, but these are some of the fun things we did. Denver is pretty cool, and I can't wait to go back sometime soon.

Oh, OH!! And the people there are amazing. I mean really, really nice. We both agreed the people in Denver are some of the nicest and friendliest we've ever encountered.