Monday, April 9, 2012

Tappin' the Rockies: Denver, CO

By the time we got to Denver, returned the car and took a shuttle to the hotel it was about 8pm and I was EXHAUSTED! But Allie's sister-in-law goes to grad school in Denver and wanted to meet us for drinks/dinner and I definitely wasn't going to pass up on some real food! We went to a cool brewery called Wynkoop in LODO (Lower Downtown) and had a nice little meal. We walked around a little bit after dinner to see Coor's Field lit up at night and their version of Union Station. It was a nice night out in Denver and a much needed break from driving on the bus!

We have been lucky enough on this trip to have had such great weather in each city, 60s and Sunny. Waking up in Denver on Saturday and looking out the window and seeing the Rockies was pretty cool. I was so excited to get to our event so I could really see the city. We were greeted by a warm welcome and souvenirs! In Denver there is a famous "Blue Bear," it stands up against the Denver Convention Center and is a sculpture called "I see what you mean." It got it's nickname because it literally is a blue bear, so as a souvenir from Visit Denver, we each got a ceramic blue bear to bring back to DC =) It was such a nice little treat and I am so excited to showcase it on my desk!

Our tour of Denver began at the Denver Art Museum, which is an amazing structure. One thing is for sure about Denver the architecture in the city is unlike any other I have ever seen. The museum was designed by the same man who designed the Freedom Towers in New York City. The Visit Denver folks also had a 5 foot free standing blue bear holding a "Welcome to Denver U.S. Travel Association" sign. This bear became our own Flat Stanley on our tour of the city, we took pictures of it in front of everything!

The Visit Denver folks hopped on the bus with us including Mr. Charlie, a seven year old adorable little boy, whose dad works for the tourism bureau. He immediately ran to the back of the bus and turned on the tv and that was the last we saw of him on the tour. We took a driving tour of the city and hopped on and off at cool picture spots. We got to see the City and County Building, Coors Field, Denver Convention Center and Larimer Square (which reminded me of the North End in Boston -cute boutiques and restaurants.)

Before we knew it we were back at the museum saying our goodbyes to everyone. That has been the one downfall of this bus tour, our visits to each city are too short because we've got to get back on the road. One upside to it though is that I get a sampling of each city so I know where I want to go back and visit. I loved Denver and definitely would like to go back again soon, I think that it'd be a cool city to visit in the Fall, I'm sure it's gorgeous that time of year. Pictures below of my tour through Denver!


Being welcomed by Justin, Blue Bear and Charlie!

Vote Travel bus outside the Denver Art Museum.


Me outside the art museum.


Visit Denver folks and a casual cyclist in front of the City and County building, aka City Hall.

City Hall

Visit Denver and U.S. Travel folks!


Blue Bear and our Big Blue Bus!


Me outside Coors Field!


Rolling the bus down Larimer Square

1 comment:

  1. I like the expression LODO. In DC, where would that be? You could start an expression, see you on the LODO (like, maybe it would be the Mall).
    Great blog, Courtney.

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