Took a last minute trip to Denver the other weekend to visit Britta and Jeremy. It still takes some getting used to (for me) that they aren't in SF anymore, but I can see why they packed it up for Denver. Boy, is it nice there. Denver's a perfect blend of crunchy and cowboy. The air is good (if relatively thin... so a cocktail goes farther!) and there is an emphasis on local meat (Colorado lamb = rad!) and produce and outdoors-y activities. Much of the quality of life is based on enjoyment of the beautiful terrain. There is also an underlying quaintness and flourishes of the Old West.
Growing up in Saint Louis, a city that has struggled with how to entice young people to move back downtown and create a vibrant city life, it was really inspiring to see how successful Denver was at it. I really favor reuse/revitalization of old buildings, so if there was one qualm I had with Denver it was that there were so many new residential buildings... BUT my old ideals quickly faded when I saw the quality and character of most of the new builds. Denver is a city thriving on modern architecture. And ultimately I found this as refreshing as the mountain air! Good on ya, Denver! (If I may address you directly, dear city.) You're building these cool new buildings, and in many cases popping them between two older homes, and it all really WORKS.
Denver also didn't let things like highways stand in the way of walkability. They have pedestrian crosswalks over the highway and over a river (which has been made into trails/parks below the crosswalk), connecting the Highlands neighborhood with Larimer/Riverfront area and then with Downtown. And there's a cool skate park just near there, as well. And the Rockies stadium and Invesco Field are also nearby. (Btw, Invesco Field is COOL! It sorta feels like a roller coaster stadium. Puts our boring Edward Jones Dome to shame. Besides, football should be played outside, St. Louis. Hurumph!) The best part is, there are people out and about in between all of these... walking and biking and hanging out. Denver is alive!
The first thing I saw, the Denver International Airport, totally set the tone. It is 15 acres of Teflon-coated, woven fiber glass designed by Curtis Fentress, who also designed the terminal of the Incheon Airport in Seoul, as well as Invesco Field. Dude is good.
Turns out there are tons of
conspiracy theories surrounding the ol' DIA. Follow the link for a quick run-through of the insanity. It's everything from buried buildings to keeping contractors in the dark to Masonic rumblings to whacked out murals of dead kids to unexplained phenomena to a possible concentration camp underneath. WHA? Yeah, told you it's crazy. Gotta hand it to 'em, whatever's really going on there, the building sure is cool!
Look who came to pick me up from the airport! Ziggy Smalls! I felt like a celebrity walking through the farmers' market with him. Is he a Ridgeback? What a pretty Ridgeback! He looks just like so-and-so's dog! Can I pet him? Holy moly, it's like we had Brad Pitt on the leash, what with all of the attention!
This is the view of the city from Frit and Ger's apartment. Cool, huh?
Exploring neighborhoods with the Fritter. Can't remember which one this is, but the "Tamales" sign reminds me that there is also a strong undercurrent of Hispanic culture in Denver. What's not to love?
This is the park underneath the walkway to downtown. There is a "beach" on the river and people were laying out. Plenty of less-lazies were walking the trails along the river. Me, I took the middle ground and sat down to read for a bit.
And here's the walkway to downtown that spans the river.
We happened upon this renegade knittery on Saturday evening.
Me and the Fritter on a bike taxi. Oh yeah, they have bike taxis there. Reason #52 to love Denver.
Super-sizing this because (even though I was told the ice cream wasn't the best in town) this has GOT to be the cutest milk-jug shaped ice cream shop in the world! Oh, and how cool is that Vegas-style Olinger Mortuaries sign? Cause that's how *I* wanna go out! Jingle jangle!
Some other shout outs to the amazing food to be had in Denver: Saturday brunch at
Duo, where the local Noosa yogurt with honey and granola was lip-smackingly good. Dinner Saturday at
TAG, where there is a most innovative menu. (We enjoyed some hiramasa sashimi with jalapenos and Pop Rocks. Yums!) Then drinks at
Forest Room 5, which quite reminded me of the Doug Fir in Portland. Brunch Sunday at
Root Down, which is in a converted service station and notably has Root liquor behind the bar. Monday I lunched at
The Squeaky Bean, where I had a phenomenal salad of roasted cauliflower with Medjool dates, smoked trout, curry vinaigrette, and parsley coulis. I am still dreaming of that salad. Must recreate.
Britta took me to Breckenridge on Sunday, so I could experience the mountains and the changing of the aspen trees. I'm not much of a skier (make that, I've never skied), so the timing was perfect. And the aspens! Holy moly! They were such an intense gold. A beautiful sulfurous cadmium. Much thicker than your run-of-mill yellow.
Aspen fever.
Beautiful scenery on the drive.
The Frit's shadow, me, and the aspens!
Magnificent taxidermy in Breckenridge. Reach for your dreams, young snow leopard!
A tree o'pelts.
OK... don't hate me, but I snagged a pretty-pretty red fox tail as my souvenir from Breckenridge. If they weren't selling them for upwards of $150 at Oak in NYC I may not have been so spurred, but alas, I can't wait to loop that thing onto my purse this fall. I am a monster, I know. (But you can totally borrow it....)
Does this not remind you of the Goltschman's dog Muffin?! Maybe she's taken to the mountains and is running with a militia of little white fluffy things?
More aspen prettiness.
The runaway truck ramps on the drive to Breckenridge were one of my favorite things. I guess it happens; breaks cut out and, well, what's a giant truck to do? Problem solved. Also note my capture of the smoke monster just above the trees. chik-chik-chik-chik-chik!
