My recent family visit to Denver found me arriving at the #DenverStation after a quick journey into town from the #DENAirport. Union Station opened in 1881 and burned in 1894. The current structure was built in 2 stages, with an enlarged central portion completed in 1914. Nearly 100 years later, in 2012, the station underwent a major renovation and is now the centerpiece of a transit oriented, mixed-use development built on the site’s former rail yards. The station house reopened in the summer of 2014. It's the city’s central transportation hub, including the historic terminal building, a train shed and a 22-gate underground bus facility and light rail station.It’s beautiful and is home to the 112-room #TheCrawfordDEN, several restaurants and retailers as well as a train hall.
Once again, I chose to stay at the #GrdHyattDenver at 1750 Welton Street. It was easy to secure a room using my World of Hyatt points and I always appreciate the friendliness and helpfulness of the staff members. I was assigned to a king- bedded room measuring 392 square feet. The room featured a well-lit work desk, a good sized closet and a 42” flat screen television. It also came equipped with an in-room safe large enough to store a laptop computer. Unfortunately, the one in my room wouldn’t accept an access code to lock the safe. All it took was a call to the front desk and the maintenance staff arrived shortly thereafter to install a new door to the safe which then worked perfectly. The Fireside Bar in the main lobby is an attractive area with 2 linear stacked fireplaces and they were actually working during my late August visit. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are served in the Courier Kitchen, so named because this restaurant in located on the ground floor of the hotel where the lobby was once home to one of Denver’s oldest newspapers.
The Grand Hyatt Hotel is centrally located and fairly close to many area attractions. It’s only a 20-minute walk to catch the #Rockies play baseball at #Coors_Field_Den and, if you’re a football fan, you can enjoy some #NFL action with the #Broncos at #Mile High Stadium which is located within 2 miles of the hotel. The famous #16thStMALL is only a block away. This is a mile long, pedestrian friendly mall loaded with shopping, some 42 restaurants and cafes and other attractions. It was designed by famed architect I. M. Pei. The promenade is made of red, white and grey granite in a repeating pattern which, when seen from above, resembles the skin of a diamondback rattlesnake. Free shuttle buses, dubbed the MallRide, travel up and down the mall, stopping at every corner. You can hop on and hop off wherever you choose as the shuttles come and go every few minutes. The Grand Hyatt is also within walking distance to other area favorites like the #DenverArtMuseum, the beautiful State Capitol Building and Larimer Square, the city’s oldest and most historic block.
Our grandson was celebrating his 4th birthday the weekend of my visit. He loves trains as much as I love planes and wore his “Thomas the Train” conductor’s cap all day long. To help celebrate the occasion, we traveled about 45 miles west of Denver into the Rocky Mountains to take a ride on the Georgetown Loop Railroad. This was one of Colorado’s first visitor attractions. Completed in 1884, this spectacular stretch of 3-foot narrow gauge railroad was considered an engineering marvel for its time. In 1973, the Colorado Historical Society began restoring the railroad which runs today via steam engine between the communities of Georgetown and Silver Plume.
We boarded the train at Silver Plume, a former silver mining camp along Clear Creek in the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. At 9,178’ above sea level, I was glad I accepted my son’s offer of a jacket since our train car was open air. Once aboard, we were greeted by men and women in authentic period costumes from the 1880s. They handed out some “money” for us to use when the train was later “robbed” by outlaws during our ride, as our visit coincided with the annual "Railroad Days" event. They even staged a gunfight near Clear Creek while the train was stopped at Devil’s Gate before we returned to Silver Plume. It was a ride to remember as the beauty of the mountains surrounded us as our old-time steam locomotive found its way up the canyon. We enjoyed breathtaking views along the line and I would recommend this 1 hour, 15 minute ride to anyone who wants to have some fun while enjoying spectacular mountain scenery.
After our train ride, we stopped in nearby Georgetown for lunch. It's a Territorial Charter Municipality that is the county seat of Clear Creek County. This former silver mining camp was established in 1859 during the Pike’s Peak Gold Rush. While it’s a small town today, Georgetown was at the center of the mining industry in Colorado during the late19th Century, earning it the nickname the “Silver Queen of Colorado.” It has evolved into a historic tourist center today with many shops, restaurants and a number of hotels occupying several preserved structures dating from the height of the Colorado Silver Boom.
We stopped for lunch at The Happy Cooker, a cute, old fashioned breakfast and lunch restaurant. open daily (except Thursdays) from 7:00 AM to 4:00 PM. You can enjoy a homemade meal or just a cup of coffee, served either in the rustic dinning room or on the outdoor garden patio. The restaurant is famous for its European Waffles, Eggs Benedict, Homemade Breads, Soups, Chili and Cobblers made fresh every day. We enjoyed some breakfast items and some luncheon fare in this busy spot before heading down the mountains. Once we arrived back into Denver it was time for some birthday presents followed by dinner, cake and ice cream!
Sunday morning started out with a swim in the Hyatt pool followed by lunch at Humboldt’s Restaurant. Rated one of the top 100 restaurants in the Denver area, they claim to serve “modern American cooking at its best.” I just might have to agree. Their Sunday brunch menu was extensive and even featured a Bloody Mary Bar with every "fixing" imaginable to suit every individual taste. I ordered one of their Signature Sandwiches, the Humboldt Burger comprised of a house beef and bacon blended patty, white cheddar cheese, onion jam, peppercorn aioli and crispy onion. It comes with fries, coleslaw or house chips. For an extra dollar, you can even substitute a field green or caesar salad. Lunch was delicious.
The balance of our day was spent visiting the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Established in 1900, this museum features a variety of exhibitions, programs and activities to assist visitors in learning about the natural history of Colorado, the Earth and the Universe. At 716,000 square feet, the museum is spread over three levels. It houses more than one million objects in its collections, including natural history and anthropological materials, as well as archival and library resources. This museum is well worth a visit and includes a planetarium, an IMAX Theatre and a Kids Discovery Zone. If a visit to the Denver area is in your future, I encourage you to stop by for an experience you won’t regret.
Monday morning meant it was time to head home. More about that journey in a future post.
Until next time, safe travels.
No wonder you are so hard to track down, with all this training going on!
This one’s a keeper if I ever get to Denver. Loaded with great tourist information.