On my first evening visiting family in Denver, we took a four-minute walk to dine at La Loma Restaurant located at 1801 Broadway. This friendly, family-run Mexican kitchen is well known for their traditional and very filling meals. Originally a staple of the Jefferson Park neighborhood, the restaurant moved to its current downtown location in 2016 after more than four decades. The atmosphere here is dimly lit but warm and rustic and the restaurant consistently earns high ratings on Trip Advisor. With a full bar available, their margarita was voted as “one of the twelve best in Denver” by Westword, the city’s free online and print media publication that covers local news as well as restaurants, music and the arts scene. They claimed, “We feared change might befall La Loma when it moved from its Jefferson Park home to a smaller, darker residence downtown, but our fears were allayed from the first sip of the restaurant's iconic margarita, which still comes in a variety of sizes, from small to fishbowl-large. The drink comprises a simple mix of tequila, triple sec and a house blend of citrus." Several were enjoyed at our table, along with Tequila Shrimp, as well as Quesadillas and Chimichangas. It was the ideal spot to end our first night together!
The Hyatt Place Denver Downtown Hotel offers guests a Breakfast Bar downstairs on the lobby level, which is open from 7:00 to 9:00 AM, but it was truly a huge disappointment when we visited the next morning. While the coffee was good, that’s about the only positive thing I can report about it. The selections were meager and lacking creativity of any kind. A few juices, bagels, breads and several cereals were on the buffet, along with a handful of lukewarm sausage patties and a chafing dish containing overdone scrambled eggs. Unfortunately, the free breakfast buffet was nothing to write home about in our estimation and we would have done much better to go elsewhere for our morning meal. But, things picked up from there.
Later in the day we visited the beautiful Colorado State Capitol and, once we found the correct entrance, were fortunate to join a newly-formed historic tour. Our guide informed us that the structure is intentionally reminiscent of the US Capitol. It was designed by Elijah Myers, a leading architect of government buildings in the latter half of the Nineteenth Century, and was constructed in the 1890s from Colorado white granite. The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and became part of the Denver Civic Center Historic District in 2012. The impressive main entrance hall is open 180 feet to the top of the dome, about the height of an eighteen-story building. Denver is known as the “Mile High City” and the official elevation is measured outside the west entrance to the building, where the fifteenth step is engraved with the words "One Mile Above Sea Level.” From this step, at 5,280 feet, the sun can be seen setting behind the Rocky Mountains. But, a second mile high marker was set in the eighteenth step in 1969 when Colorado State University students resurveyed the elevation. In 2003, a more accurate measurement was made with more modern means, and this time, the thirteenth step was identified as being one mile high, where a third marker was installed! Suffice it to say that we were most assuredly one mile above sea level.
The imposing structure is home to the Colorado General Assembly and the offices of both the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. Since 2013 though, the State Supreme Court and Court of Appeals preside from the nearby Judicial Center on East 14th Avenue. The superstructure of the Capitol Building was constructed with 24,000 tons of Colorado Granite, which forms the building’s exterior. The interior uses a large amount of Colorado Rose Onyx, a rare rose marble obtained from a quarry near Beulah, Colorado. The amount used in the building consumed the entire known supply. Many of the windows are stained glass, depicting people or events related to the state’s history. One of the surprising features can be found in the rotunda gallery, which is decorated with portraits of every president of the United States. Rising 272 feet above the ground, the gleaming gold dome was originally topped with copper. The citizens and the legislators objected to copper’s selection since it was not a primary metal in Colorado. In 1908, the building committee decided to instead cap the building with gold and state miners made a gift of 200 ounces to gilt the dome. The gold was replaced in 2013 and is now thinner than tissue paper. Although 149 rolls were needed to cover the 2,842 square feet in surface area, the job required only 64.5 ounces of the precious metal. Our capitol tour took about an hour and included a trip to the dome observation area. It was a 99-step climb above the third floor and was accessible by stairs only, but the view was well worth the effort!
That evening we walked a few blocks to the Hyatt Regency Denver Hotel to enjoy cocktails and small plates from the Peaks Lounge. Located on the 27th floor overlooking the Mile High City and the Rocky Mountains, the lounge offers spectacular views. Wines by the glass are on the drinks menu, along with craft beers and a varied selection of appetizers and desserts. With Denver’s Theatre District only one block away, locals and visitors alike find the lounge a popular place to visit either before or after a show. For a casual dinner, we later strolled over to the Hard Rock Cafe located on the 16th Street Mall at Denver Pavilions. Like every other location, this one featured Rock and Roll memorabilia from every genre, including a number from historic concerts presented at Denver’s very own Red Rocks Amphitheater. Considered to be one of the most beautiful music venues in the country, this open-air venue in nearby Morrison, has natural, bright red sandstone rocks jutting out from either side of the stage to create a natural amphitheater. The Hard Rock didn’t disappoint and we enjoyed great food and personalized service that brought our first full day together to a pleasant close.
Bypassing the breakfast buffet on Tuesday morning, we opted to visit the Superfruit Republic at 1776 Broadway, which offers organic and nutritious acai bowls, toasts, waffles and smoothies. The food was delicious and it was rather hard to believe it was so good for us, too. The service was friendly and our orders were served quickly. If I lived in Denver, this is a place I’d frequent again and again! We then spent a good amount of time visiting the 16th Street Mall. This mile long, pedestrian friendly mall offers Denver's best people watching. There are forty-two outdoor cafés along the mall, making it the perfect place to grab a bite to eat or have a drink. Denver Pavilions, near the south end of the mall, is a shopping and dining complex with no less than twelve movie theaters and more than two dozen shops and restaurants (including the Hard Rock Cafe). At the north end of the mall, 16th Street continues as a pedestrian path over three bridges connecting downtown to Commons Park and LoHi, a hip neighborhood filled with even more restaurants and brewpubs. Later, we ordered lunch at one of the mall‘s food carts called Liang’s Thai Food. The line was long and the wait was even longer, but it was lunchtime and everything was cooked to order, including my "Thai-hot" Chicken Pad Thai. Oh, and if you do visit, bring cash because they don’t accept any credit cards.
Our next stop was the Denver Art Museum located in the Civic Center. With its vast collections of more than 70,000 works spanning the centuries and the world, this is one of the largest art museums between Chicago and the West Coast. My grandchildren were drawn to the Creative Hub and Workshop on the first floor of the recently renovated Martin Building. Through their workshops, events and hands-on activities, the Creative Hub provides a distinct outlet where visitors, particularly the young, can explore their own creativity. They had so much fun here, accompanied by their mom, they never left the space while my son and I spent some time exploring a good portion of the rest of the museum, which is know for its collection of Native American and Western Art. We also briefly explored the museum’s Hamilton Building, opened in 2006. It was designed by Daniel Libeskind who also designed the Jewish Museum in Berlin and was the master plan architect for the reconstructed World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan. The Hamilton Building houses several of the art museum's collections, including Modern, Contemporary, African and Oceanic Art . Unfortunately, a little later in the afternoon, it was time to say goodbye. Although my family headed back to their home in Dillon in the Front Range of the Rockies, I relished the opportunity we had to spend such good quality time together.
The following morning found me on an early A line train back to the Denver International Airport where I moved quickly through security, thanks to CLEAR and TSA PreCheck. This gave me an opportunity to check out the American Express Centurion Lounge. It’s located above Gate C46 and on that particular morning, they were offering a full breakfast buffet of fruit, muffins, toast, croissants, cereal, eggs, potatoes and sausage, as well as juices and coffee. There was a large bar in the middle of the lounge which I would guess gets pretty busy as the day progresses. Shower suites are also available as were ample workspaces with plugs and USB ports. I was surprised that this Amex lounge was not crowded at 7:30 that morning and I was able to easily find a table and enjoy my breakfast. Since I had some time before boarding my return Delta flight, I checked out their Sky Club on the Fourth Floor of the A Concourse only to discover a crowded space that looked rather worn and in need of an update. My flight took off on time but all the window seat passengers in the First Class cabin kept their shades down for the entire flight to Minneapolis! That’s very a tough situation for an avowed AvGeek like me to endure, but I was seated on the aisle and was powerless to do anything about it. After we landed, it was a bit of a haul from the C gates to the F gates at MSP but I made my connecting flight to Raleigh with just a few minutes to spare. I had pre ordered the Chicken Burrata Salad for lunch and it was pretty tasty (unlike that awful turkey sandwich American served on my outbound trip). We landed a bit early at the Raleigh-Durham Airport and it was just a short trip home from there.
Visiting with family is always fun! And on this trip, we all got a chance to enjoy several of Denver’s many attractions while sharing some good food and togetherness as well.
Until next time…safe travels.
Sounds like a good time was had by all [apart from the first breakfast!]. From the description of the Mall it sounds amazing!
This trip brought me back to my AORN days of visiting their headquarters. 16th Street never disappointed as well as the Red Rocks Amphitheater. Thanks for sharing your memories. ❤️❤️