santamonica

Today we are in denver visiting ds#1 who seems to be surviving his job with Teach for America. I'm anxious to leave early tomorrow for Breck but ds has a doctors appointment in the afternoon which really complicates things. Of course I realize I need to be mature about this and the world doesn't revolve around me and yada yada. Still, I want to be there NOW. So if any colorado people have suggestions for what to in denver in the morning or in breckenridge this afternoon, I'm all ears. We rented a nice house in Breckenridge (only $137/night because it's pre-ski). We're there for two nights. Then back in denver for one night. I realize this is a rather late request for suggestions but I'm trying out a just-in-time suggestion supply chain. We'll see how that works.

http://www.vrbo.com/294184

Gretchen

Have you been to Five Green Boxes on Pearl Street. I've put the link below. The street itself is a LOT of fun for shopping and having lunch. The two stores are SO cute. You'll find things you haven't seen elsewhere--and a lot of handmade things.
http://www.5greenboxes.com/
You might enjoy poking around the Vietnamese area--I think it is Alameda.
There is an H Mart I am saliivating about shopping at when we come in two weeks--and Asian market on steroids (in Denver and other parts of the country). I think it is in Aurora.
There is a new Trader Joe's. You see I'm stuck on shopping.
OH, you could go to the butterfly pavilion in Westminster. It IS fun.
have fun in Breck.

martym

If you're interested in art, there is a Van Gogh exhibit at the Denver Art Museum that just opened on Saturday--you would need a timed ticket for admission--so call or go on line http://www.denverartmuseum.org/

The building itself is fantastic--and there are, of course, other exhibits.

There is a restaurant at the museum that is nice for lunch --I would suggest that you get reservations if you want to go there. http://www.ktrg.net/palettes/

Also about 2 blocks from the museum is Pint's Pub--great burgers and beer and other dishes. http://pintspub.com/

LindainOhio

I'm not a Colorado person but we enjoyed a few hikes in Breckenridge.

Mohawk Lake--lovely vistas, waterfalls, lake and some ruins

McCullough Gulch--an old mining road--beautiful waterfall, good picnic stop on the boulders right before the waterfall, lake at the top.

Sapphire Pt. Overlook Trail-- a short walk to a lovely view

Gretchen

If you go to the Art Museum, definitely take in Palettes. It is a Kevin Taylor restaurant with truly remarkable food. I love the Native American exhibits at the Museum also. It is so good.

wtm003

Let us know if the house is as wonderful as it looks.

Today feels like a book and coffee day, so The Tattered Cover might be a good place to spend some time.

http://www.tatteredcover.com/lower-d...-historic-lodo

If you are in LoDo, I think a quick visit to Rockmount Ranch Wear www.rockmount.com is interesting for a look at Western fashion. I don't own any of their items, but I've enjoyed browsing.

I love a couple of the hikes LindainOhio recommends but I'm not sure how much snow is on the trails. Bring layers!

santamonica

Thanks for all the suggestions. I've calmed down a bit. DS put some Paul Simon on Pandora (DW asked if it's the aging-parents channel on pandora) and it snowed last night and we slept pretty well (the air mattress didn't leak) and I fixed a kitchen drawer so I feel useful, something that gets harder the older your kids get. Garyt22 would ask about the helicopter.

Anyway, I will try to follow the suggestions. We'll go to the hardware store and the art museum. I'll try on-line tkts, but that's an extraordinary level of planning for us. Then we'll go get groceries, and before you know it'll be time to leave for Breckenridge, hiking, and waterfalls.

Gretchen, we followed your shopping suggestions last visit and had a nice lunch across the street from green boxes, but there are only so many things I can buy that I don't need. Last time I bought a wind-up walking ear and a wind-up walking nose.

Gretchen

Take your wife to the other one for lovely jewelry, scarves, etc.

fmpden

Looks like you will have lots of snow. Why is this tagged as a trip report? Where is the report?

santamonica

fmpden, it's an interactive trip report. You tell us what to do and we go do it and then report back. It's sorta like a video game, a rather slow moving RPG.

For example, gretchen and marty suggested the denver art museum, so that's what we did this morning. We were too cheap to spring for Van Gogh but I did sit down and look through a coffee table book. The guy clearly had skills.

We did go to the 4th floor and see a wonderful exhibit by an artist from Ghana with metal pieces sewn together like shimmering quilts. And a red dining room on the third floor filled with grey wolves. Lots of cool stuff. But we didn't eat at the restaurant because we wanted to have lunch with ds at Earls Sandwich Shop on Ogden near Colfax (even you Denverites probably don't know earl's, which claims to have an antique sideboard from the Savannah lawyer of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil).

Anyway, after lunch I used toggle bolts to fix ds's shower curtain holder and hung some hooks to encourage him to hang up his clothes. I did not have to do any plumbing work. Finally, after the doctor's appointment, we were able to leave for Breckenridge in the upgraded suv (the car rental clerk said we needed the suv rather than the economy fiat because it was snowing and my wife found that very convincing) and that's where where we are at this very moment. You're thinking it's taken us a long time to get here. Totally.

Tomorrow we will go look for Mohawk Lake, McCullough Gulch, and/or Sapphire Pt Overlook Trail. When we get back to Denver I'd like to look for the Tattered Cover.

The House is very nice. DS is enjoying wii. Netflix later. The outdoor hot tub is hot (duh), really wonderful, and looks out on a snowy hillside with tall spruce or fir or some other kind of big tall pine trees. I really don't know what they were. Travel writing is harder than it looks.

The house is nice, big, and has log lamps and log stairs but it could use some charm. A few nice little paintings, some photographs, dare I say a woman's touch? It's not the Blue Lake Ranch in Durango, but it's very good for us and I won't complain. VRBO is really a big deal, like GPS and wheels on suitcases.

Thanks again for your suggestions. Tomorrow I'll report something about Breckenridge so people won't complain too much about the title.

Here's info about the sculpture guy from Ghana.

http://artdaily.com/index.asp?int_ne...1#.UInVEsXBHjU

santamonica

Well, we had a nice dinner and strawberry rhubarb pie for desert and watched Margin Call (a very good movie with kevin spacey) on the gigantic tv and I'm telling you for once in your life you can go short on charm and long on stainless steel, granite countertops and free netflix. Rent the house.

OK, tomorrow I promise to write something useful.

BetsyG

santamonica, I love your "trip reports". So where is the house & where did you go to dinner? We need specifics! A walk on Main street in Breckenridge is always good entertainment, especially Clints bakery. If you have time in Denver you might check out the new Colorado History Museum. We have not been there yet but enjoyed the old one on school field trips. The Tattered Cover is an institution not to be missed, I have many fond memmories of it from the Cherry Creek days.

I hope your son is having a good experience. My daughter graduated from DU in 2011 & is adjusting to the working world. If you son needs a local contact, let me know. We live a ways out but have lived in Denver & have 3 "young adult" children.

5alive

We did the trail ride by Breckenridge--it was really beautiful. But likely the horses have been stabled for the winter if it's now snowing.

We also went to the Country Boy Mine which was a fun diversion but if you can hike instead, I'd choose that.

We really liked our meal at the brewpub at the south end of town. I checked Google maps just now and am pretty sure it was the Breckenridge Brewery.

santamonica

Well, there's no way to put a pretty face on this. We didn't really do anything all that fascinating today. We took a steam bath, went in the hot tub, drove to town and went to the information center, had coffee and pastry at Clint's (the French Bakery was closed), drove around some, had lunch at the Breckenridge Brewery, went hiking at Sapphire Point, went to some dumb outlet center and then to walmart (I feel strongly that outlet centers are rips whereas walmart is a great place to shop),came home, walked around some, got back in the hot tub, and now I'm gonna fix dinner (chicken and sausage on the grill) while dw reads and ds works on lesson plans. Later, a movie.

This is not the stuff of a travel documentary, but it was really fun. The fresh snow on the trees this morning was great, and Sapphire Point is a beautiful place to walk. The Brewery had a very tasty soup and salad. Thanks everybody for the suggestions.

We've liked the house a lot, it's been hard to leave. It's in Blue River, about six minutes out of town.

Tomorrow it's back to Denver and the Tattered Cover.

Gretchen

On one of your forays to the mountains/Denver you should take up fly fishing. I take it Blue River is a community, but the Blue River is the little stream that flows by Silverthorne (and maybe this place) and is trophy trout water!! Also fishing right behind the Outlets in Silverthorne will get you some 24 inch trout!! Amazing.

santamonica

Gretchen, I took fly casting for one of my phys ed credits at Penn State about 40 years ago so I'm ready to cast some flys in colorado. BetsyG, thanks for your offer of local support for ds. There have been days I've been sure he desperately needs it, but he seems to be doing ok at the moment.

We came back to Denver this morning, directly to the Tattered Cover where we had lunch, bought some stuff, and watched a gorilla parade. Then we came back to the apt, rested, and shopped at Whole Foods, where the clerk reminded me there are 5280 feet in a mile and that's why the local mag is 5280, for the mile high city. She also said there's a row of seats at the ball field painted a different color because they're exactly a mile above sea level. Ditto a step at the state capitol building, but she said they marked the wrong step.

She also said Cheesman Park was haunted so that's where we went next. We saw a lot of girls in fancy dresses in the park posing for quinceañera party pictures. Then we came home to fix dinner for DS and some of his teacher friends.

That's about it. Your suggestions were very helpful. We enjoyed the Denver Art Museum, Sapphire Point, Clints, Breckenridge Brewery, and the Tattered Cover Bookstore, and hopefully will get to more places on future visits. Thanks again.

Gretchen

Well, PA, Mich, and CO rank as great fly fishing areas. You can be at some great streams really easy from Denver. Shouldn't miss that!! What fun.

BetsyG

SM - just saw your post on the hurricane thread about being stuck in Denver & going to a mindfulness lecture. I think everyone else in Denver is watching the Broncos. Anyway, did you get to the Art Museum? or the Colorado History Museum? The Museum of Science & Nature was always a favorite with the kids but has adult appeal also (good pizza & salad bar). The weather should be very nice here this week so check out some of our wonderful parks, Washington, Cheesman. Hiking could be muddy but a drive to Red Rocks would be interesting. Colorado Springs has some sights to see also. And then there's the rest of the restaurants on your list. Enjoy your forced time in our fair city!

Gretchen

Our Denver granddaughter was supposed to leave for DC this morning on a class trip--50 8th graders!! It has been cancelled.
They did go to the Art museum for a while.Botanic Gardens is another possibility.
Missed his other thread.

Gretchen

See it now. Beautiful mountains!!??
It will take a while to sort out the airport especially going east. I had assumed "west" from the name.
It DOES give you an idea of the complexities of running airlines--the planes have to get TO somewhere in order to LEAVE for somewhere else!! Seems easy enough--until....