Just a quick recap of my 4 days in Boulder at the end of April. It was my first time in Colorado and the primary purpose was to visit my niece, who's in school there. We had a great time and I'm looking forward to going back!
We spent our first full day in Denver, visiting the Hammond Candy Factory and the Molly Brown House (and sitting in a tremendous amount of traffic). I had vaguely recalled seeing something on the Food Network about the Hammond Candy Factory, but picked up a brochure in the airport and it was our first stop in Denver. It's right off the highway, on the outskirts of the city and they have an interesting quick tour, where you can see actual operations (all their candy is hand made). Of course, there's a very large company store but it also includes a seconds section (called the Oops Room) where there were some great bargains. Just finished my last purchase today and I can recommend their candy!
We both enjoyed the tour of the Molly Brown House, and would recommend trying to watch the movie in the gift shop before or after. A late lunch was at Jelly's just around the corner (great burgers but they serve breakfast foods all day). The big challenge in Denver was finding parking and then the traffic to and from (which seems to be due to road construction).
We also visited the Celestial Seasonings factory but on Sunday (and there's generally no manufacturing on the weekends). The tour was still interesting and, of course, ended up in their store. If you like tea, it's definitely worth a stop. Not only can you try any and all of their teas before the tour, but you can then buy them afterwards (along with all kinds of other interesting gift items). On Saturday, we went to the Farmers Market and it was inspirational! Very crowded, but great variety of vendors and, if you go, definitely plan to have lunch. I had a polenta dish that I'm still dreaming about. The contemporary art museum is in the midst of the farmers market and it was a great place for a bathroom break and we really enjoyed walking through their exhibit. There was no admission charge on Saturdays.
I always like to shop on my vacations and enjoyed visiting the shops on Pearl Street, along with a few hours at the Flatirons Crossing Mall, while my niece was studying. It's a huge mall and definitely tired me out! Her favorite shopping adventure was a stop at the Goodwill Store, where there were big sales that day (everything was 1/2 price and jeans were .99). She had a field day and I could be a generous aunt! Unfortunately, there's a lot of different taxes on clothing in Colorado, which is always a surprise for me.
I stayed at the Homewood Suites and it was perfectly fine. My room was on the 3rd floor (top floor) and looked out at the mountains. It's kind of in a strange location (you get there by driving through the parking lot of a strip mall) but that ended up being convenient since there's a Safeway grocery store and other conveniences very close by.
Overall, a great trip and I'm looking forward to a return and exploring more of the surrounding areas...

Thanks for posting. We are headed to America on holidays in a few weeks and I've added some of your ideas to my (long) list of things to do. When you say candy at the factory, do you mean chocolate? Or was it what we would call sweets or lollies? My husband used to work at the Cadbury factory in Tasmania so I wondered if it was a chocolate factory.

The market in Boulder sounds great, I love markets. I'll have to check the dates. Often I don't buy much but like the atmosphere. Thanks for the toilet tip, I seem to need to go far too often and in a strange place it's nice to know where to head.

Also the Goodwill store sounds like us, we like to look mainly for books. Do you remember where it was?

In fact, your trip sounds a lot like our trip will probably be like! (I think that's a bit garbled but you get my drift.)

Thanks, Kay

Thanks for the report, sounds like you can be a fantastic aunt and economize too.

The Hammonds factory did have chocolate (and I can personally vouch for the caramel bar with sea salt) but what I really remember were all the different candy canes and hard candies they had. I don't remember the address of the goodwill store but it was on the way back to my hotel (not in the center of Boulder), in a shopping center with Einsteins bagels and whole foods.... Have fun!

Nice report. KayF if you are interested in Hammonds...www.hammondscandies.com/candy-types/lollipops

Thanks very much. When planning our trip I had no intention of staying in or going to Boulder but the more I've read the more that Boulder appeals. It's quite close, mileage wise, to Denver so not sure if staying in both makes sense. We do have the time to do that but might wait and see how the trip is going.

I can't wait to get there, just not looking forward to a 20-odd hour flight. Urgh.

Kay

If you don't want to stay in Boulder, a day trip from Denver is very doable. Denver to Boulder is less than an hour drive. We live in the Denver area and often go to Boulder for brunch on Saturday (Q's at the Hotel Boulderado http://www.qsboulder.com/ is our favorite) and then to the Farmers Market (just a couple of blocks away). http://www.boulderfarmers.org/

Saturday parking is available for free in all public garages (NOT CITY LOTS!).

Five City of Boulder Public Garage Locations:

11th & Walnut (Randolph Center)
11th & Spruce
15th & Pearl
10th & Walnut (St Julien Hotel)
14th & Walnut (RTD Bus Station)

For great chocolates - engstrom's. Oh, their toffee is to die for!

http://www.enstrom.com/

I love Enstrom toffee!

There are several used bookstores in Boulder (I like the Bookworm on 28th Steet), including a couple on Pearl, and in addition to the Goodwill store, there's a Salvation Army store off Arapahoe Ave (1 block east of 30th, 1/2 block north).
If you like resale shops, there's a new upscale one at the east end of the Pearl Street Pedestrian Mall called "Hip Consignment"; some really nice things.
AND if you go to Celestial for their tour, be sure to visit the Museum of Western Art, about 1/4 mile away; they are free, have a great giftshop, and also a really nice outdoor sculpture garden.

Sylvia, thank you for mentioning the Museum of Western Art. I always forget it is there so I appreciate the reminder. There is a sandwich I'm craving from the Avery Tap Room, but I haven't been able to justify the drive, but if I throw in a museum visit I think I'm set.