Hello Fodor’s

My teaching duties had wrapped up for the semester and I was ready for an adventure. As some of you know, I particularly love sleeper train journeys and I look forward to doing one each year that bring me to somewhere I’ve never been before. These trips always rejuvenate me, educate me and make me feel I’m not stagnating in what I know.

I live in Montreal and earlier this year I decided that I really should finally see what Denver, Colorado was all about, a city that a number of my friends have spoken of positively. I have never even visited Colorado before, not really. The only time I was even in the state was on the California Zephyr train 19 years ago from Chicago to Emeryville, where I was absolutely blown away by the beauty of Glenwood Canyon. Doing that trip, I thought one day I’d like to return and stay in Glenwood Springs, CO, but clearly have yet to do so. This year’s trip in 2025 was in fact was my first time on the California Zephyr since that last ride one score minus one year years ago.

The following trip I booked a few months in advance as I know both trains can fill up:

June 14-15 Amtrak Lake Shore Limited Albany/Rensselaer NY- Chicago
June 15-16 Amtrak California Zephyr Chicago-Denver
June 16-20 Denver CO

I thought I might start my trip from Montreal but turned out I started in the DC ‘burbs, where my mother lives, as I had flown down to do some tasks around her house a few days earlier, catching trains from DC to Albany (and accumulating points, trying to get Amtrak Gues Rewards Select Status again &#128522.

My trip report will be less about the trains and more about what’s new to me, that is, Denver and environs. I did however enjoy the rides, appreciating the river views and dams, noticing some small windowed buildings on either side of what I think was the Mohawk River/Erie Canal which seemed intriguing to me (associated with locks?) and possibly historic while on the Lake Shore Limited. I made sure to be in the observation car as the Zephyr crossed the mighty Mississippi River, so very wide and majestic at Burlington, Iowa, as well as in Colorado for the mesmerizing ridged hills and depressions around Wray and during the approach to Denver, with tall mountain peaks visible in the distance that I always appreciate, not being everyday sights for me. As always, conversations in the dining car provided for delightful human interchange with people from different walks in life.

I had a 4 hour layover in Chicago and thankfully a glorious day, so walked from the station to my old friends Lake Michigan and the Buckingham Fountain; I love just sitting on a bench and admiring the lake, boats and passersby. I managed to find time as well for deep dish personal pizza at Giordano’s, where I savoured the waitress-recommended classic 6” with green peppers, onion, pepperoni and mushrooms. I think the first time I tried Chicago style pizza, I was surprised that it really is more like a pie but this was good and I think it’s growing on me (my waist line might be growing too lol).

Union Station in Denver is a terrific introduction to the city, with some plush seats, a piano and appealing commercial establishments. I actually got a coffee here and sat while my hotel got my room ready my first day, so enamoured of the space was I. I’ve seen many North American train stations and Denver’s is unique in the charm it offers.

*Coming Up: Initial thoughts on downtown Denver. Activities for a rainy day (today was rainy): State Capitol Tour, Colorado History Museum, Unsinkable Molly Brown House tour. Looking forward to tomorrow, a nice weather day with a guided tour out to some scenic spots with hiking…next few days are busy but will report back when I get a chance.

Even with a short layover between trains out of Chicago and trains arriving in Chicago, the Chicago River is a short stroll from Union Station.

Denver Union Station. A uniquely comfortable and attractive train station. Terrific first place to see in the Mile High City.

Welcome to my state Daniel!

And mine too, Daniel. Look forward to following along!

Union Station is nice. We went on a tour where they took you backstage, so to speak, really interesting. A factoid: Union station sits exactly on the 105th meridian.
https://www.denver.org/blog/post/onl...05th-meridian/

Next time be sure to go up into the Rocky Mountains. You can take a tour bus from Union Station which will take you around Rocky Mt. National Park. https://www.aspire-tours.com/tours/r...onal-park-tour

Thanks for the enjoyable report. I hope one day to take a similar train across the country.

Thank you melnq8 and Nelson! I got a bit of a sense of the beauty you have in your state today! And I know I’ve only scratched the surface…

esm—I hope you are able to do a cross country train trip some time. Chicago to Denver by the way I think is a good distance and interesting if someone wants to try a sleeper train but isn’t sure if they’ll like it or not.

Prairiehiker—I’m still in Denver but sadly won’t be able to do the full day tour out of Denver to the Rocky Mountain National Park. However, I did do a half day tour today to Red Rocks, Evergreen and Echo Lake which I will report on in due course.

Daniel, I always enjoy your reports and this one is no exception.

*Activities in Denver Proper*

So, rolling my luggage up the 16th Street Mall from Union Station to my hotel, I admired the Clocktower, but the most intriguing thing was that I could swear there were sounds coming out of the grates on Curtis St near the Federal Reserve Bank. Cattle lowing I thought I heard from one grate, machinery from another grate. Still don’t know what that’s all about. Arriving at my hotel, the Curtis, I could not have been more delighted that I had a view of mountains from my hotel room.

I quickly discovered the free 16th Street Mall bus which runs from Union Station to the Civic Center stop; the latter is near a number of attractions such as museums and the state Capitol, a walkable distance but I appreciated the bus for when I didn’t feel like making the trek. The bus being free does get some itinerants and people that appeared to have substance abuse problems. While I would recommend a trip to Denver for reasons which should be evident when you see some of the pictures I will post, I will not sugarcoat that there is a drug addiction problem downtown and some angry-sounding rants and erratic behaviour of certain individuals caused me at certain moments to pick a different route from point A to point B.

That said, I used the bus frequently. My first day I went to the history museum whose most memorable experience was entering a house where it said there was a 9-minute movie depicting life in the Dust Bowl. I hadn’t realized that the house door would close automatically and the house would actually provide sounds and lights of the actual experience of the storm, going dark at times. The audio discussed the health consequences of the dust passing through, including the death of many cattle and chickens. The door on the other side of the house opened up after the show; I was getting a bit worried as it was about 10 minutes to closing of the museum. Here, one can learn as well about the horrific Sand Creek Massacre in the 1800s.

The next day was a rainy one, so I picked more indoors things to do. First, I did a tour of the State Capitol, which makes Colorado my 9th state Capitol tour. As always has been my experience for these types of tours, the guide was excellent and the rooms for both the House and Senate gorgeous. The halls are quite attractive with some construction done with Colorado rose onyx; according to the guide, the Capitol is the *only* place where one can find this stone. A 2000-lb chandelier, a mural from the 1940s representing the importance of water to Colorado as well as some beautiful stained glass windows & portraits were also quite remarkable. The highlight of the tour was walking up the 99 steps to the dome from Mr. Brown’s Attic. The attic was named after a certain Henry Brown who provided the land to Colorado and apparently was a bit displeased with the pace of construction. The attic was well-worth lingering with informative plaques on the history. The dome was really special though as from there, one gets panoramic views of the city, my favourite of which was toward the attractive City Council and a commemorative obelisk.

Nearby the State Capitol was the Unsinkable Molly Brown House. I do recommend the guided tour of her home, to learn about who this Titanic survivor was and get a glimpse into her life. I did not know that she grew up poor in Missouri, only striking it rich when her husband struck a lode while they were living in Leadville. Unbeknownst to me, she was a philanthropist who helped some of the poorer women on arriving in America. She believed in equality of all humans and apparently did not like “Women and Children First” to leave the Titanic as she thought it unfair to the men. The tour here is excellent and the home lovely with some amenities like the telephone and electricity many did not have in the early 1900s. She also liked to yodel; when I asked the guide if there were any recordings of this, he said, “Thankfully not.”

I did try the Colorado specialty known as the smothered burrito, basically a burrito (mine was steak) which was doused with a cheese & green chile bath. Delicious, a bit spicy, but perhaps not for one worried about calorie intake

*Coming Up Next: Natural Wonders In and Around Denver*

Clocktower and 16th Street Mall

Colorado State Capitol building

Unsinkable Molly Brown House

View of City Council from Dome of State Capitol

*Colorado Sightseer Half Day Tour #7*

For $89, I chose to do a half-day van trip with 8 other passengers leaving Denver Union Station and 8:15 and returning at 13:15. While the first maybe 15 minutes had the tour guide/van driver dealing with lane switches and the busy highway traffic exiting Denver, it was not terribly long before we reached the beautiful topography of the green foothills where I admired the homes spread out appealingly along the hillside, with snow-capped mountains and pointy peaks coming ever closer in the distance.

Our first stop was the Red Rocks Amphitheater. The guy at the information counter in Union Station described the venue as having the best acoustics of any in the world. I don’t know anything about that but I will say that the giant red rocks with carved archways and green ridged mountainous landscapes surrounding must make for a magical and unforgettable experience for concertgoers. Mule deer with their attentive ears could be seen just hanging out in the parking lot or on the rocks. I found myself reluctant to pull my eyes away from these uniquely beautiful vistas.

To get to the next stop, the town of Evergreen, the winding road with plenty of switchbacks through Bear Creek Canyon was gorgeous with rocky and green mountainous views with creeks visible
periodically cutting through the landscape. Evergreen had an old-timey Colorado feel with a wooden planked walkway separating commercial establishments, including a saloon. The guide suggested getting a coffee, beer or snack at an establishment here, but I instead just admired and walked beside the beauty of the creek that passed through town with rushing water.

The final stop, Echo Lake was accessible via yet more hairpin turns (this trip is not for the easily nauseous) where our young woman guide would often mutter “crazy Coloradans” when she would pass a cyclist (some even appeared to be perhaps in their 70s) climbing the steep roads headed toward Mount Blue Sky (maybe known to some as Mount Evans), one of what the guide described as “14ers”, peaks in the range over 14,000 feet high. As much as I love cycling, I tended to agree with her, although I’m sure the downhills must be rewarding. The highlight of this part was viewing the Continental Divide, from a remarkably breathtaking spot with steep drops, varied and dramatic terrain as well as majestic snow-capped peaks visible. Echo Lake itself was also great: beautifully alpine, peaceful with ducks and the air delightfully and fresh-smellingly redolent of pine.

*Final Denver and vicinity activities to come*

Continental Divide near the base of Mount Blue Sky (Mount Evans)

Evergreen

Red Rocks Amphitheater

View near Trading Post at Red Rocks Amphitheater

Red Rocks Amphitheater

Thanks schmerl

After the half day tour, I managed to muster up some more strength and caught the #10 bus from Union Station to York & 12th to see the Denver Botanical Gardens. Getting the RTD bus/light rail day passes for $5.50 purchased at a Union Station kiosk served me well, although if I had known how much I would have used them, I would have gotten the 3-day pass. The botanical gardens were a pleasant way to spend an early evening with some interesting water features and varied themes.

Thursday I met some of my parents’ friends from when we lived in Ibadan, Nigeria who I had not seen in over 30 years. They brought me to the Ship’s Tavern at the beautiful second oldest hotel in Denver, Brown’s Palace, built in the 1890s and named after the Henry Brown upon whose land the Capitol building was built. While our time together going down memory lane telling adventurous stories of late 20th century Nigeria was magical, I will stick to the topic and recommend checking out the lobby of this hotel, which retained an elegance of the Gilded Age.

*Olde Town Arvada and Golden*

After bidding adieu to the family friends and napping, I decided that my plan for the early evening was to try Colorado Style Pizza, a thing I didn’t even know existed until the Colorado Sightseer tour guide had mentioned it. This idea actually happened to coincide with another idea I had, which was to check out Olde Town Arvada, a recommended community when one types “things to do along the Denver light rail line” in Google, as there was a Beau Jo’s Colorado Pizza place in walking distance of the G line light rail stop. Right next to the eponymous light rail station, Olde Town Arvada looked quite charming, with a compact area of restaurants, brewpubs, ice cream parlours, parks and more, with a musician playing on pedestrian friendly Wadsworth street. Found in a more suburban looking mall area away from the compact older Arvada area, Beau Jo’s pizza is indeed quite different from NY, Chicago or European varieties, with a puffier crust (due to the high altitude I was told) that one is supposed to add honey to! I got the waiter-recommended Sky Hawk variety which had green chiles on it, which was good, but I could not even begin to finish the smallest personal size, so got it boxed for lunch the next day.

*Downtown Golden*

Once I had packed my luggage and given it to my hotel for storage, I had until 7pm (now 8 pm due to Amtrak lateness) to figure out what to do with my day my last day. I eventually decided upon Golden, as the light rail W line goes out there, although not exactly the historic center, which I Ubered to for $10.

Golden is in a particularly beautiful area of the foothills, with Mount Zion on one side and Castle Rock with the Coors brewery on the other (to name two more prominent of multiple high points surrounding), with delightful walking paths with shady spots along and bridges crossing Clear Creek, whose rapids kayakers and paddle boarders seemed to be savouring. Like in Arvada, appealing commercial establishments can be found up and down Washington Street in downtown Golden with its famous arch, including Buffalo Rose, a saloon-like spot where I was told Buffalo Bill once drank. I stopped for lemonade and later ice cream to cool down from the heat today!

The ladies at the Golden Welcome Center informed me that there was a newish (2 years old) free shuttle service that runs from the downtown Golden to the Golden light rail station called the Ore Cart, so I could have saved myself that Uber! Live and learn. There are three routes and the Tungsten Route is the one running to the light rail station; the downtown stop was clearly marked. The driver was very chatty and welcoming.

Both Golden and Arvada I would recommend as half-day trips out of Denver. I could see myself even potentially staying in either of those two should I be lucky enough to return to the region. Inner tubing down Clear Creek sounds like utter heaven on a hot day and I felt like I wanted to try some of the restaurants in the charming part of Arvada and Golden both.

*Final Thoughts on the Trip To Come*

Olde Town Arvada

Colorado Style Pizza

Washington St Downtown Golden

Coors sign and Castle Rock

Clear Creek and Mount Zion

WOW Daniel. You covered a lot!
Thanks for sharing your adventure with us.

beautiful！

I'm suddenly craving Beau Jo's pizza...

Beau Jo's Idaho Springs, the classic apres-mountain-activity stop!

Great report Daniel, fun to see my state from a visitor's perspective. It's been a long time since I've been to the history museum. They did not have the Dust Bowl experience then, will have to check it out.

BTW, when we first moved here in 1978 we lived about 3 blocks from where you took the photo of Coors brewery, in a cool old 1940's brick building. Now a parking lot. The Coors porcelain factory was a few blocks in the other direction. Depending om which way the wind blew, we smelled one or the other, both good smells.

Oh, those smells! My husband went to CO School of Mines, so we often took the Coors 'short tour'. Probably not available these days. The whole town smelled like malted barley.

Sadly my collage campus in Greeley only smelled like cow poop💩

Great report Daniel!

schmerl—You’re welcome.
thatmany9200– I concur.
Nelson, melnq8– A friend wrote when I showed her a few pictures of Golden: “people blessed to live there”. That means you were blessed in her book having lived there. There’s so much world and so little time but I’d love to return and linger! I didn’t notice smells but maybe it’s less now?
Nelson—I did not know Coors made porcelain ware until your comment! I just checked to see if I misunderstood and you meant they brewed beer in porcelain. In other things I learned, I also didn’t know Jolly Rancher candies were founded in Golden!