# A Weekend in Denver



## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

Thanks to having an obscene amount of unused United Mileage Plus miles that will expire at the end of the year, I decided to cash in the lot and take my wife to Denver for a long weekend early in December.

I have been to Denver several times on business but do not know the city all that well (familiar with the area around Coors Field but not much else). My wife has never been there. Any suggestions as to where to eat and sleep, what to see and do? 

Thanks.


----------



## agnash (Jul 24, 2006)

A couple of suggestions. First, the Buckhorn Exchange for a fantastic dinner and the opportunity to see incredible meorabilia from the old west. I cannot decide if it is a museum with a restaurant, or a restaurant with a museum. Second, the brown Palace hotel near Coors Field. The hotel is beautiful, and it had a very nice cigar bar. If you have a car, it is not a long drive to Golden Colorado where you can tour the Coors Brewery, and see Buffalo Bill's grave and museum.

https://www.buckhorn.com/

https://www.brownpalace.com/


----------



## Laxplayer (Apr 26, 2006)

We always seem to go to brewpubs. Lucky for me my wife enjoys a good beer as much as I do. Here's links to two that we have been to in/near Denver. Both had good pub food and brews. Wynkoop is the better of the two IMO. We have friends that live in Denver, but besides the brewery tours and skiing we haven't done much in CO.


----------



## jlmwrite (Dec 27, 2005)

Since I've been stuck in Denver for the past 17-odd years, I'll second some of the suggestions already mentioned. 

If you do go to the Buckhorn, do NOT go after dark; in that area, they won't steal your watch, they'll take your entire arm. Still, it's a truly unique place. The Brown Palace is absolutely wonderful -- just make sure your credit card limits are up to having a meal there. 

The new Denver Art Museum is truly something to behold, even if you just stand on the sidewalk and admire/curse Daniel Libeskind's creation. Should the weather hold out, please take a drive west from downtown about 20 minutes and check out the Red Rocks outdoor amphitheater, then just beside the park there is the town of Morrison and the (in)famous Morrison Inn.

On the outskirts of downtown is the flagship REI store, housed in a historic old building. Very cool, even if you aren't interested in any of the overpriced outdoor stuff. It sits right on the Platte River, with wonderful walking/biking trails running on both sides of the river, and Elitch Gardens/Six Flags looms nearby.

For brewpubs, you can walk down the 16th St Mall, and eat and drink at the Wynkoop Brewery, formerly owned by the Denver mayor. Enormous portions of pretty decent food, and of course some pretty decent homegrown beers. In Boulder, check out Avery Brewing, of course Tommyknockers in Idaho Springs where you can also get a great burger, and my favorite New Belgium Brewery (the Fat Tire guys) up north in Fort Collins (you also pass a Budweiser brewery that has a so-so tour). Of course, Golden has the Coors brewery. Barring bad weather and our horrid rush hour traffic, you should be able to get to any of the places outside of Denver in an hour or less.

If you want to do a little high-end shopping, try the Cherry Creek districts. The CC mall is nice, but I don't know of any store there you won't see in any other high-end mall anywhere else in the US. For about 6-8 blocks in most directions, though, you can find all sorts of neat boutiques and independent eateries. Again, be forewarned: expensive stuff abounds! The 16th Street Mall downtown is fun to walk, has a few little independent coffee shops but is mostly filled with chain stores and a few tourist-crap shops. If you get tired, you can take the free mall shuttle back.

If you haven't been in Denver for a while, then LoDo and the area around the stadium are pretty much all trendy (read: overpriced) restaurants and bars. Some are purported to be the places where Denver society (read: sports figures and their hangers-on) like to party. Don't stay out late in LoDo; too many bad things happening down there late at night from drunken 20-something revelers who apparently don't have to be at work the next day.

And finally, if you guys are skiiers, then you can make it to Copper or Loveland in no time and have a great day on the slopes. 

Have a good time exploring Denver. It still ain't home, but it ain't bad.


----------



## TMMKC (Aug 2, 2007)

Thanks so much to all of you for your input. We're staying downtown, so 16th Street and the art museum are high on list. I hear the museum now has several items on loan from the Louvre. I see a brew pub or two (or three, or four) in our future too. :icon_smile_big:


----------

