Denver was a good mix of fun and relaxation. 5 people with different opinions can be a recipe for disaster, but we have a good group and we always manage to keep it enjoyable.
We went back and forth between renting a house in the mountains or a condo in the middle of the arts district. We decided on the one in the city. Besides the full modern kitchen, it had a private rooftop hot tub with a view of downtown and plenty of entertainment within walking distance. It was awesome.
Speaking of restaurants, most of my meals were a sandwich that I packed and took with me. I spent a lot of time watching the rest of the group eat at restaurants. That plan, while boring, was very successful and also very cheap.
(It was really the only safe option, since I don't trust restaurants anymore and did not want to be sick on vacation.)
The only part of the trip that I did not enjoy was the driving. I did all of the driving so the rest of the group could enjoy the recreational marijuana as much as they wanted, which was no big deal. I was happy to be the designated driver.
But. I did not expect it to be so stressful! Driving around Denver sucks, for two main reasons.
-Street parking. Street parking. Street parking. Even at the condo it was street parking, and many times it was hard to find. Especially since we rented a full-sized SUV and I do not know how to parallel park.
-The streets are laid out weird (or at least, I'm not used to them). The city has a lot of intersections at weird angles, and the signs on the roadways are not great. Even with navigation, I did a lot of turning around and re-calculating and "going for it" because you couldn't see if a car was coming because the view was blocked by the cars parked on the street.
My advice: uber or walk everywhere in the city and only drive to locations that are farther away.
Here's what we did.
Friday:
Travel, check in to condo
Visit a dispensary
Dinner in RINO (Shake Shack)
Grocery store
Tetra Lounge- So. Much. People. Watching.
Saturday:
Church- This was so cool. This building has been different churches throughout the years, and now it houses the International Church of Cannabis. The art inside is incredible, and there's a laser light show that they beam on the ceiling.
Grabbed lunch at Rosebud cafe, then stopped into a few of the shops nearby.
The rest of the group went to a concert at Red Rock, which was actually the whole reason for the trip. But it sold out quickly and the only available tickets were second-hand and really expensive. FG and I agreed that we didn't want to pay that much money for a concert so we made other plans.
The amphitheater itself is supposed to be pretty spectacular, so we talked about getting up early Sunday to see it when there wasn't an event (it's open to the public), but of course we chose to sleep in instead.
Our original plan for the afternoon was to take a boozy train ride into the mountains and go on a mine tour, but it was too far away and the timing didn't work out. Our back up plan was to check out the botanical gardens, but once we got there it looked hella packed and neither of us were in the mood for crowds.
At that point I must have seemed pretty frustrated (mostly with the driving), because FG suggested that we take a break and insisted that I eat a meal that wasn't a sandwich. We went back to the condo and made dinner, which was really what I needed.
We had planned to go have a drink at this speakeasy Luke told me about, but we got lazy and hung out on the roof, watched the sun set, and drank the beer/wine we already had. In hindsight, we probably should have checked out some more of the city, but at that time the thought of driving made me cranky and the thought of paying for an uber made staying home look better.
Sunday:
Zip lines- this was fun. A 45-minute drive from the city, in a cute little town that looked like it was just plopped into the mountains. They have several different packages. We did the 4 zipline tour, which I thought was enough and well worth the price. There is a little bar onsite, too, so afterwards we enjoyed a drink and the world's longest game of big Jenga.
Ate a late lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant.
The we went hiking and hung out at the lake. We got here in the late afternoon, but it could have easily been an all-day activity. I could have wandered around the hiking trails for hours, and the lake water was cold and refreshing. Watched the sun set behind the mountains and life was good.
Monday:
Brunch at Snooze
Wander around the area, look into some shops
Travel home
Other neat stuff that we didn't have time to do:
The Yoga Mat
Frozen Matter/Retrograde
Botanic Gardens
Larimer Square
Twist and Shout
Georgetown loop Railroad + mine tour
Overall, I'm glad I got to check out Denver and I had a good time, but if I went back I think I'd choose to stay in the mountains and maybe only spend one day in the city. And not drive.
Friday:
Travel, check in to condo
Visit a dispensary
Dinner in RINO (Shake Shack)
Grocery store
Tetra Lounge- So. Much. People. Watching.
Saturday:
Church- This was so cool. This building has been different churches throughout the years, and now it houses the International Church of Cannabis. The art inside is incredible, and there's a laser light show that they beam on the ceiling.
Grabbed lunch at Rosebud cafe, then stopped into a few of the shops nearby.
The rest of the group went to a concert at Red Rock, which was actually the whole reason for the trip. But it sold out quickly and the only available tickets were second-hand and really expensive. FG and I agreed that we didn't want to pay that much money for a concert so we made other plans.
The amphitheater itself is supposed to be pretty spectacular, so we talked about getting up early Sunday to see it when there wasn't an event (it's open to the public), but of course we chose to sleep in instead.
Our original plan for the afternoon was to take a boozy train ride into the mountains and go on a mine tour, but it was too far away and the timing didn't work out. Our back up plan was to check out the botanical gardens, but once we got there it looked hella packed and neither of us were in the mood for crowds.
At that point I must have seemed pretty frustrated (mostly with the driving), because FG suggested that we take a break and insisted that I eat a meal that wasn't a sandwich. We went back to the condo and made dinner, which was really what I needed.
We had planned to go have a drink at this speakeasy Luke told me about, but we got lazy and hung out on the roof, watched the sun set, and drank the beer/wine we already had. In hindsight, we probably should have checked out some more of the city, but at that time the thought of driving made me cranky and the thought of paying for an uber made staying home look better.
Sunday:
Zip lines- this was fun. A 45-minute drive from the city, in a cute little town that looked like it was just plopped into the mountains. They have several different packages. We did the 4 zipline tour, which I thought was enough and well worth the price. There is a little bar onsite, too, so afterwards we enjoyed a drink and the world's longest game of big Jenga.
Ate a late lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant.
The we went hiking and hung out at the lake. We got here in the late afternoon, but it could have easily been an all-day activity. I could have wandered around the hiking trails for hours, and the lake water was cold and refreshing. Watched the sun set behind the mountains and life was good.
Monday:
Brunch at Snooze
Wander around the area, look into some shops
Travel home
Other neat stuff that we didn't have time to do:
The Yoga Mat
Frozen Matter/Retrograde
Botanic Gardens
Larimer Square
Twist and Shout
Georgetown loop Railroad + mine tour
Overall, I'm glad I got to check out Denver and I had a good time, but if I went back I think I'd choose to stay in the mountains and maybe only spend one day in the city. And not drive.
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