Denver, Colorado

“I’ve seen it rainin’ fire in the sky. The shadow from the starlight is softer than a lullaby. Rocky mountain high.” -John Denver

Time for a throwback Thursday! It was July 2009 around 4:30 AM as we sat in the Atlanta airport waiting for our plane. We were getting ready to head out west in search of the important things in life: baseball, booze, and bargains. As you may know by now, we have a goal to watch the Braves play in every major league stadium. And one of the first crossed off the list was in Denver, Colorado, the subject of today’s post.

Baseball

I (Courtney) got a trip from my parents for my 21st birthday and Mal and I were headed to Vegas! Then, we saw the Hangover and our plans changed. So began the dream of watching the Braves play in every stadium. We figured Colorado was a good place to start because the Rockies are not a major rival of the Braves and Colorado just seemed like a place with nice people.

It was a perfect first away game because there were so many Braves fans! The Rockies were an expansion team that joined the MLB in 1993, right in the midst of the Braves run of winning our division 14 years in a row and two seasons before we would win the World Series. Because the Braves were televised nationally, we have one of the biggest fan bases. The Midwest area was without a team until they got the Rockies, so we garnered a lot of fans. Several people were repping the Braves and the Rockies.

The Colorado Rockies, for those who don’t know, play at Coors Field. The stadium had a nature scene in the outfield that we thought was neat because it paid homage to Colorado itself. It was awesome for us to meet so many Braves fans from all over (I think we met people from five-ish states) and hear their stories of becoming Braves fans and how far they drove to get to the park (one couple drove nine hours from Montana!). Overall, it cemented our love of Braves baseball and Braves country and was a great foundation to continue going to away games!

Booze

We decided to go on a self-guided tour of the Coors Factory while we were in town. (Although, the factory is actually in Golden, CO.) The great thing about this tour is that it is free! We got to see how the beer was made and bottled and they gave us free beer samples at the end.

Mal- As a non-beer drinker (then and now), I didn’t enjoy the samples as much. But it was cool to see the process of how it was made.

Court- Coors Light is my Dad’s beer of choice and was mine when I turned 21. Touring factories is something we discovered we enjoyed on this tour. Plus, one of the people we met on the tour gave us the VIP experience when he found out we were from Dawsonville, GA. (Bill Elliott, a former NASCAR driver, is from our town and used to drive the Coors car.) I don’t think he had ever met anyone from Dawsonville so we were basically celebrities! I did enjoy the samples and my love of Coors Light was furthered by the experience.

Coyote Ugly, for those who have never seen the movie (or live under a rock), is a bar. They have them all over the country and we have since been to two others, but Denver was our first rodeo. It should be noted that we were 21 at the time and didn’t know much about the place aside from the fact that people dance on the bar. (Actually, we didn’t know a lot about bars in general.) Since we weren’t much for the party scene, we decided to go when they first opened around lunch time. We were, for unknown reasons, under the assumption they had food at this establishment in addition to alcohol, which is not the case.

Mal- I can still remember the bartender asking us if we were recovering from the night before when we asked her for water. No girl, we just thought there was food here. Like the super cool person I was, I decided to have a Smirnoff Ice. Totally bad A.

Court- I can’t remember what I drank but probably just straight shots of Jack Daniels like the hardcore person I am. (I probably also got a Smirnoff Ice because I was also not a hardcore person then like I totally am now…not). Honestly, going at lunch time has one advantage in that there is hardly anyone there. The downside is that you also can’t blend in if you’re up on the bar because there is hardly anyone there. It worked out for us because the Coyote Ugly girls were nice and we got our feet wet in bar dancing!

Overall, it was an experience but definitely not our scene at the time. Really, I’m not sure it’s our scene now either, but it is fun to watch other people make fools of themselves dance and sing. We recently visited the Coyote Ugly in Nashville where 800 bachelorettes were having the times of their lives.

You might enjoy a visit here if you like to dance on small elevated spaces and/or do shots off of strangers. Or if you just want to stand in the back and enjoy the show (in a non-creepy way). The bartenders do sing and dance as well so that’s fun.

Bargains

We may have mentioned this before, but a lot of the time when we visit a US capitol, we also visit the Capitol Building. They all look a bit similar, but we still enjoy touring them. And they’re free to visit! We spent a few hours here doing our own self guided tour. This is also where you will find the Mile High Steps that mark the exact spot where you are 5,280 feet above sea level, which gives the city it’s nickname.

If you like book stores, check out the Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver. It’s 2 floors and has that classic book store feel. At the time, they also had signs around the store to help you figure out which books you might like best. We recently discovered there are four locations of this store. We visited the one on 16th street.

If you’re looking for another free activity, check out Hammond’s Candy Factory. They have free tours where you can see how they make and package candy. It really is interesting, and oddly satisfying, to watch them pull candy. They also offer free samples, so that’s another bonus.

Another stop we made was the Denver Aquarium. It was only $20 per person and that included the aquarium, a 4D ride, and we got to feed stingrays. It was a really nice aquarium and they even had a tiger milling about. Nowadays, it is $30 for adults for that particular package so maybe not as much of a bargain as it was for us. But if you like aquariums, this is one of the best we’ve been to.

If you’ve never had the opportunity to feed a stingray, let us tell you it is quite the experience. You hold your hand down in the water and they swim up and suck on it. It’s weird, but cool.

It should be noted that we rented a car on this trip almost solely for the purpose of visiting 12 Goodwill stores in and around Denver. Since it’s been a while, and because most Goodwill stores are similar, we’ll only talk about the highlights.

One standout was the Goodwill on Federal Blvd. All of their clothes were $0.99 and their books were cheaper than other stores we’ve been to. And to top it off, they had a doll museum. Although, it can’t be said that this was necessarily a highlight because porcelain dolls in large quantities are creepy, but it is unique. (Mal- Porcelain dolls in any quantity are creepy.)

At this point, we’ve been to many a Goodwill store, but never one as fancy as the Goodwill on South Broadway in Denver. The entire place looked like a department store. Their book section was set back inside a bricked archway that was reminiscent of an actual book store, and they had an entire basement full of furniture. If this store still exists, and you are in the area, definitely check it out. (Court- This place doesn’t look like much from the outside, so when we walked in, our jaws dropped. Also, the guy working that day asked us if we were from Texas and when we told him Georgia, he said he knew it was one or the other because he was from Texas and missed those accents.)

Lodging

While in Denver, we stayed at the Hotel Teatro. This was our first experience with a 4 1/2 star hotel. What did we think of it? Read on as we discuss the good, the bad and the odd of this hotel.

The good: The bed was super soft and squishy. We realize this may not be everybody’s idea of a great bed (some prefer firm), but it was great for us. Very comfy. They also provided us with free bottled water and put mints on our pillows every night. And though this has come to be expected these days, they also had free WiFi. (We have stayed in hotels without free WiFi before.) They also had a car service that would take you within a five mile radius or so in a Cadillac Escalade! You only had to tip the driver.

The bad: The room we stayed in was very small, probably the smallest we’ve ever stayed in, and this hotel was very expensive. Since it was downtown, they didn’t have a parking lot. They did have valet parking for $26 per day, which we now know isn’t really that bad or unusual. At the time though, we were not psyched about it. There was also a parking garage nearby that was $18 per day but you couldn’t come and go without paying again.

The odd: Really there was one main odd thing about our room and it was that there was a phone by the toilet. Maybe it’s for emergencies? Or maybe it’s for those who just want to order room service while using the john. Regardless, we have never seen this anywhere else. Is this common and we missed something?

Overall, it was a very nice hotel, but we were not super impressed and decided fancy decor and pillow mints were not worth the extra money. We tend to prefer budget friendly options and that is not this place.

Food

*Keep in mind we visited these restaurants 10 years ago, so the menu options, prices and general atmospheres may have changed.*

We ate at several good restaurants on this trip and some that were just okay. The thing about going to baseball games at night is that you either have to eat early before the game, eat park food during the game, or eat a late dinner after the game. We’ve done all three, but typically we tend to eat after the game as we usually end up eating a late lunch. The problem we’ve found in a lot of cities is that places just don’t stay open that late. Or, if they do, their kitchens don’t. So sometimes we eat somewhere simply because it’s open and still serving food. And sometimes it works out great. Other times not so much.

One such example is Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery. In this instance, the food was very good. Mal- I had a pulled pork sandwich and onion rings. I did really enjoy it based on my commentary in the McTravels video we filmed here. Courtney- I had the mac and chicken and it was also tasty. This was also my first foray into trying local beers because this place was a micro brewery and restaurant. I cannot remember what beer I had but I think it was good.

Another example is Prime Bar. We both had hamburgers and fries and it was decent food, but the bar itself was super dark and super loud. You couldn’t hear yourself think or see who you were talking to. We didn’t have a great experience here, but sometimes you gotta take what you can get. Since this is a bar, you do have to be 21 or older to get in. At least you do at 11 at night.

For breakfast, we ate at Sam’s No 3 diner. They had a lot of breakfast specials before 10:00 AM and we each had one with bacon, eggs, sausage gravy and biscuits for only $5. The food was tasty and definitely worth a stop if you love breakfast food and good deals.

We also had our first experience with the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company. You can find these all over and you should check it out if you find one, especially if you like Cajun seafood. Mal- I had the Cajun shrimp and mashed potatoes. It was very spicy, as Cajun food tends to be, but I did like it. Court- I don’t eat seafood so I opted for the chicken sandwich which was one of around 4-5 non seafood options. That being said, it was great and I enjoyed it. One cool thing they had was a sign on the table that said run Forrest run. If you needed your waiter to stop by, you flipped the sign to say stop Forrest stop.

Another cheap place to eat lunch is Anthony’s Pizza and Pasta in Golden. We each had pasta (studded shells & baked ziti to be exact) for around $7 each. It was really good food, especially for the price. It is counter service so you get your food quickly.

Lastly, we wanted to mention My Brother’s Bar. We each had hot chicken tenders and fries/onion rings. The onion rings were the best part, but it was all tasty. Great place to try out for a decent priced lunch or dinner, and they are open late.

Overall, we really enjoyed our trip to Denver. It is by far one of the cleanest cities we’ve ever been to. It is also very walking friendly and honestly, if not for the Goodwill ventures and trip to Golden for the Coors Factory, we could have done without a car at all. We would definitely take another trip here. We do have to visit those Rocky Mountains sometime.