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Colorado
Denver
Music scene: There are jazz clubs like Sambuca and Soiled Dove. The Botanic Gardens has wonderful outdoor concerts in the summertime.
Bars, pubs, and restaurants: Irish pubs are all the rage; there are four or five. Two enjoyable ones are Fado's and the Squealing Pig. A couple of English places are Pint's Pub (pretty basic, very unpretentious) and Streets of London, which is in a somewhat dodgy (but colorful!) part of town.
The Wynkoop Brewing Company is Colorado's oldest brewpub. The Coors Factory in Golden is to be avoided at all costs, but there's some damn fine beers to be had at a wide variety of local bars and brewpubs. Fat Tire is the supposed king of Colorado microbrews.
The Rock Bottom Brewery serves terrific food and has something on the order of 10 beers brewed on premises. The Denver Chop House is a wee bit pricey, but the food is great. Downstairs from the Chop House is a piano bar called Sing Sing which is loads of fun. For that matter, there's lots of great bars in Lower Downtown, in the area immediately around Coors Field. The Falling Rock Tap House is also enjoyable.
Outdoor activities: There's lots to do and see in the mountains only a few minutes' drive from downtown. Skiing and hiking are terrific. If you're interested in more of a full-day trip rather than an afternoon, Rocky Mountain National Park is less than 2 hours' drive and well worth it. If it's summertime, a drive up to the Continental Divide on Trail Ridge Road is spectacular.
In-town touristy stuff that's worth checking out: The Denver Mint tour is definitely cool. The Celestial Seasonings Tea factory tour (in Boulder, about 30 minutes from Denver) is free and interesting, if a bit short. The Denver Zoo is a very good zoo, on the verge of being great. The Pre-Columbian and Native American collections at the Denver Art Museum are fantastic.
A few unique-to-Denver area touristy things are the Molly Brown House (the nouveau riche American woman from "Titanic") and Buffalo Bill's grave on top of Lookout Mountain, a short drive west of Denver with an interesting museum containing stuff from Buffalo Bill Cody's life and other Wild West Americana. It's supposed to have one of the best views around, and there's a place nearby where you can see a bunch of dinosaur bones sticking out of a hillside.
Comments:
A club with live jazz every night that has been recommended to me is called Dulcinea's 100th Monkey. I can't say for sure how good it is. The eight blocks of East Colfax Avenue, in my neighborhood, have several good nightspots. I wouldn't recommend being a girl and walking it alone at 2 AM, but if you're a big strong man, you shouldn't have any problems.
I would recommend checking out Boulder and Rocky Mountain National Park, and you can drive to the top of Pike's Peak, Colorado's famous 14,000 foot plus mountain, which is outside of Colorado Springs. There's a lot to do around here, much of which is outdoorsy, but I know this area has a great music/club scene, too.
Definitely go to Boulder. Definitely. And the Rocky Mountain National Park.
This is a little nerdy, but you can call up the urban planning department of Denver. They might have some cool things to say and give interesting histories of neighborhoods, social problems, and solutions to problems. It's often more fun than the normal touristy stuff. Some of my best tours of US cities have been given by urban planners.
I really enjoyed the Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was amazing in June. Warm and great hiking weather at the bottom, cold and snow at the top, with some of the most incredible views I've ever seen.
Trail Ridge is pretty fantastic.
Music scene: There are jazz clubs like Sambuca and Soiled Dove. The Botanic Gardens has wonderful outdoor concerts in the summertime.
Bars, pubs, and restaurants: Irish pubs are all the rage; there are four or five. Two enjoyable ones are Fado's and the Squealing Pig. A couple of English places are Pint's Pub (pretty basic, very unpretentious) and Streets of London, which is in a somewhat dodgy (but colorful!) part of town.
The Wynkoop Brewing Company is Colorado's oldest brewpub. The Coors Factory in Golden is to be avoided at all costs, but there's some damn fine beers to be had at a wide variety of local bars and brewpubs. Fat Tire is the supposed king of Colorado microbrews.
The Rock Bottom Brewery serves terrific food and has something on the order of 10 beers brewed on premises. The Denver Chop House is a wee bit pricey, but the food is great. Downstairs from the Chop House is a piano bar called Sing Sing which is loads of fun. For that matter, there's lots of great bars in Lower Downtown, in the area immediately around Coors Field. The Falling Rock Tap House is also enjoyable.
Outdoor activities: There's lots to do and see in the mountains only a few minutes' drive from downtown. Skiing and hiking are terrific. If you're interested in more of a full-day trip rather than an afternoon, Rocky Mountain National Park is less than 2 hours' drive and well worth it. If it's summertime, a drive up to the Continental Divide on Trail Ridge Road is spectacular.
In-town touristy stuff that's worth checking out: The Denver Mint tour is definitely cool. The Celestial Seasonings Tea factory tour (in Boulder, about 30 minutes from Denver) is free and interesting, if a bit short. The Denver Zoo is a very good zoo, on the verge of being great. The Pre-Columbian and Native American collections at the Denver Art Museum are fantastic.
A few unique-to-Denver area touristy things are the Molly Brown House (the nouveau riche American woman from "Titanic") and Buffalo Bill's grave on top of Lookout Mountain, a short drive west of Denver with an interesting museum containing stuff from Buffalo Bill Cody's life and other Wild West Americana. It's supposed to have one of the best views around, and there's a place nearby where you can see a bunch of dinosaur bones sticking out of a hillside.
Comments:
A club with live jazz every night that has been recommended to me is called Dulcinea's 100th Monkey. I can't say for sure how good it is. The eight blocks of East Colfax Avenue, in my neighborhood, have several good nightspots. I wouldn't recommend being a girl and walking it alone at 2 AM, but if you're a big strong man, you shouldn't have any problems.
I would recommend checking out Boulder and Rocky Mountain National Park, and you can drive to the top of Pike's Peak, Colorado's famous 14,000 foot plus mountain, which is outside of Colorado Springs. There's a lot to do around here, much of which is outdoorsy, but I know this area has a great music/club scene, too.
Definitely go to Boulder. Definitely. And the Rocky Mountain National Park.
This is a little nerdy, but you can call up the urban planning department of Denver. They might have some cool things to say and give interesting histories of neighborhoods, social problems, and solutions to problems. It's often more fun than the normal touristy stuff. Some of my best tours of US cities have been given by urban planners.
I really enjoyed the Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain National Park. It was amazing in June. Warm and great hiking weather at the bottom, cold and snow at the top, with some of the most incredible views I've ever seen.
Trail Ridge is pretty fantastic.