It has been a busy few months! Going to try and relive my trips from March-now… Here we go….
Denver, Colorado stole my heart back in 2011 when I was able to travel there with two of my best friends to help a friend move out there. I instantly fell in love with the views of the mountains peeking around the city, and the sunshine was full force nearly every single day. I also had a work conference out there last March but was stuck in central downtown/hotel land and just needed to get back out there. Still to this day writing this post, it is the only place I have been that I could pack up and move to instantly.
This past October my fiance’s sister moved out there permanently and bought the most stunning home ever. Now, there is nothing better than getting to travel with a free place to stay- que trip adviser and air fare watch dog price alerts…
The stars aligned and we were able to snag $156 roundtrip tickets from DTW to Denver through Spirit (major groan) but with that price we shared a suitcase and took off! Here is our little mini itinerary arriving Sat. night and staying through Tues night.
Sat Evening: As we arrived late in the evening we really only managed to head out for a late dinner, and my fiance after a day of travel demanded some wood/coal fired pizza. We hit up Larimer St in the Ballpark district (fun street with plenty of little bars) and settled on Racca’s Pizzeria Napoletana you can see from the menu- delicious. Highly recommend if you are looking for a specialty pizza place with a slightly upscale feel to the environment. Skinny- opt for the Mele Fresca Salad, Splurge- EMILIA ROMAGNA Pizza: Smoked Bufala Mozzarella, Walnut & Pine Nut Cream, Roasted Zucchini, Pecorino Romano, EVOO.
Sunday Funday: Our first stop was Viewhouse in the Ballpark district, and this may be one of my favorite bars ever. Give me a rooftop and some games to play while drinking and I am quite content. Just look at this place:
The downstairs is covered in grass with a huge volleyball court (they run a tournament on Sundays) corn hole, and tons of comfy furniture to sit around some fires. Perfection. We didn’t try any of their food, but the drinks were good and really you come here for the environment. If you want a rooftop without the games- The Tavern is right across the road, and features a huge rooftop with views of Coors Field. They have a solid happy hour too.
We decided to further explore the neighborhoods by checking out the newer neighborhoods as Denver is in an extreme state of expansion. For those that are first timers, strolling down 16th st is the best option to ride the free bus, get in some shopping and also eating/drinking along the way. For me, my goal was to find a sour brewery, and Heather delivered. Located inside The Source, River North Art Districts’s (RiNo) acclaimed artisan marketplace, Crooked Stave brewery had the best sour beer, and the entire marketplace is a sight to see:
After a long day of exploring and day drinking, we got back home and relaxed for a bit with some sushi before retiring early for our active day in the mountains…
Monday:
We started the day with the most amazing brunch I think I have ever had… Sassafras has two locations in Denver, and both offer comfort food influenced by Southern American cooking traditions. They create dishes using locally-sourced and organic ingredients, and it is heaven.
After full happy bellies we rode 15 minutes to get to the amazing Red Rocks Amphitheater:
image courtesy of thousandwonders.net
We opted to take the 7 mile hike that led us down and around the entire park, and the hills were definitely a great workout! I have heard that the concerts here are beyond amazing so I would also highly recommend that when you are planning a trip. Our next journey was supposed to be to find an amazing hot spring location and this was pretty much a fail… I have heard fantastic things about the hot springs out in Colorado but unfortunately many are quite a far distance from Denver, and not easy to add on as a quick activity… we found a small town hot spring (Indian Hot Springs) that still felt amazing on the body after the hike, but was not quite the mountain springs I had pictured… more of a really old family resort:
If anyone has a good recommendation on this let me know! We are planning to take a ski/snowboard trip next year and my mission is to find an amazing hot spring.
When we got back to the city, we were craving Italian food and hit the jackpot with Angelos, which on Mondays offered up $5 heaping bowls of mussels, made from scratch pasta dishes, and oysters- yum.
We ended the night with a trip to the Punch Bowl Social in Denver, and if you have a group of people who want to do a fun night of drinking that is not high heels and dancing, this is the spot. They have great food and drink, but also tons of games like bowling/darts/pool/shuffleboard, etc. all in an amazing hip bar setting:
We bowled and drank all night having the best time.
Tuesday:
Before heading off to the airport to go home, we got to stop at the new swanky neighborhood of LoHi, which offered up really cute boutiques and places to eat. We chose Linger for their happy hour and awesome environment.
Until next time, Denver! ❤
Freiburger on the Fly 