My first trip to Colorado and with this state, I'm down to 11
more to visit (RI, DE, AL, MS, LA, AR, KS, MT, ID, AK & HI).
My favorite cities are the ones where it's easy to walk
around at night - and Denver definitely falls into that category. Plus there's so much to do walking distance
from the heart of downtown.
The trip started with a connection in Philly so had to try a
Geno's Cheesesteak (with whiz & onions).
Was so good but maybe not the best choice to have the whole thing
sitting in my stomach moments before a 4-hour flight lol.
One of the first things I did in Denver was walk around to
some of the retro arcades they have. Stop
one was 1-Up on Colfax but on the way saw this.
Of course I had to see if this claim was true. It was a good burger, but then realized I
have no way of knowing if it's the best in Denver since it was the only burger
I had there so far. But I'd definitely
return.
Now I had energy for this!
There's three 1-Ups in Denver. As
it turns out, I went to the best one first.
It had room after room after room of classic arcade games and pinball -
and most games were just 25-cents each (pinball was 50 cents).
The two games most of my money went to - Super Pac-Man and
Super Mario Bros. pinball. A game of
Super Pac-Man can last 15-20 minutes for me.
Pinball I'm not as good at but this one I liked a lot. I'm more a fan of pinball when the flippers aren't
too far apart so the balls don't just shoot down right away - this one gives
lots of chances for the ball to return to play so made it more fun.
Went to 1-Up Lodo next. Also a fun arcade but nowhere near as
extensive as the Colfax one. That didn't
stop me from spending an hour or so there.
Same deal as the other one - no admission charge, most video games were
25-cents and pinball mostly 50-cents.
Just an overall cool place again - complete with this lol.
Next up - Denver's Christmas Market. It was huge with a beer tent, so many booths with
food & crafts and whatever that is walking around.
There was even a booth with German steins.
Aw that Oktoberfest one looks amazing (and
was extremely well made).
I'll be going
to Munich for that in September, but didn't want to be carrying this around the
rest of the night so had to pass.
I had originally hoped to go to Denver in the fall, but
maybe the winter holidays was the better time as the whole city was
decorated. I mean look how cool
everything is. Every street you went down and everywhere you looked was decorated equally as nice.
Headed back to the hotel for the main reason for the
trip. Most nights in Buffalo, instead of
watching TV, I'll play GTA on PS4. It's
usually a group of us including me & Shawn (in Buffalo) & George (in
Denver, who I've only met on the game).
It was time for the three of us to hang in real life.
Once Shawn arrived in Denver, we all met up at a random
nearby bar (and then a couple others).
This set the tone for what was going to be an epic weekend. George and his wife Susan were so much fun to
hang with - equally as nice and cool as I expected (their kids - who we'd meet
up with the next day - also a blast to hang with).
Friday (day 2) started with a walk around the downtown
area. Me & Shawn had a list of things we most wanted to do & Biker Jim's was first up after some pic stops.
Biker Jim's is a little like Griffon Gastropub - but with
hot dogs. The reason I wanted to stop
here - the rattlesnake & pheasant hot dog!
Yes, both in one hot dog.
Surprisingly, it was good. I still
prefer regular hot dogs, but this was a nice change. They also had ostrich, elk & wild boar
but those I'll try on a future visit since one was more than enough - didn't
want to fill up at just one place.
After that, it was a lot of walking around (and driving
since some places were a little further away).
Apparently Denver is home to the original Chipotle location so we did
that, some other random stuff, and walked by this bear like 4 times as we made
our way to the next food stop - Buckhorn Exchange. And this is where my #1 favorite food in
Denver happened.
I was kinda nervous to try Rocky Mountain Oysters. They're bull testicles. Yeah.
I thought they'd be round and disgustingly soggy, but nope. They were deep fried, sliced and served with a
marinara sauce. If we had time, I would
have ordered more they were so good.
Tasted like deep fried slices of any meat.
After that, we went to get a good spot at the Denver Parade
of Lights. When we booked the trip, we
had no idea this was going on. Lucky
coincidence as this was cool. Me, Shawn,
George & his family all watched from the main grandstand.
It was $25 to sit there, but we were at the start
of the parade and had great seats. Other
areas of the parade route were darker so had a better view of the lighted floats
but this spot had a backdrop like no other!
The parade lasted an hour then the night ended with a stop
at one of Denver's many diners - Sam's 3.
After an omelette and biscuits & gravy, it was time for a little
sleep before our Rocky Mountain hike the next morning.
So this was a last minute addition to the trip. Rocky Mountain National Park is about 2 hours
from downtown Denver and Emerald Lake Trail is one of the most popular hikes in
the park. AllTrails says it's best used
from April - November. It was just a few
days into December, so why not! It's 1.8
miles there and another 1.8 back.
Was surprised to see so many people already there at 9:30a. At the trail head, everyone was getting ready
putting on their snowshoes or skis. Me and Shawn came prepared with......just
hiking boots lol. The trail itself goes by 3 lakes - Nymph, Dream and then
Emerald Lake.
Every time we stopped for a picture was more amazing than the
last one.
Here's Nymph Lake and some other
views as we headed up.
Denver (and def the Rockies) are high altitude.
I've always heard you'll feel it and get
winded easier when walking around the city.
I never experienced that - until this hike.
Within the first half-mile, I was breathing
heavy.
And then a little later my legs
started getting super tired.
Hit us both
but wasn't enough to stop much aside from getting pics.
The snow was kinda deep off the trail and the
trail itself was sometimes tough to figure out.
While it wasn't too busy, we were relieved people were there so we could
figure out where to go.
Dream Lake was mostly iced over and even had some nice snow
trails over the top to walk on. At first
we thought this was the end, but then found the trail continued way off on the
other side.
After another strenuous stretch up some big inclines, we
made it to Emerald Lake - and only took a little under an hour to get there!
The views - just awesome!
I've experienced some pretty cool things
& places with my buddy Shawn - this one is definitely near the top.
(Side note - it's so nice to have a friend
who also loves to do random things and travel.
And we both do trips the same way - get as much done as you can.
When on a vaca like this, there's no time for
sitting around at the hotel or sleeping 8 hours - you gotta make the most of
every second.)
The hike back (and down) was obviously easier lol.
And of course lots of picture stops because
everything was pic worthy.
I would
totally be down to try this hike in the fall or summer too but I think winter
would be the time with the best views.
I
mean when I think Rocky Mountains, I think snow and iced covered lakes - and
that's exactly what we got.
Oh yeah, and
cold - there was lots of that as the wind whipped around during our lake
crossings.
But whoa this was such a great
start to the day.
Boulder was on the ride back to Denver, so stopped at the
Pearl Street Mall and met up again with George and his wife (who I gotta say again to her, thank you for taking pics).
.
They had a Volcom store, so that was a
must. And another arcade - Press Play. This is where the Mortal Kombat battle was
fought. I was crushed almost instantly
but Shawn & George's battle was more even (Shawn killed us both though). It was a nice smaller arcade and I'd absolutely return someday.
As we left Boulder, we had to stop by this iconic house
used on Mork & Mindy! It still
looks almost exactly like it did on the show.
Then back to Denver and supper at the Green Russell Smoke
House. I had gone too long without
wings, so had to try them here. They
were ok, but nothing can ever compare to the best wings on the planet - and
those can only be found in Buffalo of course.
The sliders there however were amazing.
Next stop was the Ramble Hotel & Bar.
Ok here's a story for you. We
walk up to the place and there's a line of really well dressed people trying to
get in. Right to the front of the line
we go and give the phrase we were told to say.
We were then instantly escorted inside (yeah people in line were glaring
at us a bit lol) and then told to go up some random staircase to the top floor
bar where we then hung out on a rooftop balcony area with a small group. The power of Shawn - even in another city!
After a while there, it was back to 1-Up Colfax for some
arcade fun. Susan headed onto a back
patio I didn't even know existed (there's so many random rooms off of other
rooms here with more games) and found a huge Jenga game. Some amazing competition happened the rest of
the night lol.
The next morning was definitely bittersweet. That was one of the fastest weekends of my
life and I was so sad it was coming to an end.
The combination of places, food, fun & most important to me the
greatest of friends made for an incredible weekend. The final stop was Lodo's Bar & Grill - a Bills backer
bar Shawn wanted to watch the game at.
It was so strange watching the game in a bar filled with
Bills fans & Bills menu specials but in the heart of Denver. Of course we had to get wings. They were ok, but again not Buffalo great.
Another Lodo's highlight was a mini-reunion with our friend
Shannon who we both worked with in Buffalo years ago.
Happy she's there because I plan a return
visit and now got a bunch of fun people to hang with.
So definitely long weekend success! While I'd like to see Denver during warmer months, I
really enjoyed being there for the holiday season.
If you do plan a trip around that time, try
to be there when the Parade of Lights happens.
And absolutely make time for a Rocky Mountain hike.
While Los Angeles is still my favorite city
to visit, Denver has launched up to #2 (Savannah, Seattle & Budapest round
out the top 5 - but a return to Munich could change some of that next year).
