sapiens

My family (My wife + 4 year old girl + 9 month old boy + I) are visiting friends in the Denver/Golden area during our Spring Break. Any recommendations of things to do, places to eat (especially breakfast places), groceries to visit, etc. would be much appreciated. Although we are a family with young ones, we are interested in cafes, museums, hiking, sledding, good liquor/beer stores, driving a distance, etc.
We are especially interested in things to do that are unique to Denver.

Thanks in advance!

kurty[B]

My favorite Denver breakfast is the Original Pancake House (I would have to confirm the name with my sister), but absolutely delicious. It gets packed, and there is usually a 15-30 minute wait depending how early you get there, but it is oh so worth it.

I would highly recommend the Denver Art Museum. That is always fun to wander around.

A trip up to Idaho Springs to Tommyknocker (very nice brewery/restaurant) or Beau Jo's (great mountain pizza place, super thick crust that is delicious) would be very worthwhile.

When you say driving a distance, what is your idea of distance? Anything goes with weather that time of year, and depending on if it's a beautiful spring day, or blizzard can make a mountain drive the funnest or most treacherous experience. Depending how much time you want to spend on the road, and if you have specific destinations in mind I could rattle off gorgeous roads to take all day.

There are tons of great hikes in the Denver area, during the Spring heading into the mountains to go hiking will probably involve more post-holing through snow than anything. Sledding is also depending on how much snow Denver has received recently.

Golden is a pretty area. You'll have fun.

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sapiens

Thanks for the advice.

By driving a distance, I meant no more than 90 minutes.


Regarding hiking, I figured the weather wouldn't be conducive to hiking, but I wanted to be clear that I'm not just looking for sedentary activities.

Thanks again.

World's King

I would love to show off my city to you...

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serlindsipity

Come a little farther north and come play on Pearl Street. Good food, pretty pedestrian mall, and during the weekend there is usually street performers.

Edit - Probably helps to give the name of the City. Come to Boulder Baby!

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biznatch

Yes, Boulder is beautiful. Biggest pothead town ever, but truly a nice college town. People are friendly, and Pearl Street has some great shops, and excellent restaurants.

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Lebell

Ah, Denver, you will always be home to me.

Here are some fun things to do in the area:

Golden:
- Coors Brewery Tour (all ages)
- Buffalo Bill's Grave/Museum - top of Lookout Mountain
- Mother Cabrini's Shrine (Patron Saint of Miners)
- Colorado School of Mines' Geology Museum
- Colorado Railroad Museum (MUST SEE if you like trains/have boys )
further west...
- Idaho Springs for the above pubs, also Mining history (Tour the Argo Gold Mine)
- Georgetown; world famous George Town Loop (narrowguage) Railroad (may not be running this early); charming shops in an historic mountain town
- Leadville: the TWO mile high city, highest incorporated city; Mining museum, Baby Doe's cabin/Matchless Mine (Look up Horace Tabor)

Denver:
- Denver Mint - Great Tour, CALL NOW FOR RESERVATIONS!!! (walk to--v)
- Byers-Evans Mansion/Museum (walk next to --v)
- Denver Art Museum (walk next to --v)
- Colorado State Capitol - another "Don't Miss", especially the climb to the top of the dome (walk to --v)
- Colorado History Museum - great exhibits on Colorado History/People
- Molly Brown House - ("Unsinkable" Molly survived the Titanic!)
- Ocean Journey (aquarium a mile high?? go figure! Next to --v)
- Denver Children's Museum (near --v)
- Six Flag's over Elitches (was better before they moved downtown, still the kids might like)
- Denver Zoo - very good zoo (next to --v)
- Denver Museum of Natural History (+IMAX) - Good minerals display, dinosaurs, etc. + a planetarium

Places to eat unique to Denver (not chains)
- Between Denver and Golden off I70 at Kipling street, Luke's Steak House. I would put Lukes against ANY high price steak house you care to name, PERIOD. Good steak, ~25$
- Common Grounds Coffee House - MY old coffee shop, in the Highlands neighborhood, 32nd & Lowell, also near several VERY good restaurants (Bang, Highlands Garden Cafe)
- Shakespeares - Pool Hall, dinner, hangout (not a dive). 15th street near downtown, across the street from
- My Brother's Bar - little bar, very popular with the locals, try the buffalo burger
- La Loma - The. Best. Fajitas. Ever. North Denver off near Spear Blvd and I70
- Patsy's. You want some of the best North Denver Old Italian food ever? Go to Patsy's. You may just see some of the local big shots chowing down on some home made pasta or pizza.
- Tattered Cover - One of the Best Book stores west of the Miss. includes coffee shop and comfy chairs to veg and read.
- La Central - AFFORDABLE French cuisine in a place that isn't snobby! 8th & Broadway (portions aren't small either!!)
- Old Chicago - any . I know I said no chains, but Old Chicago STARTED in Denver so there! Pick a beer, any beer and you can probably get it there.
- speaking of beer, APPLEJACK liquors (near Golden, I70 and 32nd ave). You want to see one of the best wine/beer/cigar stores around, here it is.
- Sunrise cafe (32nd and Sheridan) two stores, best breakfast hash around town.
- Bonnie Brae inn - fav for Pizza for what, 40 or so years? University and ?

Anyway, I tried to give you what I consider to be the Best of Denver that you can get (mostly) only in Denver.

Feel free to post or PM if I didn't cover something or you want more info.

Oops, I forgot the Butterfly pavilion, up north on Sheridan (92nd?) - Great place for kids who like bugs

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World's King

Hey Lebell... Haven't seen you around here in a while.


And by the way. Shakespeare's is no longer there. It moved to the 5 Points area. It's a Vitamin Cottage now. Yeah... they turned my favorite pool hall into a health food store.

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sapiens

Thank you for the offer. If we can find a time to meet up, that would be great. Are two academics with a 4 year old girl and a 9 month old boy your speed?

Thank you to everyone for all of the advice. Lebell, that is quite a list! I am especially interested in things that you can only get in the Denver area. You seem to have covered that quite well.

I have been to Boulder before during the Summer. That was about ten years ago. We enjoyed it then. We may try to drive up there for a day.

All these suggestions have really increased my enthusiasm for the trip. We're headed there next Wednesday.

World's King

Defiantly my speed.


Maybe meet for lunch... or something like that.

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Lebell

Yargh! Oh well.

Yeah, it's been a while, I got kinda busy

Anyways, good to see you, hope life has been kind, my friend.


I forgot to mention a Denver icon coffee house, Paris on the Platte (ye gods, hope THAT is still there...)

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sapiens

Our trip was a few months ago, but I never got around to posting about it in this thread. Thank you to all the people who offered advice regarding what to do and where to go while in Denver. We really enjoyed Denver.

We arrived in Denver midmorning. After lugging kids and carseats to the car rental company, we drove to the Butterfly pavillion. Both of my kids loved the pavillion. I liked the butterfly area, but it seemed a bit overpriced for what we received. My wife, my 4 year old daughter, and I all held Rosie the rose tarantula. I didn't want to, but after my daughter held her, I didn't have much of a choice. We searched around for quite awhile for a Heidi's deli for lunch, but ended up at a Spicy Pickle. It was forgettable. Subway offers better fare.

After lunch we headed to Red Rocks Park. We needed to kill some time before our friends got off of work/ out of school. Red Rocks was beautiful. We enjoyed the drive through the park. We also enjoyed the hike up to the concert area (though pushing the stroller up and down those hills wasn't much fun). I hiked up all of the rows of seating while my wife and kids lounged below. After being stuck in a plane for much of the morning, it was nice to get my heart rate up. It was March, so there was snow on the ground. I really enjoyed it.

Afterwards we headed to our friends' home in Golden, which was a very short trip from Red Rocks. I really liked Golden. The mesas, the mule deer, even the traffic circles, were all very nice. Our friends live in a very small house filled with lots and lots of toys (a giant tv, A PS3, a XBOX 360,a Wii, many, many bookshelves, a LARGE telescope in the middle of the living room, 5+ computers, etc.).

The next day woke up and headed to the Sunrise Café for breakfast. I really needed some coffee. Our son slept about 2 hours that morning. He barely slept at all our whole visit. The Sunrise had decent diner food. The service was excellent and the other patrons were very friendly. Then, we went to the Denver Zoo. The zoo is really well-kept. The weather was perfect and there wasn't much of a crowd at all. My daughter and I rode the train. My son and I rode the carousel. It was a lot of fun.

On our third day, my wife flew to Atlanta for a job interview. So, I took the kids to the Colorado Railroad museum with our friends and their two sons. I liked it. It was a beautiful sunny day and the 3 kids old enough to run around had a lot of fun. Our friends actually have a season pass. After lunch in Golden and a trip to a playground, we hung out at their house. We spent the evening playing board games. I picked up my wife late that night. The Denver Airport has a very angry blue mustang at its entrance. It’s eyes glow red at night. It’s not very welcoming. Evidently the artist who designed the mustang was killed by it during its construction.



On Day 4 we caravanned with our friends from Golden to Idaho Springs. We had a two-way radio in each car. My friend pointed out all sorts of interesting road kill, gravel, and streets signs along the way. Much fun was had by all. While in Idaho Springs, ate pizza at Beau Jo’s. Our friends from Golden had never been there. Their kids ate chicken fingers. My kids didn’t. I try to limit my daughters access to children’s menus. They’re usually filled with generic, bland food. I enjoyed the pizza. Afterwards, we went across the street to Java Mountain Roasters for some coffee. I like to visit independent coffee shops whenever I can. On the way home, we avoided the freeway and took state highways back to Golden. We separated from our friends and stopped a few times to hike around near a river. It was very relaxing.

On Day 5, we met up with my wife’s childhood friend at a grilled cheese place called Chedd’s . My grilled cheese was excellent. The kids were well-behaved. I almost fell asleep in my chair. My wife’s friend is studying to become a pastry chef. Somehow we got on the topic of the show, Ace of Cakes. Apparently fondit (the substance used to sculpt those crazy cakes) tastes like shit. I did not know that.

On Day 6, we went to the Natural History Museum with our friends. All of the kids loved it. It’s a nice museum. Lots of exhibits. The space exploration area was the most interesting to me.

We left on Day 7. Before leaving we went out for breakfast at The Eggshell in Cherry Creek. The Cherry Creek neighborhood was nice, but a bit yuppified. We stopped at a mall because there was supposed to be a cool playground there. I hate malls and the playground sucked. Afterwards we headed to the Tattered Cover to browse for books. I really liked the bookstore –nice wooden floors, great atmosphere. We picked up an interesting book for my daughter about a Buddhist panda bear – Zen Shorts.

Overall, it was a great trip. We really enjoyed seeing our friends. We also really liked the Denver area a lot. I wouldn’t mind living there. Thank you to those of you who offered suggestions of what to do. Our friends rarely spend time in Denver. So, they didn’t have very many ideas.

WK: I was sorry that we never had the opportunity to meet up for lunch or coffee. It was a hectic trip.

Mister Coaster

Hmmm.. I must have missed your topic when originally posted, but I wouldn't have had much more suggestions than the others did. Glad you had a good time here. I hate that statue at the airport, it's the stuff of nightmares.

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