Downtown Denver

Thanks to Lonely Planet’s book on Colorado, we did a wonderful 3 mile walking tour downtown. Our hotel was right off the 16th St. Mall, super convenient. We first started walking towards the river, then down and around towards Civic Center Park. We saw the Denver Art Museum, the performing arts center, the public library, lots of cool architecure and several public art installations. Denver’s downtown is pretty cool – very walkable and accessible via easy-to-use public transit.

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On the tour, we stopped by Tattered Cover Book Store. It’s very similar to Book People in Austin. I bought a travel book on Texas road trip routes. There’s one that explores, Big Bend, Marfa, and Fort Davis. I went there with my 7th graders on a field trip, but I definitely need to go back on my own time to revisit things. Especially Marfa.

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We also walked by the REI Flagship store! It was pretty incredible. Several floors of nothing but outdoor adventure. They even had a rock wall to test climbing gear and a mountain bike path to test bikes!

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We ended our tour at Civic Center Park. We went to the capitol and got to climb to the top of the dome! They don’t let you do that in Austin, so I was super pumped to be able to do it in Denver. Before entering, I had to take a photo on the 13th step, which says it is “One Mile Above Sea Level.”

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The views from the Capitol dome were amazing. You got a full 360 degree look at Denver and the surrounding Rockies.

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