A Trip to the Mile-High City

Several weeks ago, my partner and I took a long weekend vacation and travelled to Denver, Colorado. It was a perfect time to go--warmer weather showing itself, but still plenty of snow on the mountains (and at lower altitudes too, but more on that in a minute!). There's lots to see and do (and eat and drink).

Highlights of the trip included:

• A tour of the Coors Brewery in the Denver suburb of Golden. It was an interesting look at the history and techniques of one of the world's great brews. In the tasting room, I actually discovered that I like beer better than I thought I did. But my preference was Coors Classic...much richer than it's tinnier Coors Light sibling. Also liked Blue Moon and Killian's Irish Red. Might even try some of the recipes on the Coors website for the Killian's. (Hmm...maybe a beer dinner matching beers to a variety of course is in the future.)


• A walking tour through the Capitol Hill neighborhood of downtown Denver. It was interesting to see the State Capitol with its golden dome. Had lunch at the Brown Palace Hotel. Explored the Denver Mint. And we took a tour of the historic Molly Brown House. Made us regretful that here in Dallas we don't have the same opportunity to visit a home of one of the city's great early residents and see how they lived at the turn of the century. Too bad we've lost so much of our history (especially architecturally) in this country. Maybe we can reverse that trend in the years to come.


• A great meal at Buckhorn Exchange, the oldest restaurant in Denver...and the first to get a liquor license after Prohibition. It's a steakhouse, but I had a great Colorado-inspired meal of elk, bison tenderloin and lamb. The elk had a bit of the traditional "gamy" taste that I'm not too fond of, but the bison and lamb were delicious. Bison is becoming more and more popular these days...I've even noticed it at the butcher's counter in the grocery store. I've heard it's better for you than beef. Will have to research it some more for a future post.


• But the highlight was our trip one hour south to Colorado Springs and the Pikes Peak region to experience the natural glory of the Colorado terrain. We walked through the Cave of the Winds and took the cog railroad up Pikes Peak. We marveled at the beauty of the river running long the tracks, the aspen and pine trees, the huge rocks precariously balanced on top of each other and the gasp-inducing views back down the valley. When we reached the summit, it was 10 degrees with a whipping wind and heavy snow. Quite a brisk wake-up for these Texas boys. The snow "followed" us back down the mountain, so as we descended, the same beautiful terrain we had seen going up was now dusted with snow. Breathtaking.

It was a perfect "Life Should Be Beautiful" vacation. The opportunity to taste, smell, feel and history and beauty everywhere...at the dinner table, in the cocktail glass, and most importantly, in the glory of nature.