Denver - December 2016
As I mentioned in my previous post (December 2016), I celebrated my 43st birthday in Denver with Geert. We left our kids with my parents who were visiting us in Utah.
My parents happy to have some private time with our boys, our boys happy to be spoiled and we, we were really excited to get some time with just the 2 of us for the first time in 6 months ... so everybody happy!
Denver is the capital of Colorado, the state East of Utah, and is known as 'The Mile High City' because its official elevation is 1 mile above sea level ... deuheu 😏
It's only a 1,5 hour flight from Salt Lake City, but the vibe in Denver sure is different!
First of all the sale and service of alcohol is not as regulated as it is in Utah, resulting in plenty of cozy bars and restaurants.
You have to understand that the liquor laws in Utah are really strict! It's not a complete 'dry state' as many people think it is 😅 , but it nevertheless has a big impact on society. I'll elaborate more on that in a dedicated post later on.
And on top of that Colorado legalised recreational use of marijuana as one of the first states in the US in 2012 and this apparently gave some kind of boost to the city.
Here an overview of the current (January 2018) marijuana laws in the different States of the US:
No surprise of course that in Utah even the use of marijuana for medical reasons is not legal! 😏
We didn't explore that controversial law 😇, however we did try to catch the Denver vibe by walking and walking and walking 😅
Both evenings, we enjoyed good wine and great food in cozy restaurants, (as I already mentioned, all somewhat harder to find in Utah) , ...
and finished every night in a bar playing pool ...
As we're no big fans of the breakfast offered in the American hotels, we always look for good local places to go to, and we sure did found great breakfast places in Denver.
Both times we had to wait for an hour to get a table, but both times it was worth it!
The first morning we went to 'Snooze, an A.M. Eatery', located in the charming station of Denver. Having to wait at this location, with free coffee offered by the restaurant, wasn't all that bad ... we were even 'treated' with what at first seemed to become a little drama for this young guy who was pacing nervously in front of us with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, glancing every few minutes on his phone. After observing this with growing interest for more than half an hour (I mean, who doesn't enjoy studying quietly a human drama unfolding in front of you?😬) , I was pretty sure he was being stood up ... so when the person he was waiting for finally díd arrive, it was just the sweetest thing to witness! I sure hope nobody noticed the tears in my eyes! 😊
The second morning, we walked for about an hour (on an empty stomach!) to a Southern styled brunch place in the suburbs of Denver, called 'Sassafras American Eatery'.
As it was a Saturday, we couldn't make a reservations, so again we had to wait for about an hour, but again that was no problem at all for us! The weather was great and we could wait outside with coffee and Mimosa (champagne with chilled citrus juice). Great way to start the day, especially when it's your birthday!
And besides drinking and eating, we did add a cultural touch to our trip! We went to the 'Museum of Contemporary Art' for a photo exposition that we wanted to see, and the 'Denver Art Museum', which is by the way one of the largest art museums between the West coast and Chicago, where we were treated on a temporary exposition of the original Star Wars costumes! Ok, I know the latter sounds kind of 'geeky', and we are definitely no Star Wars geeks, but we heard it was really worth our time, so voila ... and it was indeed surprisingly good.
Whe returned to Salt Lake on the 24th of December, just in time for our first Christmas eve here in the States ...
My parents happy to have some private time with our boys, our boys happy to be spoiled and we, we were really excited to get some time with just the 2 of us for the first time in 6 months ... so everybody happy!
Denver is the capital of Colorado, the state East of Utah, and is known as 'The Mile High City' because its official elevation is 1 mile above sea level ... deuheu 😏
It's only a 1,5 hour flight from Salt Lake City, but the vibe in Denver sure is different!
First of all the sale and service of alcohol is not as regulated as it is in Utah, resulting in plenty of cozy bars and restaurants.
You have to understand that the liquor laws in Utah are really strict! It's not a complete 'dry state' as many people think it is 😅 , but it nevertheless has a big impact on society. I'll elaborate more on that in a dedicated post later on.
And on top of that Colorado legalised recreational use of marijuana as one of the first states in the US in 2012 and this apparently gave some kind of boost to the city.
Here an overview of the current (January 2018) marijuana laws in the different States of the US:
No surprise of course that in Utah even the use of marijuana for medical reasons is not legal! 😏
We didn't explore that controversial law 😇, however we did try to catch the Denver vibe by walking and walking and walking 😅
Both evenings, we enjoyed good wine and great food in cozy restaurants, (as I already mentioned, all somewhat harder to find in Utah) , ...
 |
| Enjoying great wine and tapas in 'Crú' on our first night |
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| My birthday dinner @ 'Beatrice & Woodseley' |
and finished every night in a bar playing pool ...
As we're no big fans of the breakfast offered in the American hotels, we always look for good local places to go to, and we sure did found great breakfast places in Denver.
Both times we had to wait for an hour to get a table, but both times it was worth it!
The first morning we went to 'Snooze, an A.M. Eatery', located in the charming station of Denver. Having to wait at this location, with free coffee offered by the restaurant, wasn't all that bad ... we were even 'treated' with what at first seemed to become a little drama for this young guy who was pacing nervously in front of us with a bouquet of flowers in his hand, glancing every few minutes on his phone. After observing this with growing interest for more than half an hour (I mean, who doesn't enjoy studying quietly a human drama unfolding in front of you?😬) , I was pretty sure he was being stood up ... so when the person he was waiting for finally díd arrive, it was just the sweetest thing to witness! I sure hope nobody noticed the tears in my eyes! 😊
 |
| Watching quietly some human drama |
The second morning, we walked for about an hour (on an empty stomach!) to a Southern styled brunch place in the suburbs of Denver, called 'Sassafras American Eatery'.
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| Denver Art Museum |
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