Okay, here it is!

Actually, I’m going to break this down as much as possible as my second trip to Denver was a success.

Wait a minute. Second?

As you will see here, there is no remarkable post about my first trip to Denver.

*Sighs* Sit down, I’ll give you some background.
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In April of 2019, my sweet, naive family of three made our first journey to Denver (after an awesomely useless stop to Carhenge, which I did write about). Rusty on “city” experiences and oblivious to a glaring occasion that will soon become clear, the blue skies that shined upon Denver quickly turned into a purple haze…

Somewhere a few miles south of the Wyoming border, never-ending traffic left us taking side routes, alternate routes, and wandering aimlessly through Northern Colorado. Long before I’d even seen the Denver Skyline or the radiant Rockies, I was feeling more like Jaden Smith in The Karate Kid.

My husband and I repeatedly turned to each other, in the t w o  f r e a k i n g  h o u r s  worth of traffic, asking if it was always like this. No, no. It’s just rush hour. This can’t be normal.

Finally, we set down in Centennial…nowhere near downtown Denver, but an enjoyable spot nonetheless. Of course, being stationed in a suburb of Denver, we constantly paid the tax to the traffic Gods Demons trying to get anywhere near Downtown.

We did have two standouts of the trip, Giordano’s, the popular Deep Dish chain, and small, local Denver chain Los Dos Potrillos, a cozy suburban spot dishing out top-notch margaritas and Mexican fare.

Looking back…

Maybe it was naivete, but I neglected to realize that Easter Weekend was a very different holiday for a certain type of enthusiast around the world. That weekend, which happened to encompass the date, “4/20,” was indeed a major celebration of Marijuana, which is recreationally legal in the state. People indeed were everywhere for this festival–which, along with warmer weather, led to much of the congestion that made the trip teeter on misery until…4/21.

After the Mile High 420 Festival had ended, I found my perspective rapidly changing, and starting to enjoy my stay–however, this was only about a day and a half, so we left…with a promise to try this again.

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So…here we are.

Yes, friends…this trip went much better. We took more time, we lowered the expectations of what we could get done with a three year old…and it worked. We planned. We both asked our respective friends. Scoured the internet. And inevitably, spent about four days with a dance card of food, brews, and kid-friendly things to do in and around Denver.

Let’s get started (Links will be updated):

Day One:

Ajinoya Ramen

Butterfly Pavilion

 

Day Two:

Children’s Museum at Marisco Campus

Lowdown Brewery

16th Street Mall; For the Win and 5280 Burger Bar

 

Day Three:

Cheyenne Mountain Zoo

Edelweiss German Restaurant (Colorado Springs, CO.)

 

Last Day:

Star Kitchen Dim Sum (in the Little Saigon Business District)

 

 

Buckle up…I’m holding myself accountable to cover all of these locations over the next few weeks! Stay tuned.