The alley behind the Denver Central Market has one of many colorful murals splattered beautifully around the city.

It seems like a mistake; like you’ve landed in the wrong place, even though the signs all say Denver International Airport.  Where are the mountains?  Why is everything so flat?  I arrived here a couple days before a work conference to check out a city I’d never visited.  As I rode the A Line into the city, though, the mountains came into view.  Little did I know that in a couple days I’d be visiting the treasure of Red Rocks that was tucked into those mountains.

The A LIne from the airport ends at Union Station in downtown Denver.

The airport is very efficient while it also seems to take a little longer to navigate.  It’s huge, with long hallways to walk and internal trains to ride from the gates to the main terminal.  But it’s also a beautiful, massive, open building.  The train to the city is easy to find and tickets are easy to buy at self-service machines.  The 30 minute ride into the city ends at Union Station, right in the heart of downtown.

My first task downtown was to find my way from Union Station to the nearby light rail (LRT) stop for the C Line.  I, of course, didn’t check any directions.  I just started

The light rail cars coasting into the Union Station LRT stop in downtown Denver.

walking, knowing that the stop was within a couple blocks.  Even though this probably sounds amateurish, I often just start walking without checking directions.  It’s certainly not very efficient but that’s the point.  I love wandering and seeing whatever there is to see.  And that’s why it took me 15 minutes to arrive at the LRT stop less than two blocks from where I started.    

I rode the C Line a half a dozen stops towards my Airbnb reservation.  So, it’s a long story that I won’t get into, but I found myself in the middle of a slightly seedy neighborhood unable to unlock the door to the Airbnb condo.  A couple messages to the host resulted in no response, and I walked another half-mile to an Irish pub in a slightly more seedy part of the same neighborhood.  After eating, I ended up taking an Uber to a motel.  I’ve had dozens of Airbnb experiences in recent years and none were like this, so it’s an anomaly that won’t impact my future use of Airbnb.

The next day, I took the city bus and then light rail downtown and spent the day checking it out before my work colleagues arrived late afternoon.  I got off at the 38th and Blake Street stop by RiNo (the River North district).  This is a cool, emerging neighborhood although I arrived at 10am before any of the restaurants were open.  It seems like a better evening spot but that remains to be seen.  

You have to decide which of your parts should be covered to determine which bathroom to enter. It doesn’t seem that hard, but I stood there several seconds considering my options.

From here I walked southwest towards the city center and stopped at Improper City Coffee, a large warehouse style cafe with lots of people plugged in and working on their laptops.  It was a pleasant pit stop to enjoy a cup of joe, kombucha on tap, and read a book.  The tricky part was the bathroom doors that made me think hard before deciding which one to enter.  I got it right, in case you’re wondering about that.  

One of dozens of beautiful murals painted on downtown Denver walls.

Back to the street where I headed for the Denver Central Market a few blocks down the street.  This neighborhood, and Denver in general, is rich with artwork.  Huge, colorful murals cover the sides of buildings.  From realistic paintings to avant garde arrangements, there has obviously been an intentional, worthwhile investment in the city’s culture.  

The pre-lunch crowd at Denver Central Market.

The Denver Central Market is a combination of gourmet groceries and lunch and dinner vendors.  With lots of central seating, it’s fun to walk through the fifteen or so stalls and counters to see the variety of food.  I got a delicious salad with kale, avocado, beets, and a bunch of other yummy things.  This place has a lot of energy and spirit!  

The 16th Street Mall cuts a peaceful pedestrian pathway through the heart of downtown Denver.

Continuing southwest another 10 blocks or so, past Coors Field, brought me to the 16th Street Mall.  This pedestrian thoroughfare spans 15 or so short blocks, from Union Station southeast to the state capitol.  Packed with restaurants and shops, it’s a very pleasant stroll on a sunny June day.  Although on a wintry January day, probably not so much!  

After chilling on the mall for bit, I started making my way a couple miles east to my next stop, the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.  Handy google maps on my phone easily identified the public transportation option of the city bus with a stop one block from where I was sitting.  As I waited 20 minutes for my bus, I learned, from the back of another bus, that smoking pot in public is not legal in Colorado. 

Just in case you were thinking about lighting up that doobie on the street corner…

A friend recommended that I go to the museum to see a Leonardo DaVinci exhibit, and it was quite fascinating.  Basically, they built all of those inventions that DaVinci drew in his notebooks and created an extensive exhibit that was very worthwhile.  There was also a very detailed and interesting exhibit about the Mona Lisa, with every conceivable perspective covered in a way that surely pleases the die-hard DaVincians.  

Definitely the highlight of this trip, and my last leisure activity, was an evening trip to Red Rocks Park and Amphitheater.  This magnificent place is 16 miles west and 1,000 feet up from downtown Denver.  The, well, red rocks loom impressively out of the mountainside and among them, the amphitheater has been carved out in a way that makes it look like it’s been there forever.  It’s actually been there since 1906. 

Downtown Denver from Red Rocks Amphitheater

We parked in an upper parking lot and approached the amphitheater from above.  This angle hides the majesty of it all until you arrive on the top of the sloping gallery that spills down the hill towards the stage and the city of Denver in the distance.  Now, several weeks later, I still feel a peacefulness from having been in this place.  There is a compelling combination of serenity and energy and harmony that I can easily re-experience when I imagine myself there.  

Rows of benches in the Red Rocks Amphitheater

I walked up and down and back and forth through the amphitheater.  A few dozen people were running, either doing stair reps (a notable achievement) or winding along each row of benches, a total of 2.5 miles from the first row to the last.  Roadies on the stage were setting up for Billie Eilish who was performing the following day.  The movie Ghostbusters had been shown the night before.  We happened to go on a night that featured only runners and tranquility. 
And so my brief, beautiful Denver adventure came to a close, but I’m looking at the Red Rocks schedule for the summer…hmmm, The Avett Brothers, Lyle Lovett, Jason Isbell….