By Ted Alan Stedman
I don’t know if the 2008 DNC spotlight had something to do with it, but a major travel magazine’s Denver profile recently declared the Mile High City has finally shed its "cow town" image.
Well, thanks for that news flash. (Note to writer: you’re 15 years late).
Granted, Denver’s roots are its western heritage. But I’ve yet to hear a single "Yee-ha" or "Howdy pardner" since I gladly traded LA for Denver in ’94. Spend some time downtown and I guarantee it’s the Vespa scooter brigades, tragically hip bike messengers, notebook-wielding urbanites, weekend revelers and too-fit-for-their-own-good Coloradans that’ll stick in your mind. The gleaming high-rises framed by the chiseled Rocky Mountains aren’t bad, either.
Denver visitor information gives the skinny on most of the sites and events visitors would want to check out, including action-packed downtown districts, cultural arts centers, pro sport facilities, recreational trails, Denver International Airport, the city’s public transportation, lodging and so on.
Here’s my take on what not to miss when you visit Denver:
Mount an urban safari. There are three pedestrian-friendly downtown districts that beg exploration in this compact city. Hit Larimer Square‘s specialty boutiques, trendy restaurants and sidewalk cafés, along with great bars and a comedy club. Lower Downtown, or LoDo, is Denver’s boomtown, and you can put in miles exploring the renovated warehouses that have morphed into 90 brewpubs, sports bars, restaurants and coffeehouses, as well as Coors Field. Downtown’s centerpiece is the 16th Street Mall, a 16-block pedestrian and transit mall that’s the city’s retail core lined with shops, bars, eateries, bookstores, theaters, Denver Pavilions, the Tabor Center –- you name it. The mall’s shuttles are free, and so is the public Wi-Fi Zone.
Play ball. Denver’s a gonzo sports town (having eight pro teams does that) that hosts pro games year-round. The ultra-modern Pepsi Center, right downtown, is best known as the home of the NBA Denver Nuggets and NHL Colorado Avalanche. Flanked by hip watering holes and being easily accessible, it’s also a workhorse event center that hosts world-class concerts –- and the 2008 Democratic National Convention. In LoDo, Coors Field is home to baseball’s Colorado Rockies, the National League Pennant winner in 2007. The stadium has the nostalgic feel of a classic ballpark mixed with state-of-the-art technology (and the Sand Lot Brewpub –- only one of its kind), and you won’t find a prettier ball field anywhere. On the edge of downtown, the sprawling INVESCO Field at Mile High is where the NFL’s Denver Broncos hang their hallowed helmets. Denver goes certifiably nuts when the Broncos play (a.k.a. "Broncomania"). And there’s no doubt when it’s game day, when the city is saturated in the team’s trademark orange, blue and white colors.
Find culture. The striking exterior of the Denver Art Museum is a hint of what lies within: exhibit after exhibit of amazing visual art presented in equally striking display space. Cruising DAM’s locale is just as cool. It’s part of the Denver Civic Center Cultural Complex, where world-class productions and premieres are staged regularly at The Denver Center for the Performing Arts, such as the Colorado Symphony Orchestra, Opera Colorado, Colorado Ballet, Best of Broadway productions and more. And those enormous figures towering outdoors? The giant-sized broom and dustpan (The Big Sweep), the humongous Scottish Calf and Cow, the gigantic sculpture known as Dancers, and monstrous bear leaning on the Colorado Convention Center? More examples of whimsical contemporary public art in Denver.
