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During your Denver vacation, don't miss these great establishments and attractions:
Denver Art Museum
Founded in 1893, this seven-story museum is wrapped by a thin 28-sided wall faced with one million sparkling tiles. Construction on a jagged, avant-garde addition, designed by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind, began in 2003. When finished in fall 2006, the unique structure will double the size of the museum and give Denver its most distinctive building by a long shot.The museum's collection of Western and regional works is its cornerstone. Included are Frederic Remington's bronze The Cheyenne, Charles Russell's painting In the Enemy's Country, plus 19th-century photography, historical pieces, and works by Georgia O'Keeffe. In 2001, Dorothy and William Harmsen, longtime Colorado residents and founders of the Jolly Rancher Candy Company, donated their prestigious Western art collection to the museum. Assembled over 40 years, the collection immediately made the museum's inventory of Western art one of the most impressive in the nation.The American Indian collection is also excellent, consisting of more than 17,000 pieces from 150 tribes of North America, spanning nearly 2,000 years. The collection is growing through the acquisition of historic pieces as well as the commissioning of works by contemporary artists. Other collections include architecture and design; graphics; and Asian, African, Oceanic, modern and contemporary, pre-Columbian, and Spanish Colonial art.Overview tours are available Tuesday through Sunday at 1:30pm, plus 11am on Saturday; an in-depth tour of a different area of the museum is offered each Wednesday and Friday at noon and 1pm; and a variety of child-oriented and family programs are scheduled regularly. There is also a gift shop. Allow 2 to 3 hours.
Denver Botanic Gardens
Twenty-three acres of outstanding outdoor and indoor gardens display plants native to the desert, plains, mountain foothills, and alpine zones. There's also a traditional Japanese garden, herb garden, water garden, fragrance garden, and a garden inspired by the art of Monet. "Romantic Gardens" feature a waterway, and the "Gardens of the World" hold plants from Asia, Europe, Africa, Australia, and the tropics.Even in the cold of winter, the dome-shaped, concrete-and-Plexiglas Tropical Conservatory houses thousands of species of tropical and subtropical plants. Huge, colorful orchids and bromeliads share space with a collection of plants used for food, fibers, dyes, building materials, and medicines. The Botanic Gardens also have a gift shop, library, and auditorium. Special events are scheduled throughout the year; offerings range from garden concerts in summer to a spring book-and-plant sale to a cornfield maze southwest of Denver in the fall. Allow 1 to 2 hours.
Denver Mountain Parks
Formally established in August 1913, the city's Mountain Parks system immediately began acquiring land in the mountains near Denver to be set aside for recreational use. Today it includes more than 14,000 acres, with 31 developed mountain parks and 16 unnamed wilderness areas that are wonderful places for hiking, picnicking, bird-watching, golfing, or lazing in the grass and sun.The first and largest, Genesee Park, is 20 miles west of Denver off I-70 exit 254; its 2,341 acres contain the Chief Hosa Lodge and Campground (the only overnight camping available in the system), picnic areas with fireplaces, a softball field, a scenic overlook, and an elk-and-buffalo enclosure.Among the system's other parks is Echo Lake, about 45 minutes from downtown Denver on Colo. 103. At 10,600 feet elevation on Mount Evans, the park has good fishing, hiking, and picnicking, plus a restaurant and curio shop. (Note: A fee program is being tested here; the charge is $10 per carload.) Other parks include 1,000-acre Daniels Park (23 miles south of Denver; take I-25 to Castle Pines Parkway, then go west to the park), which offers picnic areas, a bison enclosure, and a scenic overlook; and Dedisse Park (2 miles west of Evergreen on Colo. 74), which provides picnic facilities, a golf course, restaurant, clubhouse, and opportunities for ice-skating, fishing, and volleyball.
Ramada Limited & Suites Denver International Airport
The Ramada Limited & Suites Denver International Airport is the closest hotel to the airport located just 7 miles from the terminal. Our Ramada is on Tower Road just a half mile from Pena Blvd. Ramada is 25 minutes from Downtown Denver and all there is to do including dining, nightlife, entertainment, and shopping in our Historic LoDo District, 16th Street Mall and the Pavillions. Enjoy Denvers many exciting activity venues held at Invesco Field at Mile High, Coors Field, The Pepsi Center, ...
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