Mile High Denver

Denver is a beautiful city, especially if you're visiting during the summer. It's not too hot or too cold and the scenery is outstanding. Every day it would rain around 6 p.m. and cool everything down. Then the sun would come back out just in time for an awesome sunset.

If you're not that interested about what the capitol represents or what goes on there, at least climb to the top of the gold dome. You'll get an excellent view of the city.

The Denver Art Museum has fairly good collection and is definitely worth an afternoon visit.

The Renaissance Festival will transport you back in time. Pretend you were a fair maiden or a knight in shining armour.

Denver Mint--Money makes the world go 'round. Learn how they make it. Buy some too.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is great for kids and has plenty of hands-on exhibits.

The 16th St. Mall is full of street performers and lots of shopping. Buy your cheap souveniers here.

Quick Tips:

It may be hot in the summer during the day, but you better have a jacket and pants for the evening. An umbrella wouldn't hurt too since it rains just about every evening, but the sky clears up shortly after.

Best Way To Get Around:

Drive if you must, but ride the bus if you can.

There's plenty of places to shop and eat at the 16th Street Mall. We visited lots of souvenier shops full of t-shirts, key chains and the like. Outside sidewalk vendors sell anything from jewelry to sunglasses. Street performers are abundant so it doesn't just mean shopping. We saw a man playing the saxophone while strolling along. Fast food chains cater to those on the go.

Enter the 'Realm.' We have a similar Renaissance Festival in Kansas City. The Colorado one is just the same. You'll step into a world set back during the Renaissance era. Lords and Ladies as well as peasants will sell you trinkets and baubles. Have your palm read or get your hair braided. Each weekend during the summer months there is a theme to the festival. Many people dress up in costume to fit in with the merchants. Kids will love it, too. Food and fun are abundant.

A rising gold dome atop a grandiose building. The Colorado State Capitol offers tours every 30 minutes. Only a few people were on the tour with us so it was really a great treat to get all the special attention. We saw the chambers of both the House of Representatives and Senate and visited the private quarters of some of the congressmen.

The best thing to do is climb the dome afterwards. The view is spectacular. You'll be able to see the Rocky Mountains as well as the entire city.

A funny side note: When we reached the top, a couple of guys from England were visiting there too. We struck up a conversation and chatted about lost luggage at the Denver airport and the Beatles. I was quizzed about the fourth line of the song "Love Me Do". Being a huge Beatles fan, I had no trouble telling them it is "Pleeeeeease. Love me do." Meet some interesting visitors of your own.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science is a great place to take the kids. They will learn so much and there's many hands-on activities to keep them busy.

General admission to the museum is $7.00 for adults and $3.50 for kids which is pretty reasonable compared to other science museums. If you want to see only an IMAX movie, it's $7.00 or $3.50 for kids, but the museum offers a combination discount for both the IMAX and admission for $11.00 and $7.00. Still not bad. The one in Kansas City is almost double that.

Throughout the year, the museum has special exhibits to attract people. One example is the current Vikings exhibition combined with a Vikings festival. Other exhibitions include the Ice Age and Voyages of Discovery. The Science and Nature Museum maintains permanent exhibits as well. These include anything from Explore Colorado to Egyptian Mummies.

The Phipp's IMAX is a big draw because of it's size--over four stories high.

to be continued...

The Denver Art Museum was renovated in 1993. Their collection excels in the areas of Asian, pre-Columbian, Spanish-Colonial, and Southwestern art. The musueum also has some contemporary and modern pieces. They also have special exhibits throughout the year. When I was there, they had a painting by Monet on loan. Not the best art museum I've ever seen, but a good way to spend an afternoon.

A tour through the Denver Mint, officially the United States Mint, might be a little boring for the younger folk, but the older ones will enjoy seeing how the money is made. Five billion coins are stamped yearly. For a dollar, I was able to stamp my own souvenier coin. Outside vendors will try to sell you all kinds of 'rare' coins.