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Denver, CO

Recently, I took a trip to Colorado and had the most amazing time.  I was lucky enough to get to work in Denver for a few days and then spend the weekend in Boulder.  Also, one of my best friends flew out to join me for the weekend fun!  Cheers to her for quitting her job and starting her own freelance company!

Last year, I got to visit Denver with my past job and did a lot of exploring with my free time.  Just fyi, this post is a collaboration of both trips.  Keep tight, it’s a long post. If you are traveling to Denver or Boulder, I’ve got some great stuff to do in here!  And if you are not making a trip… maybe you will start planning one!

Denver, CO

First off, getting my sense of direction was a fail.  I did a lot of walking and learned that Denver has extreeeemely confusing neighborhoods.  It’s not a perfect North South East West grid (like Austin).  Those mountain city planners did everything diagonal– leaving me with no sense of direction.

 

Downtown-denver-map

Here’s a little (long) post on where I ate and things I got to do and see!

Snooze A.M Eatery:  This highly talked about joint is located throughout the city.  Last year, I ate at the Ballpark location, and this year I ate at the Union Station location.  The Ballpark is on Larimer Street which is a street full of bars and eateries.  It’s right around from Coors Field,  a great place to go out and grab a beer or two (or three… four?).  The Union Station location is neat because you can check out the train station.  It is beautiful inside and has a nice bar and a small restaurant.  You will most likely have to wait, so there is plenty to walk around and see at both locations.

Okay, yes the food.  I got benedicts last year and this year.  Snooze is very accommodating for orders– you can mix and match your order as you please.  I love this because I get to try so much! I have had:

  • Caprese Benedict: Summer-ripe heirloom tomatoes tossed with pesto and served over fresh mozzarella on toasty ciabatta with poached eggs, cream cheese hollandaise and a touch of balsamic reduction.
  • Chilaquiles Benedict:  Flavorful barbacoa beef over a stack of ranchero sauced tortillas and melted cheese, with poached cage free eggs, roasted poblano hollandaise, pico de gallo and cotija cheese.
  • Benny Goodman: Lox style salmon and cream cheese served over toasted rye and topped with poached cage free eggs, cream cheese hollandaise blended with sun dried tomato and caper relish.

Snooze AM Eatery | www.thefreshfind.com Snooze AM Eatery | www.thefreshfind.comSnooze AM Eatery | www.thefreshfind.com

Of the benedicts, my favorites were definitely the Caprese and the Benny.  Oh, and they also have a slew of pancakes.  I’ve tried the sweet potato, cinnamon roll and chocolate chip ones.  They are made for those sweet lovers and make a great dessert!  You can get one a la carte.

After Snooze, I walked around the Ballpark area and checked out Coors Field.  I walked across the bridge, explored some neighborhoods and ended up in LoHi (Central Platte Valley on map).  I heard about Little Man’s Ice Cream and couldn’t resist stopping.

Little Man's Ice Cream, Denver | www.thefreshfind.com Little Man's Ice Cream, Denver | www.thefreshfind.com

Denver was a great walking city and I had no problem getting around without a car.  I even walked to multiple CorePower Yoga studios that were around town.  I love that CPY is headquartered here, there are literally studios all over!

As I walked back into CBD, I walked through LoDo and went to Wynkoop Brewery.  Lucky me, I came at the right time for the free tour!  They hold tours Tuesday – Saturday at 3:00pm and 4:00pm.  I tasted a good amount and my favorite was the Silverback.  I even got to try beer that was brewed with the famous, rocky mountain oysters.  Mmmmm…

Wynkoop Brewery | www.thefreshfind.com Wynkoop Brewery | www.thefreshfind.com

I closed the night with Root Down, an organic, local and natural restaurant.  I heard all about RD Denver and made it do their delicious happy hour.  You get to choose between a variety of goodies including veggie sliders, Colorado lamb sliders, and brisket tacos.

Root Down Denver

The next day, I wanted to explore the Civic Center, Golden Triangle, Capitol Hill and Uptown area.  The Speer trail is a nice trail.  I ran south on Speer and ended up crossing through the city to hit the beautiful Cheeseman Park, the Botanical Gardens and then ended in Uptown to eat at Watercourse.

Ohhh Watercourse, I am in LOVE.  I fell in love last year, and could not wait to go back again this year.  It recently became all vegan, but don’t let that stop you.  It is so freaking good, literally, I just die when I’m eating there.  YOU NEED TO GO!!! NEED.

First, they’ve got kombucha on tap.  Yeah, hello, yum.  When you look at the menu, it just blows me away.  Vegan dishes that are creative, delicious, satisfying, fresh, comforting, and reasonably priced.  Plus, if you don’t finish your food, you get a biodegradable container to take home!

Watercourse Foods | www.thefreshfind.com

What I got last year is no longer on the menu, but this year, I got the Chorizo Hash:  A hash of chorizo, black beans, sweet potato waffle fries, scrambled tofu, & caramelized onions. Smothered with green chili, sour cream and avocado crème & topped with crispy tortilla crumbles. Served with corn or wheat tortillas, $9.  (my fries are on the side)

Watercourse Foods | www.thefreshfind.com

You’ll also see that I got the Mac ‘n Cheese.  Why?  I have no idea, I don’t even like mac n cheese.   The idea of Kraft fake powder cheese and a stomach ache is not appealing whatsoever.   But, I took a shot and hoooooly moly.  It was so good.  I kept thinking, “This tastes like Hawaii!”, and I couldn’t pin what it was.  It was the coconut.  The “cheese” was made out of coconut cream, nutritional yeast, horseradish and some magic.

I was torn between all their hashes, the Atlas, and the Black Bean Quinoa Avo burger.  Take a look at Watercourse’s menu to see what they’ve got!

When Laur got into town, we bounced around a few other places in Uptown.  We basically split some food and had a few drinks at each spot.  We wanted to try everything.  So well… we did!  We did a little uptown tour and hit:

  • Jonesy’s Eat Bar:  Famous for their fries, so we just haaad to get the truffle fries.  The ceviche was so-so, but the fries are a must.  And we got a few beers to celebrate being back together, of course.
  • Vine Street Pub:  This is the sister bar to Mountain Sun, a very popular pub in Boulder.  It was highly successful here and named Denver’s best brewpub in its first year.  Naturally, we got beers and split the vegetarian chili to soak it in.  And then we got a tour.  I don’t know if they actually give tours, but we jokingly asked our server, and we actually got a tour!  Sweet.  We were stoked.  It was a fun little tour and on it, I was convinced to try a hop.  That was pretty gross and bitter, don’t ever do that.
  • Park & Co: By the time we got here, we were in need to soak up some of the beers.  So we got the stuffed taters and the roasted vegetable sandwich.  The taters were good, but don’t expect your greasy Sonic tater tots.  They were actual real potatoes!  The veggie sandwich was super good too.  We got more beers, so that is why I can’t really elaborate on the food…

Somehow, after a successful night of eating and drinking, we made it out to Red Rock Amphitheater early in the morning for Yoga on the Rocks with CorePower Yoga.  The drive was absolutely beautiful and then Red Rocks blew us away.  We got to practice with 2000 other yogis and wow… that was something.Yoga on the Rocks | www.thefreshfind.com

Yoga on the Rocks | www.thefreshfind.comYoga on the Rocks | www.thefreshfind.com

After playing and frolicking among the rocks, we hit the road up to Boulder.  There, we had a ton of fun hiking, eating, drinking and biking the town.  I fell in love with the city.  It’s only about a 35-45 min drive from Denver and I definitely recommend going.  Coming soon…. what to do in Boulder!

I’m coming back for you Mile High…

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1 Comment

  • Reply
    Cooper
    October 26, 2014 at 8:56 pm

    Love it all!!

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