Denver, Colorado
May 13–17, 2022
May 13–17, 2022
I arrived in Denver at 7:30 am, just in time to pick up my sister from the airport. She had some flight credit she absolutely had to use before June, so we made plans to spend the weekend together in Denver and spend a later weekend together in Nashville. This marked the first time anyone other than me has slept in the van, and the first time more than one human has slept in the van at the same time. I popped up the top bed and Lauren took the regular bed, reliving the time 30 years ago when we slept in the same arrangement in our childhood bunk beds.
We got an amazing breakfast at Four Friends Kitchen right away, then we took the boys to the first of an eventual four visits to the Greenway Off-Leash Dog Park, one of the best I’ve found on my entire trip. We checked in at our Hipcamp site behind Counterpath, a community and art space that also features an indie publishing house, a free bookstore, and a food bank on Friday evenings. The spot was nice, and I got to ogle the gorgeous old signs from back when the venue was a Bell gas station, but unfortunately we also had a bit of drama. Late Saturday night, there was gunfire in the alley right next to our spot, with some sort of altercation emanating from the house across the alley. Lulu and I crouched on the floor of the van with the lights off until the coast seemed clear, but it was a heavy moment. I don’t believe anyone actually got hurt, and the experience only solidified my feelings on gun control. Truly, nothing like this has happened on my entire trip, and I can’t believe it had to happen when my sister was visiting. She probably thinks my whole life is like that!
On Saturday, we roamed around RiNo (the River North Art District), the Lower Highlands, and other neighborhoods on foot, enjoying the graffiti, murals, and signage. I got surprisingly delicious fried-oyster tacos at Tammen’s Fish Market, a tasty tequila-mezcal-ginger cocktail from Curio, a salted caramel kouign amman from Izzio, and a caramel s’more from Temper, all in Denver Central Market. We waded through the crowds trying to get in to the Rockies game, dodged all the lunatics on Lime scooters, and eventually made our way to Linger Eatuaries, a fabulous restaurant and bar located in the former Olinger Mortuaries building. The food and drink were delicious, and the macabre decor (including large stills from Harold & Maude) was right up my alley.
On my sister’s last day in town, we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park and did a bit of wandering in the woods and driving up steep, winding mountain roads. My Floridian sister got to see snow for the first time in years! I wish we could have spent more time, but after a few hours we had to zip over to Fort Collins to have a picnic and dog hang with my lovely friend Steff. (Unfortunately, we neglected to get a single photo.) Then it was time to drop Lauren off at the airport.
I spent my two nights in Denver in Berkeley Lake Park, right next to the old Lakeside Amusement Park. I watched the total lunar eclipse from the patio of a bar called Local 46, bemoaning the light pollution of such a big city but enjoying the sight nonetheless. The next day, I had brunch at Bacon Social House and then met up with another grad school friend I’d only ever met over Zoom, Leah Chutz. We barhopped and dined on wings and lumpia rolls, and she was just as rad as I had imagined. The next morning, I hit the road east once more, heading for the land of Dorothy.
We got an amazing breakfast at Four Friends Kitchen right away, then we took the boys to the first of an eventual four visits to the Greenway Off-Leash Dog Park, one of the best I’ve found on my entire trip. We checked in at our Hipcamp site behind Counterpath, a community and art space that also features an indie publishing house, a free bookstore, and a food bank on Friday evenings. The spot was nice, and I got to ogle the gorgeous old signs from back when the venue was a Bell gas station, but unfortunately we also had a bit of drama. Late Saturday night, there was gunfire in the alley right next to our spot, with some sort of altercation emanating from the house across the alley. Lulu and I crouched on the floor of the van with the lights off until the coast seemed clear, but it was a heavy moment. I don’t believe anyone actually got hurt, and the experience only solidified my feelings on gun control. Truly, nothing like this has happened on my entire trip, and I can’t believe it had to happen when my sister was visiting. She probably thinks my whole life is like that!
On Saturday, we roamed around RiNo (the River North Art District), the Lower Highlands, and other neighborhoods on foot, enjoying the graffiti, murals, and signage. I got surprisingly delicious fried-oyster tacos at Tammen’s Fish Market, a tasty tequila-mezcal-ginger cocktail from Curio, a salted caramel kouign amman from Izzio, and a caramel s’more from Temper, all in Denver Central Market. We waded through the crowds trying to get in to the Rockies game, dodged all the lunatics on Lime scooters, and eventually made our way to Linger Eatuaries, a fabulous restaurant and bar located in the former Olinger Mortuaries building. The food and drink were delicious, and the macabre decor (including large stills from Harold & Maude) was right up my alley.
On my sister’s last day in town, we drove to Rocky Mountain National Park and did a bit of wandering in the woods and driving up steep, winding mountain roads. My Floridian sister got to see snow for the first time in years! I wish we could have spent more time, but after a few hours we had to zip over to Fort Collins to have a picnic and dog hang with my lovely friend Steff. (Unfortunately, we neglected to get a single photo.) Then it was time to drop Lauren off at the airport.
I spent my two nights in Denver in Berkeley Lake Park, right next to the old Lakeside Amusement Park. I watched the total lunar eclipse from the patio of a bar called Local 46, bemoaning the light pollution of such a big city but enjoying the sight nonetheless. The next day, I had brunch at Bacon Social House and then met up with another grad school friend I’d only ever met over Zoom, Leah Chutz. We barhopped and dined on wings and lumpia rolls, and she was just as rad as I had imagined. The next morning, I hit the road east once more, heading for the land of Dorothy.
