Explorations of Denver...

Our day started well. We had a delicious fast breakfast at our Art Hotel where we could see the Rockies from our breakfast table. L & J were like "Wow" whereas I just thought they looked almost exactly like the Adelaide Hills. J actually rolled her eyes when I said that. Hello adolescence!!!

The Art Hotel gave us a courtesy car ride to Union Station to meet our tour guides (which we'd organised independently, so this was good of them). Our two absolutely delightful 'docents' (which means volunteer guides) from the Denver Historical Society were there at the flagpole to meet us with warmth, enthusiasm and professionalism. Diane and Bobbie wore logo'd polo shirts and co-hosted our tour. We were the only ones on it, so we had the best experience. This was a heritage architecture tour of the LoDo District surrounding Union Station, opened in 1881. It was the hub of the new railway push into the Western Frontier, and the wealth of well constructed and supremely sturdy warehouses and distribution centres in the area is quite extraordinary.

Within ten minutes of starting the 90 minute tour our guides had completely transformed our understanding of what we were looking at. The streetscapes all around us came to life in a new way. Once we got a grasp of their architectural vernacular, and their purpose, it was terrifically exciting. We learned so much, about brick work, in particular, and we greatly enjoyed it. I was particularly interested to find similarities in appreciation of aspects of built heritage such as 'Ghost Signs' which we in Ballarat are also developing a keener interest in recently, or at least more explicitly than previously.

Denver is an amazing city. It's a mile above sea level, which explains my tight chest and my being short of breath - I was pretty worried last night and this morning, but once the women explained it to me, I'm like, "Oh, phew... So I'm not about to have a heart attack." Turns out J was having the same thoughts. And it's hot and dry here. It was 37 degrees today, in the shade, but felt more like 47. Big, bright blue skies and a sense of unique conditions. People here are pretty zesty. It's a city with a pulse. That much I've worked out. Locals here are mad keen on scooter riding, which struck me as very hip. There are scooters everywhere you look!

Anyway, we toured the oldest hotel in Denver, the Oxford, and had a private peek at their hyper Art Deco Cruise Room Bar, shaped like a wine bottle, illuminated in watermelon pink light, with all the trimmings, including booths, circular bar stools in chrome and a jukebox. It opened the very day after prohibition ended in America, and is the most authentic, kick-arse, cool bar I have ever seen in my life, with music to match. 

After the tour ended we felt compelled to visit a few of the places the women had pointed out on the tour. This included the iconic store Rockmount Ranch Wear, owned by a man named Papa Jack.  He actually invented those press dud buttons everyone had on their western shirts in the 1970s.  We spent about 30 minutes in there admiring everything and learning all about the legacy of the man who lived to be 107. This was the best cowboy and cowgal store imaginable.

We went back to the main wooden clad and general bar area of the Oxford, with it's ornate, gold pressed metal ceiling, for refreshments and a light bite to eat, because air conditioning is important to experience whenever possible. It was impossibly hot outside. I had a cocktail called a 'Kentucky Smash' and shared some lobster nuggets with J. Both items were utterly delicious. We figured it was our last (mini) meal in America. After that we visited the bookstore we saw on our tour called the Tattered Cover. That was an absolute barn, and so ambient with dark wooden shelves and lush, soft chocolate leather lounge chairs. The aesthetic of Denver is highly appealing to us.

I realised by mid afternoon, that I would really love to comeback here and spent four nights, so I can visit all the museums and galleries, and do a whole lot more. I'd stay AirBnB and plan it really carefully, but regardless of whether or not that ever happens, I am so glad we were able to come see and touch this place. It's one of America's the fastest growing cities.

We made sure we checked out Larimer Sqaure before we left, and then we grabbed the free shuttle bus all the way down 16th Street, to Broadway. That was eleven big city blocks we did not have to walk. Next we walked just four blocks across to 12th Street, past the grand civic square, with monumentally impressive state buildings at each end of the square. That was populated mostly by the homeless, and therefore not frequented by many other people. Just as we got to our mirrored Art Hotel, ready to take the private limo service we'd booked (it's only $4 dearer than a taxi, and so much nicer) I saw the sign that made me feel ill. 

The Colorado History Museum which looks and sounds superb in all dimensions, especially re digital  and interactive displays, was directly opposite our Hotel and  open all day!!! I sware I checked the opening days of at least four or five museums I wanted to visit and they were all closed on Mondays. And now, having left downtown Denver at 3.30pm to be fully on time for our flights home to Melbourne, Australia, our departing flight was delayed nine times, and is now scheduled to fly at 12.30am, arriving in Los Angeles two hours later. So we've missed our international flight home, and we will have spent 8.5 hours today at the Airport. So I could have gone to the Colorado History Museum after-all!!!  Growl.

Dipping into Denver...

This morning we bid farewell to beautiful Boston, and grabbed a cab to the Airport with a nice Muslim driver.  Were pleased with our time in Boston and especially with how comfortable Boston felt. I really did not expect it to be so warm, in all senses of the word.

Upon checking in we found our flight had been delayed, again. Originally I booked this particular flight because I wanted to leave at 10am and arrive by midday (thanks to time changes) so as to create a full afternoon to explore the art galleries of Denver Colorado. Most American galleries are closed on Mondays, but i figured so long as we had the Sunday, I could at least visit the one closest to our hotel, the Art Hotel. Right? Wrong. It was changed to 11am a few months ago, then 12 midday, now 1pm, and by the time all was said an done it had been delayed again, and we finally left at 1.45pm. Thanks United! No art gallery for me today.

For months I've wished I'd booked 3 nights in Denver to maximise the chance to check everything out. But the cost of changing my bargain priced tickets was insane, so we're stuck with what it is: one evening and most of tomorrow through until almost 4pm, when we need to leave for the airport again.  Still, it shaves 4 hours off the trip, which is worth it, rather than adding to the massive journey. Furthermore, if we had been flying to Melbourne tonight, we would have missed our onward connection, so would be pretty stressed by now. Have to just hope tomorrow's planned departure is on time. If not, we may get that Los Angeles stopover we'd contemplated after-all!

When we landed at Denver Airport, I expected to see the Rocky Mountain Ranges, but no. I was reticent to grab a cab, given how many complete clowns we've encountered when taking a random cab from the Airport, but Laurie thought it remained the best option.  We had a guy from Haiti or the Dominican Republic, wearing a Pork Pie hat. The Airport is way out in the middle of nowhere, but as we got closer to the city and entered the outskirts it all looked rough and rugged, and we saw several clusters of homeless people under bridges, in little parks and at the intersections.  One was holding a cardboard sign by the road side saying "Give me anything but watermelon."

We arrived at the Art Hotel by 6pm (which for us was 8pm Boston time, as we've gained two hours). Once we'd checked out our room, with it's 'city views', which doesn't mean much at all, we ate the complimentary nut mixes and all puzzled over how it could have taken ten whole hours to travel from Boston to Denver door to door.

This evening we had a couple of bevvies and some eats on the Terrace, and called that dinner. Had a great waitress. A major law firm were having a function on more than half of the Terrace area, so we had the benefit of enjoying their string sextet. We're pretty tired from all this travelling, and Laurie is looking forward to going home. This hotel seems perfect for one night. Doesn't seem 'arty' to us at all, but architecturally the externals are fairly post-modern and wild. As for the internals and general decor, however, it's just a simple, contemporary approach. I've only seen one artistic piece in the foyer - a sculpture of a horse - that's it. Well, that's not technically true. There are a few other pieces here and there and a few paintings on the walls in public areas. There is also a catalogue style booklet outlining all of the art displayed (sparingly) throughout the hotel, which I presume is by well established artists. I haven't had time to read the detail on that just yet.

I've stayed at three 'Art Hotels' in Australia's Victoria; the Olsen, the Larwill and the Schaller, all part of the same chain (and completely different to this one obviously). I like them, and they are at least somewhat arty! I also find them very clean (partly because they're often in old hospitals - either that or they're quite new!) and respectful of everyone's privacy. The rooms are full of peppy and uplifting appointments, they serve excellent quality food, have good magazine and book areas, stylish lounge areas, complimentary jars of confectionary and generally speaking everyone who stays at them looks reasonably interesting. These are a commercial take on it all, but at least they have their heart visibly in the right place. That said, I've stayed at plenty of Arty Hotels, that are not labelled as such, in Sydney, Canberra and Wellington. We also stayed at Moira Mirka's Tolarno hotel in St Kilda a few times, and an early entry art hotel in East Berlin in 2001. Anyway... All I'm saying is that this here Denver hotel is great, but it has very little to do with promoting the arts in general!

Tomorrow we're off to explore Denver, so I look forward to reporting back on our findings.

Denver Dreaming...

I fully acknowledge that Denver, Colorado, may seem like a rather weird choice as the final addition to our trip, focused as it is on five supremely heritage rich cities, but...

When discussing our journey home from Boston, we experienced considerable disagreement within our little family over where to stop over for a sleep. We were all agreed that we needed to break the journey. My daughter and I were pro Los Angeles, but my husband can be absolutely inflexible in his views sometimes, and this was one of those occasions. He absolutely refuses to leave Los Angeles Airport. As he's already been to Hawaii, he sees no need what-so-ever to go there again either. So this ruled out our two most obvious stop-over options.

Meanwhile, my daughter and I are now 'not-so-secretly' plotting a trip to Los Angeles and Honolulu together for her 21st. If you deny certain people the opportunity to do what they want to do, it can make them all the more determined! She'll have to earn her own money, and pay her own way, of course, but it's just something that has initiated a shared 'Mum & Daughter' goal, and we think that's kinda cool. She hopes to work or study in LA one day, so at the very least I expect to have the chance to check on her well-being, and sleep on her grungy fold out sofa some time within the next decade. I have promised her I won't stay too long, or cramp her style...

Back to the main storyline - Thankfully we were all adamant that we have to stop somewhere to break the long-haul journey, so when looking at the options with United Airlines (our budget airline of choice), we found we had to think about their hub cities, and Denver is a big one for them. As it happened, my husband approved Denver, in principle. I do not know why. I don't think he does either, other than to say, "That would be interesting." Given it's a four hour flight from Boston to Denver, I immediately thought "OK. I can live with that - It will break the trip."

We'll be there in Summer, so the mountain views will be clear. As we all know, the ultra rich go there for the ski season, but I had read recently that Denver is rising up the ranks as a year round destination and lifestyle choice for the young and hip. I'm not claiming to be young, but the 'hip' category appealed to me.

I promptly investigated the main Denver art scene and found they have two major art museums. What I neglected to do was check their opening days... So anyway, I booked us in for one night at the newly opened Art Hotel, adjacent to the Denver Art Museum. This is the only night in our entire trip that we're actually staying at a more-or-less conventional hotel, but it does look quite suitable for a final pit-stop, to just dip in and out of.

We originally planned a few hours spare on the Sunday afternoon to meander about the Art Museum at a leisurely pace, but as UA have pushed our arrival time out by over an hour, we'll be lucky to squeeze in one whole hour before they close for the weekend. Fingers crossed we can even do that! Denver's art establishments are all closed on Mondays, which is super annoying. I guess we'll just have to find a park to hang out in on Monday: like Civic Centre Park or City Park... as we have to check out at 11am, but do not fly til 6.45pm that night.

In the final analysis, just to have the chance to eye-ball Denver will be an unexpected treat, as will the opportunity to lay our heads down on soft 5 star pillows and stretch out our limbs for the night.

I actually think this will be a pretty cool way to wind up our trip. I now kind of wish we'd booked in for a few nights there... I've always liked their music and the way they have both kinds on offer...

Then we fly home, via LA... This will be my sixth trip to the U.S. in which L.A. is the gateway, but I never get to leave the Airport. Maybe one day...

I was thrilled, however, to learn that they've finally enabled some decent food outlets and retail stores to populate the Los Angeles Airport lounge areas. About time! I could never understand how the world's 'greatest' capitalist nation had so little to offer consumers in transit. You could always buy a 'candy bar' from a news kiosk, along with a copy of 'Dwell' magazine, or similar, but that was about the extent of options for indulgence, when spending eight or so hours in-between flights. Just nuts!

Now, there's Champagne and oyster bars at the ready, apparently... Whatever they have there, I'll be sure to report on my findings, come the time.