Denver Vacation

If you're up for a run, the Bolder Boulder takes place on Monday morning.  It's a huge 10k with about 55,000 participants.  You can register at Dick's Sporting Goods or in Boulder on the morning of the race.

A great place to eat in Denver is Tamayo (just off Larimer Square).  The nightlife in downtown Denver is pretty active, especially on Friday and Saturday nights. 

Hope you have a nice trip!

some good suggestions on here.  Bolder-Boulder is a fun experience but at this point you would most likely be stuck in one of the last waves...so that would tie up a lot of your morning.  But there are lots of things to do in Boulder.  Jefferson County Open Space does have some great hikes outside of Denver.  I would suggest Elk Meadow/Bergan Peak, Deer Creek or Lair of the Bear.  As far as restaurants and microbreweries, Lower Downtown has  alot to choose from.  If you don't want to mess with parking downtown lightrail will get you down there if you are staying near a station.   Have fun!  Attached below is the link for Jeffco Open Space.

 http://co.jefferson.co.us/openspace/openspace_T56_R108.htm

I've lived here 6 years and never had a desire to go. 

For restaurants in Denver I'd suggest Rioja, Root Down, Olivea, Duo, Panzano, Vesta Dipping Grill, Osteria Marco, Lime, Marco's Wood Fired Pizza and Euclid Hall.  Some of these I've eaten in personally, others I've tasted at a recent food festival. 

Breweries I'd suggest Wynkoop. 

Bolder Boulder is an experience for sure.  If you have a qualifying time you can still get into earlier waves, otherwise you'd be back a ways.  The Boulder Creek festival is fun.

I moved here from Dallas. Steak is the name of the game, and Columbine Steakhouse is the place in Denver. $15 cash only gets you a sirloin, potato, salad, and drink. corner of 1st and Federal, east hand side of the road. Kind of a hole in the wall, but the food is great and the price is unbeatable. It is an old family owned steak house for over 50yrs. They know beef.

If Mt. Evans is open, make the drive. Awesome views, but Sat and Sun may be stormy, so avoid it then. Only drivable 14er in the nation. Worth the $7, but bring a digital camera. You can also go by Buffalo Bills Grave and Museum on the way. There is the Idaho Springs Hot Bath and Hot pool, along with Beaujos pizza. Then you can hit Central City/Black Hawk on the way back to Denver. That is the casino district.

Red Rocks Amphitheater is cool. There are good hikes, and cool scenery from there. That is also a local training spot for beginning hills.

Downtown Denver has the 16th St mall, cool evening outing. There is a US Mint tour you can go on, along with the capitol tour. Some really cool old architecture in down town. A lunch time picnic at confluence park is always fun. It is also close to Six Flags and the Aquarium. If you are a baseball fan, catch a Rockies game. Rock Pile seats for like $7.The Breckenridge Brewery is across the street from the stadium.

If you snow ski, ABasin is still open.

If your up for a long, slow, beautiful drive go out 285 to Jefferson, about 85 miles. The South Park valley is a beautiful high mountain valley that will take you over Kenosha Pass. It is a state highway over the pass, so nothing serious road wise. You can also go over Guanilla Pass and get back on I70 for a different way back to Denver. That would be more like a two lane country road in TX.

Hope you enjoy your trip. It is a very fun place. Always something different to do, and most of the time within an hours drive.

This is what i would be doing if I was in Denver, and a lot younger, a lot hipper, and didn't have a couple of kids, and wasn't going to be ripping up the slickrock of Moab this weekend

Denver Day of Rock, Gin Blossoms, Samples, the lame guy from Styxx, and a hundred other bands, all free on five stages around downtown Denver.

http://denverdayofrock.com/?page_id=1028

Then I would drink too much on Sunday and still run the Bolder Boulder, because I always seemed to be hung over running the Bolder Boulder, every year, for 7 or 8 years, it wasn't pretty.

Lame.  Casa Bonita ROCKS!  If your like 5 or so.  It's become a once a year birthday tradition in our house, lord, help us find our way out of that.  Do I sound conflicted?  That's how Casa Bonita makes one feel, a guilty pleasure, unless you eat the food, then there will be no pleasure for you the rest of the night.

Skip Casa unless your bringing a carload of kids with you and just go downtown and hang out and listen to the music: )

Great recommendations- Rioja is supposed to be amazing.  Vesta is a must-do if you are in Denver.  I'd personally skip Lime unless you're only going for margaritas.  Rio Grande is also fun, and you MUST try a beer @ Wynkoop.  Have a great trip!

Funny, I feel like the only reason to go to Rio Grande is for the margaritas. 

NO WAY you just called Dennis DeYoung the lame guy from Styx!    That guy IS Styx!

Someone mentioned The Mint and i had to chime in and boycott that place.    We made reservations 2 months ahead of time.    We arrived 14 minutes early when we were told 15......yes 14 minutes.    The big fat jerk officer at the gate had already moved our tour group AND the standby's through processing in the 1 minute we arrived late.    The tour started at 1pm and we got there at 1246, literally.    Fat jerk bascially told us we should be more prompt and follow rules and comeback when we could do that!   This was with my wife and 8 year old and another family with small kids in the same position we were.  So i guess i should have called ahead and asked to synchronized my watch with the fat gatekeeper so i wouldn't be 1 minute late.   Boycott the Mint.

Anyhow, good recommendtions.   I'd be careful doing Mt Evans or anywhere else with alot of altitude the first day or so.   I went up Mt Evans the 2nd day i lived here and almost passed out driving from Altitude sickness.

I find it ironic that you were sick for a week after CB but recommend it to our poor unsuspecting guest.    I am sure that some day I'll get dragged there and have duly noted the sopapillas and beer recs. 

I've been here 10 years, too, and JUST made my first foray to Casa Bonita in March. With my almost-5 year old and his 4 year old cousin. They LOVED it. It's well worth it simply for the spectacle (NOT the food, except the aforementioned sopapillas), but I wouldn't count it as a must-do tourist destination!

And I have to agree with Xmann on Dennis DeYoung. My XH and I saw him years ago in NYC, accompanied by a symphony orchestra, and it was AWESOME. Ok, not everybody's taste, but if you like Styx, he rocks!