Mountain West Trip: Denver, CO

Thank you for following along on our Mountain West Trip. This is the last post for this trip. Today I am talking about what we did the last day in half, all of which was spent in and around Denver, CO.

We had a few things on our list for Denver. First two things were Denver Mint and Coors Brewing Company. The Denver Mint wasn’t doing tours that day for some reason, so we headed over to Coors Brewing Company for a tour. It’s $10 for non-Colorado residents ($5 if you live in CO) and it includes a full tour, a commemorative glass, and three 8 oz. samples. For Alex, who was only 15 at the time, he got all you can drink soda with his ticket. Coors is located in Golden, CO, which is 12 miles (19 km) east to Denver. We just drove through it since Rob and I had already walked around last time we were there and the boys weren’t interested in walking around.

There was logistical things at the beginning that were a little nightmarish. They could do a few things to clear up a very long wait once you take the bus from the meet up spot over to the brewery. We stood in about 30 minute line waiting to pay. After that you can move at your own pace as you listen to the self-guided tour on a phone you hold up to your ear.

Next on the agenda was Casa Bonita is a 52,000 square foot restaurant with 1,000 guest seats!

There is a 30 foot high waterfall that is the center point of the restaurant. Although not all seats have views of this. Former Olympic divers come work here and put on shows by diving into the 14 feet deep pool. After you pay be sure to walk around. Check out Black Bart’s secret hideout, puppet shows and more! You are there for the entertainment and ambiance, not the food!

You walk behind the water fall, which you see here.

After actually getting quite stuffed, we headed downtown to take in some sights. We went to the Flagship REI store, which is any Boy Scouts dream. They have a rock wall and some really cool displays. This is the view from across the river. It’s a big store!

Denver is such a beautiful, clean city.

Famous Union Station is located in LoDo district. In 2012, the station had a major renovation done. The majority of the terminal building’s upper levels have now become the 112-room Crawford Hotel with the 12,000 square feet Great Hall on the ground level serving as the hotel lobby, public space, and train waiting room and an additional 22,000 square feet of the ground level serving as 10 independent retail and restaurants.

Then, we headed towards Coors Field. Look in the top left hand corner of this picture below. See the mountains? What a beautiful view!

This was our 2nd time at Coors Field and I it definitely confirmed that it’s our favorite modern MLB stadium. It has so many cool features and the walkway behind the seats is nice and wide to allow for easier traffic flow. The fountains in the outfield with the trees is just beautiful.

My little brother, Justin, lives in a suburb of Denver, so we invited him to meet up with us for the game. He has such a special place in my heart. I just wished we lived closer!

The next day we only had a few hours to kill before we had to say our goodbyes to Drew and head to the airport. We went over to Red Rocks Amphitheater, which is a gorgeous outdoor concert venue. People workout there as well, so there were lots of people there; running stairs, doing lunges, and really working up a sweat.

Look to the left of Alex. You can see downtown Denver!

What an amazing trip we had! 10 days, 4 states, countless miles, and so many great memories!

If you’d like to see more pics from our day click>>>Day 9 Pics Day 10 Pics

See full list of posts from this trip>>>Mountain West Trip

Look next Tuesday for my next Mountain West Trip post where we spend on our day in Denver, CO.

Camera Info:
Canon EOS 6D DSLR Camera
Canon EF 24–105mm f/4L IS II USM Lens
Canon PowerShot G7 X Mark II
iPhone 7