May 6, 2023 - Denver Day 1

Flight to Denver > Ghost Tour

I have been lazy, tired, or simply apathetic to post. Saturday was a long day with a short night, since I did the lights at Rocky. By the way, if you are local to Atlanta, go to the Plaza on Friday night at 11 (get there earlier) for the funnest, cheapest time you can have. Only $15 to support a great theater and to see a great movie AND shadow cast with me helping on the lights.

Yeah, so I went to Denver because Scott's Cheap Flights had a deal ($158) for a return flight. Denver is on my list, mainly for Molly Brown's House (I visit it tomorrow.)

I have an excellent AirBnB in the Capitol Hill neighborhood and it was walking distance to my first tour - The Twilight Ghost Tour. We walked around and Jessica told us ye old standard ghost stories, but it was nevertheless fun and I learned some history.

May 7, 2023 - Denver Day 2

Downtown Walking Tour > Buffalo Bill Museum > Pinball > Columbine



This was an incredibly busy day. I started it off with a LODO (lower downtown) Walking Tour, then went to Buffalo Bill's Museum, a pinball joint, and then I went to Columbine High School and visited the memorial. 

We covered a lot of places on the tour, some of which I have pics. 

I then wanted to go to the mountains (I rented a car) and saw that Buffalo Bill had a museum here. It was his last wish to be buried on the mountains overlooking Denver. Seemed like a good place to go to. 

Since pinball is my thing, I found a place called the Colorado Pinball Pub. I went there to have a late lunch and play some of the new Foo Fighters game. 

Then I realized I was in Littleton. I looked up and went to Columbine High School then walked up to the memorial which is in the park next door. It was a very moving moment for me. 4/20/99 - 12 kids and a teacher lost their lives. The memorial is very somber and very plain with (short) life stories on each of the victims.

May 8, 2023 - Denver Day 3

Food Tour > Little Man Ice Cream

This was my food tour day. It started from downtown which is about 3.5 miles away. It was a pretty day so I walked it. I did take an Uber back to the AirBnB though.

Melissa was our food tour guide.

This tour had 5 stops:
Certified Neapolitan pizza at Marco's Coal Fired pizza - damn it was GOOD! Ah, it was eaten before I got a pic.
Beef Empanada at Lazo Empanadas - original Argentinian recipe with 14 layer pastry
Green Chile at Cherry Cricket - I heard from several folks that Green Chile is a Denver Specialty
Waygu Brisket on Fry Bread at Kachinas - Native Americans were departed from Arizona to New Mexico and could not get their normal ingredients and were subsidized by the American government with wheat. They didn't know how to prepare it, so fried it. It was damn good.
Pastel de Nata from Ultreia in Union Station. Though I didn't snap a pic of the place or the inside of Union Station (nor the outside), the desert was a fine finishing touch to the tour.

One of the suggestions from Melissa was Little Man Ice Cream, so I drove there and got a malted chocolate milkshake and chocolate ice cream. NO I DID NOT eat them all at once. The ice cream is patiently waiting in the freezer, doing what ice cream does - chilling. 

May 9, 2023 - Denver Day 4

Molly Brown Museum > Marco's Pizza > Mountains > Colorado History Center

This is my final full day in Denver since I'm heading back tomorrow. 

The main thing I wanted to do in Denver was visit the Molly Brown Museum. Margaret was famed as the heroine of the Titanic - Kathy Bates played her in Titanic, but she did a lot more than the fictional stuff in the movie. Her life was amazing - she helped women get the vote, helped those in need, and just in general was a good person overall.

I followed that with lunch at Marco's Coal Fired Pizza. I loved the pizza yesterday so got the same but with pepperoni. And no, I didn't eat it at one sitting. 

Next I wanted to see some mountains closer so started driving westwards. I got close enough to a spot called Buffalo Herd Overlook and got a pic of snowy mountains. Rockies probably. 

I was looking for something else to fill the day and came across the Colorado History Center. There was an amazing story about a massacre at Sand Creek. I would have said "you Americans" were awful, but now I can say "we Americans" were awful. I didn't realize we were such horrible people. Of course, I also didn't realize that Colorado was the largest producer of ores in the States. All I can say is that for every bad person in the US, there are at least 1000 good people and I think that makes the difference why I am positive about this country. 

Denver Final Thoughts

Denver was on my list mainly because of Margaret Brown (The Unsinkable Molly Brown.) She did a lot more than just be a survivor of the Titanic. A good part of her life was dedicated to help others.

Going to Columbine High School had not been on my plan but at the Pinball Pub, I recognized the city of Littleton and then just headed there. Though I don't have a lot of photos of the place or the memorial, it moved me a lot just thinking of those victims.

Denver has a lot of dispensaries - I didn't partake since me smoking weed is the same as me having a drink - I go to sleep and it's just a waste of money.

Denver is a city I'd like to visit again. The time of year I picked was perfect (May) and I'm sure the summer and early fall would be pleasant as well.

Denver Itinerary - Saturday May 6 - May 10, 2023