DAY 25: Denver.....The Mile HIgh City

I didn't know quite what to think about Denver. I had heard both good and bad. I had passed through it once some thirty years ago on my way to the Rocky Mountains but never had spent any time in it. So with a sense of curiosity I pulled into town. I checked in at the Oxford Hotel, which was to be my home for the next four days. The Oxford is the oldest hotel in Denver, which sounds much grander than it is. For much of its history it was a flop house and brothel only being re-gentrified in the late 1980's with the re-birth of the "LoDo" or Lower Downtown section of Denver. But the hotel was lovely and had the charm that you would expect of a grand old hotel. My over sized suite was quite traditional though the view out the windows was lacking.

Denver was to begin my transition back to work as I was here for my trade association convention. I was looking forward to this part as my wheels were already turning towards work and  I thought that this would get me fired up for the return. It was a good call.

A friend of mine, Debbie Barber, happened to be in town at the same time. She has a daughter and son-in-law who live in Denver so Debbie was going to be a travel guide and companion for the day. We first headed up to Boulder, about thirty minutes north of Denver to hike in and take in the Flatiron Mountains, just to the west. Boulder is a lovely town, home of the University of Colorado. So lovely a town with so lovely a setting, it is beyond me that the U of C sport teams are as bad as they are. What a lure this town and area should be. One of the prettiest places that I have been.

We began with a walk up Pearl Street, a renewed area of shops and restaurants and street performers of all types. A heritage dance and music show was in progress.

After a stop for a bite to eat we headed up to the Flatirons.


The problem with a place like Boulder and the Flatirons is that every ten feet you want to stop to take another picture, so pretty is the area. I am sure that after a while you get use to it, but first trip through it is just spectacular. In our conversation, Deb and I figured out that the real transition with this area is changing from someone who just stands and stares, camera in hand, and goes "Wow!' to someone who is actively involved someway, either hiking or biking or climbing. But today was to be a pretty much "Wow Day" with a good meal or two thrown in.

At the direction of a friend and fraternity brother of mine, Steve Piper, who lives in Denver, we headed up to N-CAR, which stands for National Center for Atmospheric Research, and you could see why this place is in Boulder. On our route up the GPS led us through some neighborhood and residential streets. As we meandered and turned through the neighborhood, I found myself saying, "Boy, I wish that some child had a lemonade stand here" when around the next bend, almost immediately, there were two young girls sitting at a table selling lemonade and popcorn. Anyone who has been with me knows that I stop at all lemonade stands as a way of encouraging this entrepreneurial  spirit in kids. Always telling them how good it is, over tipping, and fluffing the kids pillow as to what a wonderful job they are doing. So I stopped the jeep almost in the middle of the road, hopped out with Debbie and approached the stand. "Two glasses of your lemonade" I said to the smiles of the two young girls behind the table. "Would you like some popcorn too?" asked the one little girl as she offered up an almost empty bowl of popcorn. Her mother approached with a full bowl of popcorn and joining the conversation said "The girls seem to be eating more popcorn then they are selling" to smiles and some laughter all around.

Eventually our conversation got us around to the "where are you from" question from the mom. "Well, Debbie is from Tuscon", I said. "And I am from Pittsburgh." The mom responded with a quizzical head turn and replied "I am from Tuscon.....and my husband is from Pittsburgh". Do do do do.....do do do do. It was truly a Twilight Zone moment. It was nice to meet the Rudman Family.

After some more conversation it was time to be off up to N-CAR, which as Steve had told us, did not disappoint.

Finally back in Denver and after a wonderful dinner at an Italian  restaurant called "Venice", Debbie and I set off on a little walk to burn off some dinner. Our meandering found us at one of the stops of the "Free 16th Street Mall Bus" where we stood just looking over the map as a bus pulled up to drop off and pick up the few passengers around.

As the doors were about to close I grabbed Debbie by the hand and pulled her onto the bus, startling both her and the bus driver. Now on the bus, we had no idea where we were going. Some lively bus banter with some other riders followed until it was time to get off or so we assumed. Now exiting the bus we had no clue as to where we were. As I stood with my I-phone out trying to make heads or tails of our location, along came a bicycle rickshaw. The driver stopped and asked if he could help us. Telling him where we were trying to get to, he replied "It has been a slow night and I would gladly take you down just for a tip." So, off we went in the bicycle rickshaw to both our delight and the driver's.

 Bennie, the driver, had been doing this for some time here, in New York and in Vancouver all the while trying to hone a career as a standup comedian. Perfect, as he bore a resemblance to Dave Coulier, from the old "Full House" television series. This was fun as he weaved us all over lower downtown. From the lights of Larimer Street to the confluence of the Platte River and Cherry Creek, he weaved and bobbed and darted us through and around and against traffic, often on sidewalks, always with the perfect measure of where this bicycle rickshaw could go sharing history and insights to Denver that we would never have gathered. I never knew how fun this could be, but it certainly was, at one point my companion Debbie shouting "Woo hoo" as we headed down the ramp along the river. A wonderful nightcap to a wonderful day.

The next day began my work transition with meetings and seminars and exhibit halls. Well timed for me as it got me thinking of the days ahead back home with my business and gave me some food for thought as to things I might do and implement upon returning home.

 I was able to squeeze in a visit with my friend and fraternity brother Steve Piper and his companion Marsha, and it was nice to catch up and share some of those "whatever happened to" or "did  you hear about so and so" stories with him. Monday night I had an invitation to the US Motors Party on the 27th floor of the Hyatt overlooking the Rockies, complete with a Marilyn Monroe look alike, A Frank Sinatra sound alike and some great food and casino games.

I enjoyed Denver and will be back. This city and the surrounding area holds quite an attraction. I found it a fun vibrant city with good food and good people and the views around it can't be beat.