When you’re like me, and want to go everyplace you ever see as you lay in bed scrolling through Instagram at night, or have had an “Adventure Awaits” board since the day you got Pinterest. It is no secret for every occasion, big or small, I’d always choose to explore a new city, state, or hey, even different way of life.
I threw around ideas on what to get my boyfriend, Danny, for his birthday, an avid adventurer like myself, plus unusually hard to think of presents for, as nothing seemed fit, or let’s face it, good enough. How I stumbled on Denver, who knows, but to my (not so) surprised self, my 48 hours in this new city left me wanting more.
OKAY, so you want to know my favorite places? Or the places that “you have to go to” in Denver and was not at all impressed? What about the awe-inspiring mountain views? Don’t worry, we’ll get to all of these.
Side note: As I got to San Diego airport, it was a CHILLY, 70 degrees. Let me emphasis chilly, because I was in fact cold. And the temperature for landing in Denver? An unimaginable 20 degrees so I knew I would be in for it. They got snow the day before. The day before for me? I was laying out, soaking up the sun. What a difference a few states can make.
But today, you can get a glimpse into Danny’s birthday weekend in Denver on our accounts of: where to go, where to stay, where to eat, and where to drink.
Where to stay:
Not knowing anything about Denver, location, good/bad parts of town, I picked The Westin and was pleasantly surprised at my blindfolded pick. They even had a little “Happy Birthday” piece of cake for a kickoff to Danny’s birthday celebration. But it was walking distance to 16th street mall, restaurants, and bars! Although the GPS could never get us there, but that might have been copilot, error, WHOOPS!
Where to go:
Of course, Coors Brewery was a must-do for us as Danny was born with a bottle of Coors Light in his hand, we had to go. I think he died and went to heaven. It was almost Charlie and the chocolate factory-esc as they shuttled you into the brewery that looked like a huge building with no doors. And you even get to sample beer at the end! I really just loved the look of a little kid on Christmas morning Danny had on his face the whole time. Also in Golden, there is Lookout Mountain Park where you get a great view of Colorado (worth the drive) and at the top is Buffalo Bill’s grave. 
Boulder, CO. Ugh, this town makes me wish I went to college at University of Colorado, Boulder, just so I could live here. I got fired from my co-pilot job while going here…I put in pearl street mall, a good spot, and GPS said “arrived” and we did not arrive. Our 30 minute drive took a little over an hour, WHOOPS! But we did get there. Pearl Street mall, was what I thought it was- walking around with shops. I was even going to be brave enough to try bone broth at a local coffee shop but they didn’t have any. TONS! of restaurants, bakeries, shops…even got a treat a treat to bring Gatsby home at Farfel’s farm. Boulder mountain, if you still didn’t have a swollen ankle from being broke 5000000 years ago would be an awesome hike #viewsfordays so our drive had to do. It was about 15-20 outside of Boulder.
What to eat/drink:
Mt Fuji Hibachi & Sushi Bar: Where you get to tell the chef it’s your boyfriend’s birthday so they keep pouring sake down his throat, like yes of course I will keep telling them it’s his birthday. Habachi is always a good go to for me because it’s such a fun and interactive meal, PLUS always delicious!
Ice Cream Riot: Where we relived our childhood (or college) days of the love of poptarts. Just with ice cream in the middle…the new and improved version of an ice cream sandwich. And we approve! YUM!
Lodo’s: Of course, we had to watch what we could of the Patriot’s game, and who doesn’t love rooftop bars. And we got their nachos, see below. And yesss the cheesy jalapeno chips were life changing. Plus $3 mimosas on Sunday, count me in!
DJ’s Café: I found this on some blog/pinterest as a must go to. I had high hopes because their sign outside was cute. Danny got their bloody mary (barf) but he said it was good. I was brave and got Chorizo bene (loooove almost every bene). And I hate to say that I wouldn’t get that again. It could have also been the hangover talking, WHOOPS!
Avanti: The killer drinks. This place has a rooftop bar so I of course liked it. But our bar tender was awesome, and made delicious shots and drinks. Green Tea shot, don’t ask me what was in it, just order it. About the rest of the place or drinks, I couldn’t tell you…
All in all, we both LOVED Colorado and expect to be back. Until the next trip….
~ XOXO, happy blogging
1 thought on “48 Hours In Denver”
With more than 200 kinds of beer being produced and served in Denver, you d be missing out if you didn t take a tour of one of their many breweries.