My boo (aka Vince) and I wanted to do a really quick weekend getaway. We always try to travel on a budget and search for as many free or low cost for admission activities whenever possible. To save on commute for gas and taxis, we look for the best location to stay. Our car rental this trip was also pretty darn cheap through “TURO” which is like an AirBnB for cars. The Turo service is convenient and pretty darn awesome! It was $30 per day, less than $40 for an AWD car. If you haven’t tried it here’s a link to save you $25 bucks on your first ride , from me 🙂 https://turo.com/c/lmpcwe
We also saved even more money by renting a room through AirBnb which was only about $60 per night before fees. ( If you are also new to using Airbnb , here’s a special offer to save you some bucks, actually $40! on your first stay also from me 🙂 . That’s like a free one night stay $$$!!!, just click the following link here: 👉🏼 https://abnb.me/e/34t1KwPpbQ )
Not to mention the flight itself was a good deal because we have the SouthWest Companion Pass: buy one get one free ticket every time we fly. The only thing we were willing to splurge on was food. Why go into all this detail about where we saved money on this trip? All this is just a friendly FYI to everyone that traveling is possible even for people with little budget! It just takes a little extra planning and research and goes to show that it doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg.
Denver is for people who really like spending time doing outdoorsy kind of activities. Mainly during the winter time Colorado has some of the best snow activities like snowboarding and skiing. For the off season, there’s plenty of good hiking and biking trails. When we came in mid April, it was quite a mix of weather. We experienced some light snow fall, followed by rain showers, with some sprinkling the next day, and then sunny all at once.
For this trip, we stuck to the immediate metro area of the city and didn’t drive out to any of the pretty nature scenic areas due to our limited time here. (If you do have time, make the drive out to Boulder.) Instead, our main focus for this trip was to satisfy our bellies and seek out some really good local food. We WILL have to come back for some hikes and winter powder next time around!
So here’s the list of things that we ate, saw, and did in “THE MILE HIGH CITY”..
Day 1: We had a late flight coming in so we wanted dinner ASAP. Our first stop? The Source.
THE SOURCE was a really cool, hip trendy food hall we came across. The crowd was lively as groups of friends gathered around to kick off the weekend with some drinks and grub. At first glance, The Source also looked like a great place for a date night with that special someone 😉 The initial place (can’t even remember the name) we wanted to eat at was reservations only. Upon scanning through their menu we decided it was not for us. So, onto the next place!
There were other options available inside The Source. There were restaurants which served wine & other alcoholic beverages, Japanese cuisine, and Mexican / Spanish food.. but none of these tickled our fancy this night. So, with our bellies still empty, we opted out of here and continued our search.
With the help of Yelp, we found our selves at THE ROOT DOWN (images below).
O M G, seriously, this was the most delicious dinner I’ve had in a long time. I wish we had eaten here again before we left Denver or at least saved it for last. This place was absolutely delicious. We started off with the special for the night, a burrata with prosciutto over bruschetta; salty, creamy, savory, and crunchy. This momentarily satisfied our hunger while we waited for the main courses to arrive..
The mains my boo and I shared were the flat iron steak and the T-bone lamb. The star of the night, though, was the T-bone lamb. Just the thought of it is making my mouth water all over again: perfectly cooked medium rare with a crisp exterior and a warm, juicy center. The surrounding sorghum apricot, preserved lemon, cardamom, and date jus complimented the lamb with additional flavor. I would honestly just fly in all the way from Cali if I could eat this again.
Day 2: After getting some rest, we started our day out with some coffee. Here at AMETHYST COFFEE. I love the ambiance here; people studying, simple and clean and minimalist decor. My darling got a plain black columbian drip with a apple cinnamon donut. I got a matcha latte with a toasted buttery choco croissant. While we drank coffee we planned the rest of the day out for which sites to see.
Just 2-3 blocks from the coffee shop is the heart of the city, CIVIC CENTER PARK. Lots of government buildings, culture, art, and architecture. They have free guided walking tours at certain times but we were able to show ourselves around with one of those maps you get at the airport.
THE DENVER STATE CAPITOL BUILDING
CIVIC CENTER PARK- structures of art and large green fields of grass and flowers.
The Denver Public Library is always a cool place to check out.
THE MUSEUM OF ART- which is immediately behind the library. And yes, they do offer student discounts!
OTHER FREE THINGS (sorta) :
THE 16th STREET MALL- If you need some commercial retail therapy , hit this place up. An entire street , about 1 1/4 miles long full of different shops, restaurants, and the cinemas. What I really appreciated was the free bus that runs along the entire strip mall which stops at each intersection which saved us a lot of energy from all the walking around all day.
Also at the North end of the 16th Street and accessible by free bus where you’ll go to the LoDo Disctrict, you’ll find TATTERED COVER , a cute little indie bookstore. One of few bookstores to still be standing. They also have a coffee shop within the bookstore. They have a really comprehensive children’s book section.
And just a block or two from the bookstore is UNION STATION! A train station, which also doubles as a food hall. It is SOOOO pretty and feels a little upscale and fancy shmancy inside but still casual. I could sit and people watch all day here if I could. There’s a really large communal seating area in the center and is surrounded by different food vendors and shops including Snooze an A.M. Eatery, Terminal Bar, The Crawford Hotel, ACME Delicatessen, and a flower shop Bloom by Anuschka.
For lunch this day, we went to THE DENVER CENTRAL MARKET. I would say this of all the food halls was my favorite. It seemed to be the busiest also of the ones we were able to visit. Shops include Temper Chocolate for fancy bon bons and truffles, High Point Creamery for ice cream flights, Culture Meat and Cheese for Charcuterie, The Local Butcher for fresh cuts of meat, Izzio for artisan baked goods, Curio Bar for drinks and cocktails, SK Provisions rotisserie, VERO Italian cuisine, Crema Bodega for coffee, Tammen’s Fish Market for seafood, and Green Seed for salads and fresh produce.
Dinner:
We wanted to have a slightly nicer dinner, so we decided on Ototo , which is a Japanese izakaya restaurant, small dishes/tapas style. Located outside of, in the the suburbs of the city. It’s definitely a nice date night spot. Ambiance is casual, hip and trendy. Reservations probably are best, luckily we were just able to walk-in without wait because it was Saturdate night and fairly busy. Nice ambiance and they do have a happy hour menu but still a little but on the pricier side $$$/$$$$. You’ll have to try for yourself.
Day 3:
THE HABIT DISPENSARY– Two things Vince and I both enjoy, coffee and donuts! Another cool and hipster coffee shop; hip-hop, Kendrick Lamar on blast. It was actually hot during our last day in CO, so we both ordered iced coffees. Also, coincidentally we were here during 4/20 weekend. We’re not into marijuana at all but my boyfriend ordered the CBD coffee unknowingly just because it sounded good. The server/cashier lady explained , “you’ll get a chill body high, not so much a head high” which sort of confused our naive minds and just brushed it off. So we looked up what CBD oil , or Cannibidiol, it’s a non-psychedelic chemical byproduct of certain marijuana strains, unlike THC it doesn’t provide a hallucinogenic or “high” affect. Well, my boyfriend said he did like the feeling it gave him but the effect didn’t last very long. I ordered the chai-tro which was also the most delicious and refreshing coffee I’ve had; cinnaminny chai taste, coffee base, and a minty cool aftertaste in my mouth. The pink blueberry donuts were also yummy and we both also received one-free donut with our YELP check-in!
Honorable mentions of more places to see which are also FREE:
Don’t forget to take your selfie with the BIG BLUE BEAR at the Colorado Convention Center.
STANLEY MARKETPLACE . The LARGEST of all the food halls. More shops and more food and more bars.
The Denver Center of Performing Arts
Hope you find this useful!!
-Stay Curious!
