Denver Archives - There Goes Connie

A Piano Begging to be Played

12/02/2015 By: CCPearson2 Comments

What kind of city places painted pianos along the promenade of a downtown pedestrian mall? Progressive, health-conscious Denver does, and the musicians and passerby are richer for it.

I flew to Denver for a conference and stayed in one of the downtown, high-rise hotels. That placed me within an easy walk of a couple of blocks to the 16th Street Mall. As expected, retail stores and sidewalk cafes filled this one-mile path. Unexpected, though, was the presence of musicians of all skill levels, practicing their instruments and hoping to find tip-worthy favor from the casual listeners.

I was first drawn to an accomplished pianist practicing a complicated Chopin etude. A block further down, by ears commiserated with a young man trying to conquer all of the sharps of Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. His tip jar was empty. Bless him.

A young veteran with a compelling tone in his trumpet asked, “What would you like to hear? Something happy? Slow? Jazzy? Gospel?” I said, “Gospel.” He closed his eyes and played Amazing Grace with feeling and fervor. A few minutes later, a fiddler captured my ears with an Appalachian mountain tune, and dueling banjos plucked on the opposite corner.

A piano sat vacant for a few minutes, and it tempted me to add to the cacophony with my own Fur Elise and become a part of this vibrant culture.

I went in search of a salad. I left with ALL of my senses satisfied.

Bravo, Denver.

Denver — Some Recommendations for Your Trip

10/12/2015 By: CCPearson2 Comments

After last week’s post involving a rant and a rave, I think I should follow up with 4 places I would definitely recommend if you’re planning a trip to Denver.

HOTEL — Denver’s Grand Hyatt was great. It is located only 2 blocks from 16th Street Mall, making shopping and restaurants within easy reach. The rooms are quiet and comfortable, and the Green Tea and Cucumber toiletries were delightful. Buffalo art inside the room let me know I wasn’t in Alabama anymore.

I did not have a room high enough to provide a view of the Colorado Rockies, but you might wish to request one. I enjoyed the fact that Denver is actually a city that DOES sleep. Things get very quiet, even downtown, at night, and then they wake back up in the morning. Just as it should be.

My very favorite part though? The wake-up calls. There was “an actual voice” when I requested one at night and another friendly voice telling me “Good Morning” the next day. Nothing automated. Ahhhh.

RESTAURANTS

Rock Bottom Brewery. Just walk 2 blocks and take the free trolley right to it. As I’ve told you before, I don’t drink alcohol, but I went with some new friends from my conference to this place. Besides all of the craft beers offered, they are also famous for their burgers. I chose a grilled chicken dish with roasted broccoli — trying to be good. This has a sports bar atmosphere. The Broncos were playing on several of the TVs and rowdy fans cheered when they could. It was a Thursday night, and there was an SEC game on within my sight, but no one else seemed to notice. No surprise there.
Rialto Cafe. I enjoyed a weekend brunch by myself, and it was delicious. The wait staff was attentive, and no one made me feel weird about eating alone. It, too, is within the mile-long 16th Street Mall and can be reached by walking or taking the trolley.

There are many chain restaurants in the area, but whenever possible, I always like to try a local place and “eat like the natives.”

SIGHTSEEING

During the conference, we were given a 3 1/2 hour time period and told to “explore Denver and come back with a story.” I decided to take a taxi to the Molly Brown House Museum. I figured that anyone who had survived the sinking of the Titanic AND who had a hit musical written about them — The Unsinkable Molly Brown — would be worth a few hours of my time. I learned that she was so much more than just a shipwreck survivor. She was a champion for the rights of the underdog and a generous philanthropist. She got bonus points from me for being able to play the piano and for choosing green as her favorite color. A fun morning.

Although Colorado is synonymous with legalized marijuana these days, it remains a very health-conscious place. It times I almost felt like I “couldn’t even BUY a calorie.” Ha! There was lots of jogging and running, plus many stores catering to skiers, bikers and climbers. The higher altitude didn’t bother me very much (I drank a lot of water). I did enjoy my visit to the city, and I believe you would, too.

Visiting Denver — A RANT and a RAVE

09/28/2015 By: CCPearson2 Comments

This is fresh on my mind because I returned from Denver just a week ago. The Travel Writers Conference that I attended was incredible. I’m SO GLAD I went. But in the interest of informing and helping those of you who might plan to travel to Denver in the future, I’d like to share a couple of thoughts.

First, let’s talk about FRONTIER AIRLINES. To be perfectly fair, the flights from Nashville to Denver and back were smooth, they left on time, and both of them even landed EARLY. Big pluses. However, from a booking and price perspective, I felt like I’d been “baited and switched.” The night before my flight out of Nashville, I received a confirmation e-mail from Frontier asking that I choose my seat. That was okay until I realized that the available seats had various price tags attached to them. What??? The fare that I had already paid didn’t include a SEAT??? First Class doesn’t appear to be a part of the Frontier experience (not that I’d ever be able to fly First Class anyway), but the seats offered ranged from $13 to $35 based on their degree of deluxeness, i.e. legroom. That was bad enough, but then it got worse. I was asked whether I’d be checking a bag or bringing a carry-on. As I’ve stated in a previous post here, I’m a big fan of traveling with only a carry-on. Frontier charges $25 for a checked bag and $30 for a carry-on. You have GOT to be kidding me!!! So, here I was adding an additional $43 to what I had already paid before I ever reached the airport. And, on my flight back from Denver, the seat was $20, and the carry-on was FORTY BUCKS. I kid you not. So, instead of getting a really good price for my ticket, I paid an additional $103 for my seats and my carry-on bag. Sheesh! And during the flight, the only thing free is WATER. No pretzels. Nothing. Anything else comes with a hefty fee.

I checked when I got home, and the available fares for identical flights were listed as Frontier $258, U.S. Airways $269.10, and American $270.60. That, of course, makes it APPEAR that Frontier is the best deal. Now you know the truth. I do not plan to travel on Frontier Airlines again.

On the other hand, I had a very positive experience getting from the airport to my hotel and back with a service called SuperShuttle. What a well-organized, cost-effective, and efficient organization!! As I was powering up my phone once we landed, a message was in my inbox telling me to “click here” when I had my luggage and was ready to leave. At that time, a van number and a passenger number came up, along with precise instructions on how to find my ride. The driver knew who his passengers were, where they were to be delivered, and the most efficient route at his fingertips. And everything, including the tip, could be reserved and paid for in advance. The drivers opened and closed the doors and quickly handled all the luggage. Very courteous and helpful.

My return trip required a 4:30 a.m. wake-up call. !!!! When I reached the hotel lobby at 5:30 a.m., I got a cellphone message saying that my shuttle would arrive within 5 minutes. And it did. Again, the driver knew who to pick up and where, and she knew exactly the order for delivering us to our various departure gates. Impressive. Extremely impressive. Being a 65-year-old woman traveling alone, I especially appreciated the SuperShuttle service. It was a much cheaper and, in my mind, a safer choice. Thank you, SuperShuttle!!

There are MANY great reasons to go to Denver. Here are just two bits of information that might help you in planning your trip.

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