Denver Airport:

If you know me well,  you know that Nisheet and I have a tradition of going on vacation around Labor Day. The weather is still decent, we can use less vacation days from work because of the holiday, and a lot of kids have started school and aren’t traveling. This year, we decided to check out Colorado, and in particular, Denver and the Rocky Mountain National Park. I’ve always heard great things about Colorado and how breathtaking the views are, but nothing could have prepared me for it. It was simply amazing and was one of my favorite trips I have ever taken in my life.

To start the trip, I drove to Michigan, so we could fly out of Grand Rapids instead of one of the busy Chicago airports. We were flying Frontier, so we had to do a bit of coordinating with the packing since they (like most other airlines) charge for checking a bag. We were able to pack everything we needed (including a day pack for hiking, jackets for cool mornings, and shoes for hiking) in one backpack and one rolling duffle bag. Then we were on our way!

Frontier is a cheap airline, and I suppose you get for what you pay for. Don’t expect a free coke (or dare I say snacks) on the plane. Don’t even ask for water unless you want to fork over your credit card. I did find out that they will give you some ice for free though, so if you are really on a budget, just let the ice melt and you have water! Every seat comes with a TV on the back of the seat in front of you, but that comes with a charge too. And, if you don’t swipe your credit card, ads will show during the entire flight. There is no ON/OFF switch, so when you get really annoyed by it (and I’m sure you will unless you are the elderly lady sitting in front of me that seemed quite entertained), just dim the brightness until the screen goes blank. Problem solved. Other than those small issues, the airline is just a typical airline. It wasn’t the worst airline I’ve ever been on by any means. That award goes to Spirit.

Once we finally arrived in Denver, we rented a car from Alamo (because you can (currently) add a second driver for free if you are a member), and headed towards our first stop. Lunch!

Golden:

We decided to get lunch in Golden, CO since we wanted to go to Coors before we hit micro-breweries in Denver. Yelp directed us to a little sandwich shop called D’deli. I highly recommend it! We split a Piggly Wiggly (ham, bacon, cream cheese, guacamole, salsa, fried onions, sprouts, and tomatoes) and  it was simply delicious!

After lunch, we walked around Golden a bit. It is a very cute town that has an old western feel to it. It also has a river that looked great to tube down. We were on a mission though to tour Coors, so we skipped the tubing and headed on our way. Neither of of us are very big fans of Coors, but the tour is actually quite fun. There are signs warning you not to bring bags or purses into the building, and be warned, the signs are very serious. They gave me a little grief about taking a small point and shoot camera case in, but they let me through. Other ladies nearby that brought small purses were forced to return to their car and put them away. There isn’t an actual guide for your tour, but you are given a headset free of charge. As you wander through, you will of course learn about beer, but they also have old vintage nick-knacks that are pretty cool. The best part comes at the end of the tour. First, you get to see the bottling (which was closed when we were there due to maintenance… boo). Second, you get 3 free beers!

Back to Denver:

We were feeling pretty good after the tour, and since we still had a few hours of daylight left, we decided to check out the REI flagship store in Denver. I was a little dissapointed. It was my fault. I should have done more research. Don’t get me wrong; the store is huge! There is a mini bike trail that you can test a bike on before buying it, and there is a rock climbing wall inside too (though the wall was closed). The building itself was neat too because it was a converted train station. However, I was dissapointed because I found out it isn’t the only flagship store, it isn’t the biggest REI, and I just expected more.

To end the day, we went to the Denver Beer Co. which is just down the street from REI. I’m not a huge beer drinker, but I tend to like the darker beers better. They didn’t have a big selection of dark beers (maybe one), but it was decent enough. The atmosphere was very relaxing. Half of the tables were inside and half were outside under Christmas lights. They also had some board games to make the place even more chill, and it was surprisingly family and dog friendly. It was entertaining to watch the kids try to pet the dogs and the dogs not caring and sleeping under chairs. One unique thing we found here (and several other breweries we went to) was that they didn’t serve food except for pretzels (quite tasty!) or peanuts. Instead, there was a food truck outside. The night we were there, they were serving tacos which were quite good except way too spicy for me. I didn’t realize how bland the food is in the Midwest compared to Colorado.