If You're Visiting Denver

----------------- Original Message -----------------
From: XXXXXXXXXXX
Date: Jan 9, 2009 3:28 AM


I'll be in denver this weekend f-m. Whats there to do? You mentioned hiking but i think its too cold for me.

-XXXXXXXXXXX




(hmm... this is a long list... but it was a good opportunity for me to get to write... I may post it somewhere so other people can read it too)

Let's see... if you're staying in the city, during the day there are plenty of museums just around down town, like, around 13th and Broadway there's a sweet Colorado History Museum. They can tell you where other museums are if museums are your thing. The Natural History Museum has grizzly bears and wolves and pumas and dinosaurs and exhibits about africa. It's at 17th and Colorado and if you're there near closing time (4-5pm) and you look West from the big windows on that side of the building, or stand in that park there (city park) in front of it, you get some of the best sunset views in the city of the whole front range lit up.

For stuff that involves music and drinking...

The Backwards records people in Denver do a night on Fridays (tonight) at the Cosmos lounge at W 14th and Klamath, where they spin decent music and sometimes have local bands play. The turn out isn't always that great though. It's more of a place to hang out and have a beer than it is a dance club.

Saturday is one of Denver's biggest club nights at a place that was called "The Shelter" but now is called "The Milk Bar" because they made part of it look like the milk bar from Clockwork Orange. The address is 1037 Broadway. The entrance is through the back, in the North-South running alley there behind and South from the drive through of the Arbys. You should see it by a buncha people dressed in black smoking on the patio outside. Well there are hot goths there, PBR is I think $1 before 10, and admission (doors open at 9) is free before 10... It's your usual mix of generic new school 'industrial' crap you can't distinguish but they do play some good old school now and then, puppy, revco, etc... You can also request things and they may play it. Incidentally this same night occurs at the same place on Wednesdays as well.

Sunday night at the Church is kinda the same deal as the shelter. The church was an old church that got turned into a club, so it has two levels. You want to enter the lower level where goth stuff happens. It's at 12th and Lincoln. Enter on the Lincoln street side. Some dude will be standing there checking ids by the open door. It's also free before 10 (doors at 9). They rip you off on beer prices (like $5 for a bud, crazy) but well drinks are only $2. Woohoo! You'll figure it out pretty quick if you go there, but the main room you first enter downstairs has shitty acoustics that kill the low end on everything they play, and they mostly play generic new school 'hard' 'industrial' that isn't too good... the other room is darker, has very good acoustics, and they play more of a mix of goth stuff/old school industrial stuff/ cheezy new school 'industrial' stuff that gets people dancing to it...

Cafe Netherworld has pool, plays goth/industrial/punk music 24/7, has the internet, coffee, and good drink prices. They also serve food until 1 am, but be careful because like many denver bars they set their clock 15 mintues fast. It's at 13th and Pennsylvania.

Check out the Wax Tracks Records, just East a bit on 13th street from Netherworld. Also, farther East up this street there are some of those stores that sell 'goth' looking clothes if that is your thing.

"Benders" has a bar and a dance club area. It's got a great mix of people between hipsters, goths, punks, rockability people, and random normal people. They have 24 oz PBR cans and some of the nicest, friendliest people in any bar in Denver. Monday is open mic night, and Tuesday and Thursday they do Kareoke.

Also The Sputnik, in the "south of colfax" night club area ( http://www.sputnikdenver.com/ ) is a nice bar, which also has food. They own the high dive next door which has live music from time to time.

Other things...

Never go to the pep boys at Alameda and Broadway because they rip you off.

The only 24 hour internet cafe/restaurant is called "Leela's European Cafe" on 15th street downtown between stout and champa. They serve good food all hours and are always open. Coffee is 2.50. Sometimes they play bad music and the bartenders may have attitudes, though lately they have hired some nicer ones. Some sketchy folks hang out there but there are many nice people there too. Be careful if you park late on the street because they have street sweeping from like 2am-4am and you can get a $25 ticket for parking there. Also if you think you can sleep on the couches in the back think again because they kick people out for doing that.

Other internet/coffee places are 'hooked on colfax' on East Colfax between Adams and Steele, 'fluid connect' at 19th and Pennsylvania, and well, there are a buncha other places too. Here is a list:

http://www.denvercoffeespots.com/

For 24 hour food you just drive up E colfax and see the following places:

Tom's Diner, on E Colfax right by Washington or Clarkson Streets, on the left (N) side of the street.

Pete's Kitchen (probably best food, usually no wait if you just eat by yourself at the bar. Try the chicken kabob sandwich) further up Colfax, at Colfax and Race (1962 E Colfax Ave), on the right (S) side of the street. The Mexican place next door is owned by the same people and also pretty good. They are open late but not 24 hours.

Directly across the street from this place is "Mama's Kitchen". The food is cheaper but less good.

I also think there is a 24 hour diner around colfax and W 14th but I forget the name and exact location....

If you like to read check out the central library at 12th and Broadway. The western history reading room on the fifth floor down the hall to the left from the elevators is pretty cool.

If you like art galleries the 'art gallery district' starts at around Alameda and Santa Fe, and runs North up Santa Fe to about Colfax. Santa Fe incidentally is a one way street.


Other cool stuff:

Start at about Colfax and Broadway and walk East on Colfax and see what kind of drugs you get offered. The first time I tried this some dude paid me in xanax to drive him to his house. Wild...

Other drug dealers apparently hang out in Civic Center park, around Colfax and Broadway, just across from the state capital, apparently.

Mezcal around E Colfax and Steele on the right (S) side of the street across from the 'blue bird' night club and has good dollar tacos from like 10pm to close (1 or 2 I think) and cheap beer as well as great tequila.

The "Hipster Bar" is across the street is called "the rock bar" where you can pay $3 for the privilege of drinking PBR among other equally hip suckers.

And, I know you didn't say hiking, but, some cool stuff:

If you drive to Golden on Hwy 6 (at the base of the foothills) you can climb up North or South Table Mountain, which are the big flat mountains formed by ancient lava flows. They are only about 1,000 feet higher than the surrounding plains, but they have a great view of the city of Denver from their Eastern Edges, and herds of deer and birds of prey live on them.

Driving up hwy 6 into the foothills a little bit looks pretty cool. There are casinos up that way at black hawk and central city. Be careful though because there are a lot of deer in the foothills now who've been driven down from higher elevations by the snow and you can accidentally hit one on those roads if you're driving too fast at night.


And lastly....

The best, biggest, and cheapest liqour store that I know of in Denver is called Argonaut at Clarkson and E Colfax. They recently expanded into a huge new building and they have everything.

The cheapest shittiest motel I know of in Denver is called "Motel 5" on Alameda, just west of the traintracks, the hwy, and Santa Fe BLVD. For 30 something a night you can sleep in a room that smells like it's been cleaned with human piss disenfectant. There is another cheap motel thing on Broadway somewhere south of downtown on the left and before the cross streets stop having numbers.

There are a lot of neighborhoods that don't seem to mind you sleeping in a car by them. If you're going south on Broadway, between 3rd street or so, and Alameda, just turn R (West) a bit and find a dark corner somewhere. It's also convenient to sleep in your car off Adams or Steele by the hooked on colfax. Just make sure you wake up before the sun rises.


Here is the Denver weather forecast.

here is the Front Range mountain forecast.

Have fun!