Denver, Colorado

For Spring Break my friend, Alix, and I decided that we were going to take a trip. To begin with, we were browsing warm destinations that we had both dreamed of. However, it quickly became apparent that the warm destinations came with the biggest price tag. Instead, we decided to go with the destination that had the lowest price tag - and that, is how we ended up in Denver, Colorado. Thanks to Student Universe, we paid $300.00 CDN for round trip flights - that is a steal of a deal, in my opinion.

Accommodation:

We debated between an Air BnB, hotels, our a hostel; but, happily went with a hostel when we came across the dreamy Ember Hostel. This place is beautiful!

What originally drew me to Ember Hostel was that the beds had a curtain to create more privacy in the dorm style rooms. In my hostel experience, this is not common, and so I thought that was a huge plus. They provided all linens (yes, even towels) which made packing that much easier. I found the beds really comfortable and the rooms were tidy and well taken care of. We opted for the 8 bedroom all female dorm; but, they have a variety of different room options including a carriage house. There is a storage section under the beds which can be locked if you bring a lock with you.

Second, they had a hot tub. Not just any hot tub, a 12 person hot tub. To top it off, they had patio furniture and a campfire as well, which would be a nice way to end each night. The hostel also provided complimentary coffee, tea, & espresso.

We had two shared bathrooms & four showers on our floor. The bathrooms & showers were always clean and the showers had a waterfall (I don't know if that is what it is called, but that is what I'm calling it) shower head.

The staff were extraordinarily friendly and welcoming. They made a point to greet and connect with us each day, and provided us with any help or direction, as needed. Plus, they had a cool book about spirit animals.

Car Rental:

We decided to rent a car as many of the activities we had planned were across or out of the city. Throughout the trip, we both reiterated how thankful we were that we made the decision to rent a car. It provided us a lot more flexibility in our daily activities.

Itinerary:

Day One: Red Rock Amphitheatre & 16th Street Mall

We landed in Denver at approximately 12:30 p.m., and since we only packed carry ons, we were able to quickly shuffle out of the airport where we were shuttled to our car rental pick up location.

From there, we headed to Red Rock Amphitheatre near Golden, CO. It was definitely worth seeing; however, I wish we would have had the opportunity to take in an event at the amphitheatre rather than just walk around briefly.

Next, we headed to 16th Street Mall. We visited a few shops & had dinner at Yard House. There were so many options on the menu and there were multiple alternatives for dietary restrictions. There are so many dinner options near 16th Street, so if you're looking for something specific I recommend you do your research ahead of time so you know where to go.

16th Street Mall has a free transport service that you can access to swiftly view and access the entire 'strip'. We tried to stay on the bus for as long as possible on our last day when we had nothing to do; turns out, they tell you to get off.

Day Two: DayBreaker, Lookout Mountain, Larimer Square, Pepsi Center/Colorado Avalanche NHL Game.

We were up bright and early today to attend the DayBreaker event at Temple Denver. Daybreaker is a health and wellness event that consists of a morning fitness option (6 am - 7 am) and followed by a two hour dance party. Considering we weren't packed to attend the yoga fitness option, we decided to opt for the dance party only. It was so much fun! The event was galaxy themed so every one had amazing costumes (except for us), there was a live DJ, and multiple surprises throughout the morning. By 9 am, I had fulfilled my Fitbit step count - what a great way to start a morning. Plus, there was free kombucha, coffee, and other health food snacks. If you're anywhere and there is a Daybreaker event, GO! Also, if you're in Denver, I recommend you go check out Temple Nightclub - such a cool building.

Then, we stopped at Corner Beet for brunch. So. Good. I have been trying to recreate their menu at home because it was so dang good.

Next, we headed to Lookout Mountain. I had thought Lookout Mountain was a hike; however, you can just drive to the top. There is a hiking option but we were told it just follows the road. So, I was fairly disappointed. It was still beautiful, don't get me wrong. I just think that the view is always that much better when you have worked your butt off to get to the top.

We decided to have a slow afternoon at our hostel - so Alix had a nap and I read and attempted to be a barista at the espresso machine.

Then, we headed to Larimer Square. I would have loved to spend more time exploring Larimer Square as there are a lot of restaurants and shopping boutiques. Unfortunately, mother nature decided to down pour as we were pulling into our parking stall, so we did our best to check out as many stores as possible, but eventually got cold and opted for happy hour drinks and food instead. Corridor 44 had $4.00 champagne cocktails for happy hour - did we come across heaven? I'm a dedicated mimosa girl, but I decided to be a little adventurous and try a few different cocktails which were all delicious. Next, we headed to Tamayo for dinner.

After, we had tickets to the Avalanche vs. Flyers game at the Pepsi Center which was a lot of fun. Parking was quite expensive, so if the weather is decent I'd recommend parking elsewhere and walking, if possible.

Corner Beet

Lookout Mountain

Lookout Mountain

Day Three: Voodoo Doughnut, Garden of the Gods, Seven Falls, Tattered Cover.

First stop, Voodoo Doughnut. Doughnuts for breakfast? Uh, yes.

You MUST stop at Voodoo Doughnut if you are in a city with one of their locations. I would say I am a fairly calm/mellow person overall, but the moment I walked into that shop I have never been so tempted to jump a counter and begin stuffing as many of their doughnuts into my mouth as possible.

Anyways, now that I got that off my chest... I decided to get the peanut butter Oreo doughnut as well as an M&M doughnut. The Oreo doughnut probably falls into the top 5 best things I have ate in my life category. I was expecting the doughnuts to be expensive (obviously willing to pay the price because.. doughnuts!) but they were so reasonably priced - which meant I had to buy a second.

Next, we headed to Colorado Springs. First, we stopped at the Garden of the Gods. This place was so beautiful and provided a lot of walking trails so you could explore for as long or as far as you wanted.

Then, we went to Seven Falls. Seven Falls requires you to park in a parking lot in a residential area where they then provide a complimentary shuttle to the Seven Falls park. There is an entry fee at the park, I believe we paid $10 US but spring/summer rates are a bit higher. You can also pay $2 US to take a shuttle to the base of the falls or you can walk the distance, which is an easy and scenic walk.

Once at the base of the falls, there are 200+ steps to climb alongside the falls.

On the way back to Denver, we stopped at an outlet mall near Castlerock: https://www.outletsatcastlerock.com/directory/. Fransesca's is probably one of the cutest boutiques I have ever been in. I would have bought all their décor and more had I brought more than a carry on.

We had both heard a lot about Tattered Cover, so we made a stop at here as well. We spent close to an hour here browsing and shopping (then we stopped at another location the next day too).

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods

Garden of the Gods

Balanced Rock

Seven Falls

Seven Falls

Day Four:

We had great plans for today and they did not work out. We were up at 6 am and then checked out and headed to Snooze at Union Station for breakfast. Then, we had intended to go to the Mile High Flea Market; however, neither of us had any US cash left and didn't want to take any out. So, we kiboshed that plan, and figured we would find other ways to fill our time. Considering we got up so freakin' early.. we had a lot of time to kill until our flight.

So, we spent a while at Tattered Cover. Then we hopped on the 16th Street free mall bus and attempted to ride it for as long as possible, but they told us we had to get off. Then we tried to get ice cream but turns out it was 'too early' for ice cream. Get real. So, then we decided to go to the airport early.

At the airport, we took the transit to all the different terminals, visited a lot of stores, ate a lot of snacks, played airport bingo...only to find out our flight had been delayed another 2 hours.

And that's a wrap on Colorado.

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Colorado was never on my bucket list, but I am so happy that we ended up in Denver. It was an awesome easy and inexpensive get away... with a lot of good eats.