Denver with kids : Things to Do

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Bacon and Buffalo Wing Soda....why not?

Bacon and Buffalo Wing Soda….why not?

 National Parks Road Trip: Part 3 – Denver

On our final leg of the Colorado portion of our National Parks Road Trip, we visited the wonderful city of Denver.  With limited time, we had to decide how to spend our one and a half days in the city.   We had to narrow down the things we wanted to do while we were in Denver with the kids.  Family trips are different than couples or friends trips, so we had to research and make some decisions about what to do.  These are some things to do in Denver with kids, some of which we did and some we will do next time!

 

Things we did in Denver with the kids:

 

Kitty Piddle Soda, anyone?

Kitty Piddle Soda, anyone?

1. Rocket Fizz

Considering that I don’t even drink soda, nor do I eat buffalo wings or bacon (I know, I know…), you would think this would have been a big miss.  You would be wrong.  Most of the time, if the kids are happy, I am happy too.  And they LOVED this place.   They have an incredible amount of candy and soda flavors that are unusual and really fun.  It’s a kiddie dream come true!  It was easy to walk to as we were walking around the city center, so we were able to burn off some of those candy and soda calories.

 

Coors Field for a Colorado Rockies Game

Coors Field for a Colorado Rockies Game

 

2. Colorado Rockies Game at Coors Field

For my husband, our short list of things to do almost always means visiting a ballpark if the team is in town while we are.  We were lucky that the Colorado Rockies were playing, and we were able to get some great tickets to see the game with our friends (the aforementioned excellent Travelling Companions).  The kids were super excited to be featured on the Jumbotron & this was one of the highlights of the entire trip for them.  The stadium was a modern park in the retro style. For the truly brave, try the rocky mountain oysters at the concession stand.  If you know me or have read this blog, obviously I did NOT try these.  But the others did…yum?

 

Painted pianos along the 16th Street Mall in Denver

Painted pianos along the 16th Street Mall in Denver

3.  16th Street Pedestrian Mall

Close to our hotel (see review here) was the 16th Street Mall, which is a pedestrian promenade with shops, restaurants and cafes.  There are pretty painted pianos (say that 3 times fast!) all along the tree-lined center of the road.  The mall is a mile-long and there is a free shuttle that runs down the center.  We walked here from our hotel & had lunch at one of the many restaurants.

 

 More family things to do in Denver: Next Time

- Denver Zoo

- Children’s Museum of Denver

- Denver Museum of Nature and Science

- Hammond’s Candies Factory Tours

 

Rocky Mountain National Park & Grand Lake – Colorado

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See Part 1: National Parks Road Trip: Colorado – Estes Park & YMCA of the Rockies

 

RMNP sign

 

National Parks Road Trip: Part 2 – Rocky Mountain National Park & Grand Lake Colorado

 

ROCKY MOUNTAIN NATIONAL PARK

Wow! What a great way to start a trip that involved visiting a whole bunch of national and state parks.  Everything about Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado was breathtaking, pretty much literally because of the high altitude.  We drove through the park on Trail Ridge Road, which rises to 12,000 feet, stopping along the way at various outlooks and hiking spots.  The kids completed the Junior Ranger program, which I highly recommend as a way to force your kid to do something educational while on vacation.  I also learned way more than I would have just driving through the park, so that’s a bonus too. Plus it’s free and you get a badge and booklet to keep as souvenirs.

This is what you see everywhere...amazing!

This is what you see everywhere…amazing!

We saw lots of wildlife, including elk, moose, and these really cute little chipmunk looking things (which, according to our Rocky Mountain National Park Junior Ranger booklet, were called Least Chipmunks), possibly the cutest animals ever.   We also traversed the Continental Divide, which we were interested to learn is an actual thing (you probably already knew that though).

Elk spotting!

Elk spotting!

 

Cont divide sign

Warning: Our travel buddies were in their rental car behind us and had to white-knuckle the drive for much of the time due to an extreme fear of heights.  We watched them in our rear-view mirror slowly inching along the road while doing deep breathing exercises. They did it, so it can be done.  But just be warned that this is a high and windy road, and at times you feel like you are practically in an airplane.  A good thing for those of us who do not have this fear.  For our friends, not so much.

 

GRAND LAKE

On the other side of RMNP is Grand Lake, Colorado.  A lovely little town with a rustic looking main street with shops, restaurants, and a playground (good for the kids while waiting for a table at a nearby restaurant).  We stayed one night at the Gateway Inn, which was a decent lodge-style accommodation.  They let us book for only one night, which wasn’t the case for most of the local hotels.  The balcony had a beautiful view of the lake, and the rooms were themed with rustic décor to match the feel of the town.  They have a ‘lively’ locals bar scene, which only became apparent that night as we were trying to get the kids to sleep.  It is not an ideal family hotel, but it was fine for one night.

View of Grand Lake from balcony at the Gateway Inn

View of Grand Lake from balcony at the Gateway Inn

SPLURGE: We rented a pontoon boat on the lake, which is always a preferred family activity for us.  We had a boat large enough for our 2 families, and it was a nice and relaxing way to spend an afternoon and enjoy some Grand Lake scenery.

Renting this boat was so much fun & totally worth the splurge!

Renting this boat was so much fun & totally worth the splurge!

 

Next up: Denver

Estes Park & YMCA of the Rockies – Colorado

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Peak to Peak Scenic Byway

Peak to Peak Scenic Byway

 

National Parks Road Trip: Part 1 – Estes Park, Colorado

We flew from Philadelphia to Denver on Southwest (using miles from Southwest Chase card), rented a car, had lunch in Boulder and made our way toward Estes Park via the Peak to Peak Scenic Byway.  The drive was gorgeous with beautiful views in every direction. In fact, I can pretty much say that about this entire journey of thousands of miles, so please bear with me & try not to get sick of it.

We are lucky enough to have friends who are excellent travel companions for our whole family. It’s not easy to find people that you truly like, enjoy being with, AND can travel well with.  But we have them & they met us in Estes Park and stayed with us for the Colorado portion of this trip.  The kids enjoyed having some friends to play with, and so did we!

 

Entrance to the YMCA of the Rockies

Entrance to the YMCA of the Rockies

 

YMCA of the ROCKIES

We spent 2 nights at the YMCA of the Rockies in the Wind River Lodge.  This is a family camp style of accommodation.  There are several different lodges and also lots of cabins that can be rented.  The cabins were sold out when we booked our stay, otherwise we would have stayed in one of them.  The lodge we chose was one of the newer ones, and was a 2 story building with balconies (and gorgeous views). The rooms do not have televisions or typical hotel amenities.  Our room had 2 double beds, a small table, and a small bathroom.

View from our balcony - YMCA of the Rockies

View from our balcony – YMCA of the Rockies

 

YMCA of the Rockies

YMCA of the Rockies – Some of the activities

There are lots of activities here, including a great art center, horseback riding, hikes, and much more. The downside of staying only 2 nights is that you have to sign up for the activities a couple of days before, so most of the things that we really wanted to do (such as horseback riding) were sold out by the time we got there.  I would suggest staying longer than 2 nights or trying to call ahead to ask about the possibility of booking over the phone.   We were able to do some things, like a fun nighttime nature hike, that were not already completely booked.  The art center has different types of crafts that people can pay for.  We did tie dye, mosaics, and some painting.

Walkway to the Art Center

Walkway to the Art Center

The food was mediocre at best.  It reminded me of something that I would have had at summer camp (so pretty appropriate for a camp-style setting). Being a picky eater doesn’t really help, but this was my least favorite part of this place & a reason why I would want to have a cabin with cooking facilities if we ever come back.  There was one main “restaurant” with a buffet style set up.  There was a sit-down restaurant as well, but it seemed overpriced for the food choices.

 

ESTES PARK

This is a super cute little town.  I really liked walking around and just soaking up the atmosphere. We had dinner and got some (really good) ice cream.   There are lots of touristy kinds of shops, and we had fun browsing and walking through the shops.  Also importantly, Estes Park is the gateway into Rocky Mountain National Park.  The air just feels clean and crisp there.  I kind of wanted to move there.

 

Next Up:  Rocky Mountain National Park & Grand Lake, CO

Residence Inn Denver City Center – Hotel Review

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Hotel Review: Residence Inn Denver City Center

We spent one night at this hotel as a part of a very long trip in which we visited 5 states and 7 National Parks.  We were able to do a lot in the short amount of time we had in Denver (see this post), and the location of this hotel was helpful for that.   The Residence Inn Denver City Center is located within walking distance to many of the attractions.  We walked to the 16th Street Mall (very close) and to Coors Field (a bit further, but we needed the exercise) from here.

Residence Inn hotels are Marriott’s all-suite style of hotels.  They are often marketed toward business travelers with extended stays, but I also think that they can be perfect for families.   This particular Residence Inn was very clean and updated.  The room that we had was very large, with a kitchen, living room, dining area, and bedroom.   I like these kinds of rooms because we can spread out.  I also like having a kitchen area because we can often save money on snacks (and some meals on longer stays).   The breakfast was included in the dining area near the lobby, and I thought it was great for a ‘free’ breakfast.  It is included in the price of your stay, which for us was free!

How did we get this hotel for free?

At the time when we stayed at this hotel (July 2013), it was 20,000 Marriott points per night.   At the time the hotel was going for about $275+ tax per night, so we got a great deal by using our points and getting it for free.  Note: you don’t have to pay the tax on free point redemption nights, so the savings is even greater than the room rate.

My husband had gotten this Marriott credit card from Chase.  At the time when he got the card, and at the time of this writing (these things can change quickly and often) the card offered:

- Earn 70,000 points after spending $1,000 within 3 months

- 1 free night stay now (at Category 1-4 hotel)

- 1 free night stay every year (at Category 1-5 hotel) after account anniversary (and after paying annual fee)

- $0 annual fee for the first year, $85 each year after

-  5 points for every $1 spent at over 3600 Marriott Locations

- 2 points for every $1 spent on airline tickets purchased directly with the airline, and at car rental agencies & restaurants

- 1 point for every $1 spent on purchases anywhere else

So just by getting this one credit card we were able to stay at this and some other hotels for free!