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Touring Denver: The Ultimate Denver Guide

October 7, 2016

Last weekend I had the pleasure of hosting two of my best girl friends FIRST weekend in Denver. Both of them had spent time in the mountains, but neither had spent any time in Denver. The pressure to show them a great weekend was on. I contacted some of my Denver girls and asked for their must haves.

Coti and Jen arrived around 6pm on Friday night and we we're doing Denver things until I dropped them at the airport Sunday afternoon. It was a jam-packed weekend full of food, cocktails, snapchats and laughs. It was one for the record books and I cannot wait until our next girls trip. See ya next October, Portland!

Let's start with some Denver history:

Denver really does sit at a mile high. There is a step on the State Capital Building that is exactly 5,280 feet about sea level. Golf balls go further, tennis balls are hit harder, the sun feels hotter and alcohol packs more of a punch.
Denver was founded on November 22, 1858 and the Denver metro currently has 3,418,876 people.
Denver has 300 days of sunshine. Did you know this was used to convince people to come out and build the railroad? It worked!
Denver is not in the mountains, it's near them. Our views are spectacular.
Denver is the second highest educated city.
We have seven profession sports teams! GO BRONCOS.
The Broncos just became the winniest team in history. How does that taste Kobe?
Denver brews more beer than any city in the nation.
There is a blue horse as you enter the airport (the largest airport in terms of land in the country) and it's cursed. It fell on it's sculptor and killed him. The horse has red eyes. Yikes.
There are more marijuana dispensaries than Starbucks.

It is really easy to find amazing stuff to do in Denver. The nightlife is amazing, the food is some of the best I've eaten and the views are spectacular. Make sure when you come you bring both a jacket and shorts. The weather here is crazy, but beautiful. Oh, and make sure you are doing Denver right by bringing your best girls. That always makes life more fun. Let's get to it shall we?

FOOD:

Colt & Gray: It's a must go. They describe themselves as a locally owned and operated neighborhood restaurant serving the highest quality food and drink in an elegant yet comfortable environment. I am not joking when I say this is a must. We started with oysters and a charcuterie board and shared the mushroom soup. We sipped on dirty (filthy for Coti!) martinis and amazing cocktails. Okay, we indulged! We shared the ciopionni and the roasted chicken. Oh and to top it off, we got home made cheesecake. It was too good not too!
Osteria Marco: This is one of our favorite places. It sits on Larimer Street, which is the most darling little street. It's cozy, comfy and has the best homemade burrata I've ever tried. We take all of our friends here. It's the best place to share a bottle of red wine and a charcuterie (yes, we love cheese boards.) IF you go you have to try the burrata. Homemade mozzarella stuffed with homemade ricotta. It's to die for. Split a wood-fired pizza and a bottle of wine and you are all set!
Linger: Great food, great rooftop and bottomless mimosas. Linger serves, brunch, lunch and dinner but I LOVE it for brunch. It is semi asian-food inspired with some chorizo and nutella waffles thrown in. We all got a different bun; pork belly, dragon, pork and Mongolian beef. Coti and Jen got ramen and I got a Banh Mi sandwich. Blood orange mimosas on the rooftop to follow. The cool thing about Linger is it used to be a mortuary called Olinger (see the picture below).

Colt & Gray: Charcuterie, Oysters, Chicken and Ciopionni

Linger: Ramen, the Original sign and Chorizo tacos!

COFFEE AND SNACKS:

Little Man Ice Cream: The cutest little ice cream spot in the Highlands. Get there early or your wait will be crazy! Delicious flavors, vintage outfits and the best photo opps.
Black Eye Coffee: It was named the number one Instagramable coffee shop! And it does not disappoint! We sipped on delicious coffee and split an avocado toast. So delicious and so cute. The copper and gold accents make this place the cutest coffee shop around.
VooDoo Doughnut: This originates out of Oregon and has the most delicious (and crazy!) donuts around. The wait is usually around 30 minutes and the parking is difficult, but the sweet smell of donuts is worth the wait.
Pigtrain Coffee Shop: This little coffee shop is located in Union Station. This is a darling little shop, nice baristas and Union Station is the best! Our milk was sour...which was a huge negative, but usually this place is amazing.
Terminal Bar. This place rocks! Old school bar with delicious cocktails and a great feel.

Black Eye Coffee

Union Station: Terminal Bar

Voodoo Donuts and Little Man Ice Cream

PLACES TO GO:

Larimer Square: The cutest street. It was actually designed after the Champs-Elysées in Paris! It's full of restaurants, bars, shops, speakeasys and coffee shops. It's a brick street lined with lights and is more than picturesque.
Red Rocks Amphitheater: Unless you are living under a rock, you've heard of Red Rocks. It has to be the most beautiful place. Plus, the concerts there are the best ever. If you have a chance, go! There are concerts, yoga on the rocks, movie on the rocks and hikes. It is a dream.
The Art Hotel: We went here for drinks in their bar and it was amazing. IT is right in the heart of downtown. They have a huge fire-pit on the deck and the best cocktail and truffle fries ever. We ordered this amazing strawberry martini with a balsamic glaze. It sounds weird, but it was the best drink.
Union Station: Filled with shops, restaurants, flower shops, coffee shops and a hotel! It's a great place to grab a drink and people watch. Plus the mix of old time feel with updated cocktails is perfect!