tap the rockies

got back two days ago from 3 nights & 3 days in denver, colorado!
it was a last-minute trip - we decided on the 5th to suck it up and take a trip, since i had vacation time scheduled (since the beginning of the year) and tim was able to take a few days off of work. we looked at a few different cities that we've not been to; austin TX, portland OR, sante fe NM, etc. we settled on denver because the weather looked great and the price was right! we had a great time discovering the city and enjoying time out of the heat.
we (literally) walked all over the place and we were so busy! we stayed in the heart of downtown, right at the start of the 16th street mall, and saw, in no particular order; the u.s. mint (couldn't get a tour), gigantic bronze cow & calf sculpture, squirrels in the civic center park, wynkoop brewpub (colorado's first!), coors field, union station (train/light-rail), tattered cover book store, colorado convention center & the big blue bear, larimer square, the pepsi center, the mile-high marker outside the state capitol, inside the state capitol (toured it - gorgeous marble & brass craftsmanship), the city/county building, DAM (denver art museum) and the king tut exhibit, elitch gardens (downtown theme park - only one in US), and a lot of random public art. phew! although, to be fair, i feel i must disclose that a lot of these places we saw only from the outside, but still! i don't think i've even seen this much of downtown phoenix, so i was pretty impressed with our ability to get so much touring in, especially when we were hoofing it! we must've walked at least 15 miles a day or more.
we ate and drank at city o' city, rioja, watercourse foods, wynkoop brewpub, and mercury cafe. all totally yummy and offering so many veg/vegan meals. and while the food was fantastic, the local brew was even better. we drank so much good beer! and while i enjoy a pilsner or an ipa as much as the next person, i found out this past week that i truly appreciate a good wheat beer. it's my new favorite.
on the last day, we decided on a whim to rent a car (first time i've ever done that!) and drive about 15 miles to golden, co and we toured the [miller-]coors brewery! it was awesome! the place, originally founded in 1873 is enormous (the largest single-site brewery in the world, actually), the tour is free, and you get three free samples of beer! they tap a handful of their brews from coors light to blue moon to colorado native (only distributed in the state) and a yummy pre-prohibition style ale, batch 19. and the tastings were definitely more than "samples" - fantastic!
i am ready for a vacation from my vacation (exhausted!), but it was so worth it. as soon as i get some pictures uploaded from our adventure, i'll be sure to share!