Denver visit - things to do? (Colorado Springs, Boulder: appointed, 2015, hotel)

[boone]

I will be visiting Denver in March of 2015, and I am looking for something to occupy my free time. I'm a history buff, and I would like to visit some historical places or sites while there. I have been to Buffalo Bill's grave and the Coor's Brewery numerous times, and I will probably visit them both again. I'm tagging along on a business trip with my wife, so I will have most of the day to visit places in and around Denver. What are some sites worth seeing? I've searched the internet, and I get mixed reviews on some places, and not many places of interest popping up during my search.

I would have no problem driving outside the city, but mainly I'm looking at in-city locations. I'm thinking museums, local "little-known" historic places of interest, and anything else off the beaten path. An example would be the Brown Palace Hotel (which I plan on visiting). The Brown is an older hotel with a few famous guests listed on its registry. The guests include Buffalo Bill, who used to hang out there while in Denver, and the Beatles. Again, my major interest is historical, but I am looking to fill time with some interesting sites. I also plan on visiting the History Colorado Center. Are there any other places I should see? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[vfrpilot]

I have a few suggestions>
Red Rocks Amphitheater> Beautiful and one of kind setting for concerts. It's open to the public with some light hiking trails in the surrounding park. Close to Denver in Morrison.
Molly Brown House> Home of the Unsinkable Molly Brown. In Denver.
Castlewood Canyon> State park south of Parker.
Garden of the Gods> Colorado Springs City Park. Amazing rock formations.
Palmer Lake> Have lunch at O'Malley's.
U.S. Air Force Academy> North side of Colorado Springs
U.S. Olympic Training Center> Colorado Springs
You can Google the above for more info.

[boone]

Thanks for the input.

[Katarina Witt]

Try the Colorado History Museum.

The Buckhorn Exchange, a restaurant, has liquor license #1.

Union Station has been restored.

Take a trip up to Louisville, an old coal mining town. It has a small history museum. Go in to Boulder; lots of stuff to see there.

[JohnnyDenver]

Walk around East Colfax in the Capitol Hill area and experience the travels of Jack Kerouac. Start at the Capitol and walk up to the Tattered Cover . . . eat at Pete's Kitchen or Satire Lounge.

Eat at Gaetano's Restaurant (go in the bathroom and look at the posters depicting the Denver mob who used to run the area in the old days).

Old Towne Aravda for the gold rush days.

[emm74]

Wings Over The Rockies is a fun stop Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum - Wings Over the Rockies Air & Space Museum and you may want to time your visit around a mealtime as the Lowry Beer Garden is right outside of the museum Lowry Beer Garden | Lowry Beer Garden

[boone]

All good suggestions, thanks.

[davidv]

Good choice on the History Colorado Center. It is excellent.

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science has a special exhibit on the Silk Road. It also has one of the largest permanent exhibits of Native American cultures in the US.

The Denver Art Museum has one of the world's best collection of Native American and Pre-Colombian Art.

The Denver Powwow is March 20-22.

Lesser known spots north of Denver include: Historic Fort Lupton (West of the city of Ft. Lupton) and Fort Vasquez (on US 85 near Platteville), two restored fur trading forts originally built in the early 1800s, an old Atlas missile silo/museum (West of Greeley near US 34). You could round out the day by going to the New Belgium Brewery in Ft. Collins instead of Coors in Golden.

South of Denver visit the Air Force Academy north of Colorado Springs.

[Texas Ag 93]

These are all good suggestions. I visited the Molly Brown House for Holiday tea with my daughter, and was a little disappointed. It is essentially just a mid to larger sized Victorian home with period appropriate furnishings (and not all of them original to the home or the Brown's).

Not trying to nit pick or be overtly negative, but I think other things that have been suggested would be higher on my list than MBH, which is, of course, well known.

[Suzatlarge]

I agree about the Molly Brown House. Worth a quick visit, perhaps. To me, the value of the place is as one of the early victories of historic preservation in Denver - holding out against the wave of demolition/development that crashed through central Denver in the 60's and 70's. It was enjoyable - for me - to walk through the place and get a personal feel for life in a big house a hundred years ago. YMMV of course.

There's a good DVD about her life. I don't know if they have it set up to view when you visit; I was there about six years ago for a special event and we watched it. I had the impression they offered regular viewings of it as part of your admission, but I don't know if that's true now (or was true then).