For Brea’s birthday, we booked a weekend trip to Denver from October 20-22. We left Friday night and arrived back to LAX Sunday morning. We also brought along her dog – Scott and surprisingly all the places we picked were pet friendly. We’ve listed the places in alphabetic order. Sadly we didn’t get to go to many food places because they weren’t pet friendly.
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Big Blue Bear
We went to see the bear on a Saturday during the afternoon. This statue is located right outside the Convention Center and there is also a small garden at the foot of the bear. There were a good amount of people walking by to either go to the convention center or to see the bear. We would have flew Brea’s drone but there were security inside the convention center looking out. Parking was available along the street where you would just have to pay for a few minutes on the parking meter. There’s also some parking lots near the Convention Center, but I wouldn’t suggest doing that unless you plan to stay there longer than 1-2 hours.
Garden of the Gods
This was about an hour drive from downtown Denver and it was very cold when we got there. We arrived during sunrise. There was a handful of people already there trying to take sunrise photos as well. There’s a sign that forbids you to fly your drone at the first stop. When you drive into the park, it’s a one way loop. So if you miss something, just drive around again. We saw the Balanced Rock and took some fun pictures there. You can go hiking, biking and drive around to see other rock formations.
Red Rock Amphitheater
This is a music venue but when there is no concert, it is open to the public and tourists. When we went, we also saw people working out at the amphitheater by running up and down the steps like what people do at the Rocky steps. The steps are big and there are a lot so you will definitely get a good sweat going. Others just sat and took pictures. People also went on the stage. There was a lot of people. Parking can be found in multiple spots: one right next to the entrance, so it’s on the dirt road, another dirt lot, and the main entrance.
Sports Authority Field
We had some time to kill so as we were driving by the Sports Authority Field, we decided to stop there and have lunch in the car there because it was really windy. I was surprised to see other people had the same idea too and the gift shop was open as well. Brea also flew her drone here, again very windy. Someone else had the same idea. It took a bit to get her drone back to us. We went into the gift shop and it was all orange for the Broncos – I bought a shot glass.
We found some random color block walls while we were trying to exit the Sports Authority Field. So we decided to take some pictures there as well. There was no one around. Looked pretty abandoned.
We stayed in the Holiday Inn Express Denver Downtown hotel using our Chase rewards. It was a very pleasant stay. Had updated modern furniture. The bathroom is a little bit small, but it wasn’t something to turn away from. The location was in the heart of downtown, so we were able to walk to some of the food locations. They also have valet available for parking with in-and-out privileges.
Definitely would love to go back again to try more food and breweries. If you have any recommendations, please leave below or feel free to message me on my Instagram!
