Unique Adventures in Denver

by Lizzie McKay
March 26th, 2016

Fun and sometimes off the wall things to do in and around Denver, Colorado

Red Rocks, World Class Skiing, and the World Champion Denver Broncos…That is what most people think about when Denver, Colorado comes to mind.  There are many other fun and unique things to do and to see around the Mile High City.  Some of the best things about Denver seem to be secrets to just about everyone living outside of the great State.  

Aside from all the amazing outdoor activities that abound in the Mile High City, there are many unique and some distinctly Colorado attractions.  There is an abundance of new, as well as the long-time established, to-die-for restaurants,  top-notch social establishments for wetting your whistle with the many local craft beers, wines, and whiskeys, as well as a thriving art scene including wonderful museums and art districts.   Besides all of that the city has tons of great buildings with great Architecture  to see and enjoy.  If Colorado isn't on your travel list for this year, it most definitely should be.  I'm going to share some of the most unique things in this great city with you.

Here are a just a few places and things to see and do in the Mile High City.

TOTALLY TRIPPY ART

For a truly offbeat and TRIPPY scene, you have to go visit Tim Burton’s Mario's Double Daughters Salotto.  The tables and bar stools look like they've been dipped in candle wax, and there's a gigantic tree branching of the middle of the room. The interior is dark and mysterious and offers quite an interesting sensory treat.  They host a constantly changing array of art work on their walls by local artists.  The Salotto has a great happy hour filled with its whimsical cocktails.   This is the only spots in LoDo where you can walk through the doors and instantly feel transformed as if your in a Tim Burton movie.

 

The Art's District on Santa Fe is a great place to find a unique blend of art and people.  On the first Friday of each month, the local art scene shows off with it’s First Friday events.  This is a great evening spent perusing the many gallery exhibits,  sampling tasty treats at the on-site food trucks, and enjoying one of the many great drinks available.   Many of the Artists hang out and love to engage with those attending the event.  One nice thing they have started doing is providing a free shuttle coach that picks up visitors from the light rail station at 10th Avenue and Osage and takes them to all the excitement that’s happening in the Art district.

The Museum of Contemporary Art Denver is located just one block from  the Cherry Creek Bike Trail.   It’s a perfect afternoon escape for art lovers downtown. The museum hosts many rotating exhibitions all year long so it’s great place to make go at least once a month.  Their rooftop cafe. has great food and great views to add to the ambience.  It's a good location to spend an afternoon after a great bike ride or walk along the trail.

Denver is rapidly becoming known for it’s many breweries.  One of the most popular and unique breweries is the Infinite Monkey Theorem.  The Theorem is an urban (city or "Back Alley") winery and is located in the up and coming River North (RiNo) neighborhood. They are receiving high praise for making some seriously good wine and serving it up in style.  Definitely a place you need to tryout.

If whiskey is your go-to drink then you will want to head over to Stranahan's for a tour and a sampling of their hand-crafted, small-batch whiskey.   They also periodically host labelling events where you assist them in hand placing their unique labels on the freshly bottled whiskey.  Another classic place to visit is Leopold Bros, where visitors can taste everything from well-balanced gins to one of their many decadently flavored liqueurs.  Just go easy on their Absinthe.  It's quite the exotic and potent drink.

WINERIES, DISTILLERIES & DISPENSARIES

Colorado’s booming Legal Marijuana scene has created a plethora of Dispensaries to visit.  Even if your not a partaker of the plant, it’s pretty interesting to visit one of the dispensaries and see all the many ways its being used and promoted and it’s surprisingly not just for the high.  There are creams and ointments and patches and oils for pain and medicinal uses. 

The art of the pipe has gone mainstream as well.  You can find works of blown glass art at Freaky’s Gift Shoppe & Tattoo that wouldn’t look out of place displayed on a shelf in your home. Light Shade Dispensary boasts one of the most unique locations.  Once inside you find yourself in a large area with gigantic flat screen TVs, comfortable sitting areas, and a full wall chalkboard that has different chalk drawings on it every month!  

There are new tour company’s popping up that offer Party bus style tours to many of the dispensaries around town.  As marijuana tourism has become more popular in Colorado, cannabis tours are now a VERY popular way to take a peek into the once taboo industry and get a behind the scenes look.  You can go to the online resource Colorado Pot Guide for a comprehensive list of the tour companies. Most tours run Friday – Sunday. 

AMAZING ARCHITECTURE & GOOD EATS

What used to be an unkempt train station has now become just about the hottest spot in  LoDo (Lower Downtown).  Denver’s Union Station has undergone a massive renovation and now houses many spectacular restaurants, a centrally located and well appointed hotel, and is the new hub for the Light Rail that now connects the city to the Denver International Airport. 

The old ticket office was renovated into the very popular Terminal Bar.   It’s a great place to lounge around in one of the many comfy chairs, play some free shuffleboard, people watch, shop and dine in. 

Snooze Eatery is always a favorite dining spot with their delicious breakfast burritos and Sweet Utopia pancakes and my personal favorite the O.M.G. French toast.  And yes....that really is the name.

The Kitchen Next Door  is an inviting and fun family friendly location.  I LOVE their amazing Bacon wrapped dates and the Nextdoor Margarita.

Denver is a such a great city to visit.  There is so much it has to offer that everyone in your group is sure to find something to do here that they love.  Visit Denver sometime soon, I promise you won't be disappointed.

Contact us here for great deals on Colorado Condos!

~Book your next great Denver Adventure with Expedia~

Yellowstone National Park

Taking a Vacation is Beneficial to Life

February 29, 2016

|

Lizzie McKay

In today's world everyone is busy.  Many families feel they are just too busy with daily activities, school, soccer, dance, or regular play dates to take a vacation.    Busy executives may feel that they just can't leave work for any length of time. Wondering what will happen to their business while they are gone weighs heavily on some. Still Other's feel its just too expensive.  

However; it's important to realize the many benefits you can obtain by taking a vacations.  

are very important for the mental health of Individuals and families.  The benefits of altering our daily routines can be very refreshing. The act of stepping away from the day to day demands of juggling work and home can provide us with the ability to refresh and recharge and come back to our regular lives with new vigor and re-energized.

Taking time to play, do activities together, and exploring new places together can be great bonding times.  Vacations are also great opportunities to rekindle your romance.  Go on long walks on the beach, dinner by moonlight in the mountains, or simply relaxing on a deck enjoying a great view.  

You should consider taking the time to re-define what vacation means to you and consider the benefits you will obtain.  Plan out and save for your vacations to reduce financial stress.  Pre-plan at work to go at a time when work load is lightest.  Do whatever it takes to go on your vacations and when you come back to everyday life you will feel more able to deal with life and perhaps gain a little insight into yourself. 

http://www.rentmytimesharesnow.com/#!Taking-a-Vacation-is-Beneficial-to-Life/gi3ok/56d508990cf249e9dfcce9fd

Divi Tree, Eagle Beach, Aruba c 2016 Lizzie McKay Photography

What is Wanderlust?

March 2, 2016

|

Lizzie McKay

From the Mirriam-Webster Dictionary, the meaning of Wanderlust is the Strong desire to travel.  Author Robert Louis Stevenson famously wrote "I travel not to go anywhere, but to go for travel's sake.  The great affair is to move"  

 

It comes down to this... Those with a case of Wanderlust do not necessarily need to go anywhere, they just don't want to stay put.  

I came across a great article that delves into the possibility that those of us who live to travel perhaps carry a specific gene that pushes us towards that unknown destination.  

 

I for one have always had that desire, that urge almost instinctual to go somewhere, anywhere, and explore.  I would not hesitate to say that I am most likely a card carrying member of the Wanderlust genome.  For me I will travel until the day I take take the ultimate trip and meet my maker.

 

Below is the article with more information on the gene.  Enjoy!

Map in Grass

7/10

The link the original article is found here:

http://elitedaily.com/life/culture/wanderlust-gene-people-born-travel/953464/

The Wanderlust Gene

by Dan Scotti 

on Science Says

There are some people who never feel the urge to leave the house. They’re content to stay in the city they came from, the couch they sit on, and the 360 degrees that immediately surround them.Then there’s the rest of us: the people who can’t sit still, perhaps meditate to Anthony Bourdain, and always keep their passports on them – just in case.Whether you call it wanderlust, a love of travel or regular old curiosity – the fact remains the same: Your hunger to explore simply cannot be quenched, no matter how many vacations or journeys you take.For you, there’s always something new to see, something different than you’re used to. You enjoy day trips, but you also realize there’s only so much you can see in 24 hours. You’re into one-way flights and trips without a destination.Destinations require plans, and you’re not into the whole planning thing. Plans insinuate an underlying purpose, and from your experience, traveling without one always leads to more excitement.You’ve been this way for as long as you can remember – which probably dates back to your first few trips growing up, boarding that plane to Disney World every few winters, as a child.According to recent scientific claims, it may have been embedded in your DNA, even before that.As told on one psychology blog, the inherent urge to travel can be traced back to one gene, which is a genetic derivative of the gene DRD4, which is associated with the dopamine levels in the brain.The gene itself, which is identified as DRD4-7R, has been dubbed the “wanderlust gene,” because of its correlation with increased levels of curiosity and restlessness, for the most part.In reality, however, those who carry this genetic information typically share one common theme, a history of traveling.The gene is not all too common; in fact, it’s only possessed by about 20 percent of the population. Having said that, there is a much higher prevalence of this gene in regions of the globe where travel has been encouraged in its past.Assuming that all forms of human life originated in Africa, Chaunsheng Chen,who conducted a study in 1999, supported the premise that “the DRD4-7r form of the gene [is] more likely to occur in modern day societies where people migrated longer differences from where we first originated in Africa many thousands of years ago.”In short, here, Chen implies that civilizations that have diverged further from Africa, the theoretical origin of mankind, are allegedly more susceptible to being carriers of this mutant DRD4-7r gene that is linked to “curiosity and restless.”A separate study done by David Dobbs of National Geographic supported these findings – and provided reason not to just draw the link to curiosity and restlessness, but specifically a passion for travel.According to Dobbs, the mutant form of the DRD4 gene, 7r, results in people who are “more likely to take risks; explore new places, ideas, foods, relationships, drugs, or sexual opportunities,” he went on to say that bearers of this gene, “generally embrace movement, change, and adventure.”In line with Chan, Dobbs also linked the 7r mutation of the DRD4 gene to human migration.When compared to sedentary populations, or those who have stayed in the same region for most of their existence, members of present day migratory populations – those with a history of relocating, over time – tend to carry the 7r gene much more commonly.Dobbs goes on to highlight a more statistically sound study, conducted a little over a decade later, which supports the notion that 7r, in conjunction with a second genetic variant (2r), “tends to be found more frequently than you would expect by chance in populations whose ancestors migrated longer distances after they moved out of Africa.”With that said, there still is reason to doubt this “travel gene,” at least in the mind of Kenneth Kidd of Yale University.According to Kidd, it’s a little bit more complicated than others might be alluding to. “Genetics doesn’t work that way,” Kidd suggests, “You just can’t reduce something as complex as human exploration to a single gene.”In response, Dobbs consulted with evolutionary geneticist Jim Noonan to gain a better understanding of the matter.In the most simplistic form, Dobbs quotes Noonan stating how the human ability to explore rests within the function of two systems: limbs and brains.Noonan explains how each species has a different, unique set of variances within these two systems, which allows them to be predisposed to different behaviors.With regard to humans, there are a few differences within our limbs and brains that can be distinguished from our most common ancestors, the apes – “such as legs and hips that let us walk long distances; clever, clever hands; and an even cleverer brain that grows far more slowly but much larger than other ape brains,” explains Dobbs.While these differences allow us, as a species, to be better suited to travel long distances and explore creatively – our genetic makeup is still almost identical to that of apes, despite the visual differences in our anatomy.Dobbs notes that these differences arise from a divergence in feedback cues, relayed by the developmental genes.Following this logic, those who carry the 7r gene will also likely follow a slightly variant schedule, with regard to developmental genetics, in comparison to those who carry the regular DRD4 gene.These differences could also, theoretically, result in a slightly different – or more curiously-suited – limb and brain composition, which could be the reason these people feel a greater urge to travel.At the same time, it’s definitely important to consider this study done by Garret LoPorto of Huffington Post.While this mutant gene DRD4-7r might carry a ton of positive, exploratory, character traits with it – it also might be linked with general Neanderthalic behavior.According to LoPorto, while carriers of this genetic variant might be “incredibly resourceful, pioneering, creative,” and more predisposed for wanderlust, they also might be “utterly out of control.”So, while you might have the urge to quit work and travel for the next few months – stop and make sure you’re thinking rationally. Although, like I said, traveling is always more fun without a plan.

http://elitedaily.com/life/culture/wanderlust-gene-people-born-travel/953464/