Celebrating Bastille Day In Cherry Creek North

Today is Bastille Day, and although it wasn't quite the same as watching fireworks over the Eiffel Tower while sitting on the Champ de Mars, they celebrated Bastille Day on Fillmore Plaza in Denver's Cherry Creek North neighborhood this past weekend. It was only a block long, but still, there was everything French at this festival, including the Cafe de Paris Bar, no doubt moved here from France just for this event and seen in the photograph on the left.

They even had a VIP Tasting Area, as seen in the photograph on the right. What I want to know is who are these VIPs? And how do you get to be a Denver French Fest VIP? No doubt they are tasting wine. Are they wine experts? So many questions, so few answers. All that I know is that it must cost big bucks to sit there. That's Cherry Creek North for you.

There was also music at the festival, as seen in the photograph on the left, but it did not sound very French. I would have expected an accordion player like they have on the Paris Metro, who goes from one car to the other at each stop and plays a short tune, asking for tips. I would suggest that next year they have an accordion player just like that walk through the crowd playing tunes and asking for tips. I would especially recommend that accordion player spend a lot of time around that VIP tent. No doubt they are big tippers. And yes, they even had little dogs in baby strollers at the festival. Are there a lot of people in Paris who go around pushing their dogs in baby strollers? I wouldn't doubt it for a second.

There were also a number of French-like props at the festival, such as the old Citroen automobile in the photograph on the right. At least I think it is a Citroen. I don't know any other French car company, so I will just go with Citroen, whether it is or not. They also had a 10-foot wire Eiffel Tower on display, but it was not very impressive, to say the least. Which reminds me that years ago, I saw an Eiffel Tower bottle opener for sale at Restoration Hardware at the Cherry Creek Mall, but didn't buy it. Once I became a full-fledged Francophile after my first visit to Paris, I went back to Restoration Hardware, but found no trace of it. Now, of course, Restoration Hardware has become RH Denver, the Gallery at Cherry Creek, "the leader in luxury home furnishings, interior design and hospitality." And so, kiss that Eiffel Tower bottle opener goodbye forever, at least if you're looking for it at RH. In spite of that, Happy Bastille Day Everyone!

It's The All-Star Break, And The Chicago White Sox Are In First Place!

Miracles do happen. My South Side heroes, the Chicago White Sox, swept the Oakland (Sacramento?) Athletics yesterday afternoon at Rate Field to finish the first half of the season tied with the Cleveland Guardians (Indians?) for first place in the American League Central Division. Last year, the Sox ended the regular season with a 60-102 record, finishing last in that division, and so it has been an amazing turnaround. Yesterday they won 9-1 against the Athletics, and most of the damage was done in the first inning, when the Sox scored 6 runs for a 6-1 lead. The Athletics, of course, have suffered some major injuries, and are struggling, but I think that the big difference is that Munetaka Murakami, the "Japanese Babe Ruth," is back in the lineup after 6 weeks on the injured list. The Sox were 17-18 with Murakami gone, but are once again playing great baseball now that he has returned. The crowds are back at Rate Field, too, as seen in the photograph above. Meanwhile, their North Side rivals, the Chicago Cubs, are playing great baseball, too, 5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers, who have the second-best record in baseball. If the Cubs don't finish in 1st, a wild-card berth looks like a sure bet. Could this be the first Subway Series between the Sox and Cubs since 1906? The White Sox, known as the "Hitless Wonders" that year, won that series 4 games to 2. Just remember, baseball fans, as you put your bets down on the Series, that the Pope is a White Sox fan. Which very well might be the biggest factor in the White Sox's resurgence this year.

A Shocking Notice From Chicago Magazine

I just received an e-mail from Chicago Magazine informing me that they have made the decision to end subscriptions by mail, and that my final issue will be in August. The magazine is owned by the Chicago Tribune, and from what I can tell, you can have the magazine delivered to your door, just like newspaper home delivery, but if the Tribune doesn't offer home delivery in your area, you are out luck. And sadly, they do not offer home delivery here in Denver. And why the hell not, I must ask. There are plenty of ex-Chicagoans here. But I digress. And yes, they do have a digital edition, and you can read the magazine in its traditional format when you log in, but it is just not the same. When the Denver Post got to the point that home delivery cost something like $500 a month, and even then, the carrier would leave the paper in front of my condo building instead of delivering it to my door, I switched to the e-edition and grudgingly adjusted to it. But I have to agree with author and journalist Bill Bryson when he says that life just keeps getting shi**ier.

Cheesman Park: The Game

I read an article in the Denver Post (https://www.denverpost.com/2026/07/09/cheesman-park-game-casey-cantor/) a few days ago about a Denver software engineer's new online game, which involves players deputized as park rangers in order to fight ghouls and ghosts in Denver's Cheesman Park using Frisbees. Yes! Frisbees! Cheesman Park started out as a cemetery in 1858, the year Denver was founded, but was turned into a park back in 1910. The city hired undertaker E.P. McGovern to move the bodies to Riverside Cemetery, just to the north of Denver in Commerce City, but to make additional profit, he cut up the bodies and put them in multiple coffins. When the city found out about this, they fired McGovern and halted the project. Which left the remaining bodies in unmarked graves in both Cheesman Park and the neighboring Denver Botanic Gardens. Needless to say, ever since then, there have been alleged sightings of ghosts wandering the park and the botanic gardens after sunset, which is the starting point for the new online game. Once nighttime arrives, the object is to kill off as many zombies and ghosts as you can before they get to you. It is a very simple game, kind of like Ms. Pac-Man, the arcade game from the 1980s, but incorporating the history of the park into it makes it all kind of interesting. And yes, the photograph above is indeed of Cheesman Park, with the Cheesman Park Pavilion in the background. And for God's sake, be sure to stay out of that park after dark. Check out the game at https://cheesmanparkthegame.com/.

No Slowdown In Denver's Cherry Creek Neighborhood

Denver's status as one of the country's top spots for relocation ended right after the Covid pandemic, when housing costs skyrocketed, downtown suffered due to high office building vacancies and shuttered businesses, and wages could no longer keep up with the high cost of living. Apartment vacancy rates are higher, and empty lots once destined to be apartments and offices are now no longer financially viable. However, the Cherry Creek neighborhood is the one exception. It is growing by leaps and bounds, with office buildings, condos, and luxury apartments going up all over the neighborhood. This is a very upscale area, and so affordability is not an issue for the targeted market. The photograph on the left shows Cherry Lane under construction. It is a mixed-use project "envisioned as a luxury, pedestrian-friendly district blending high-end retail, dining, offices and retail." A few blocks to the east, the Waldorf Astoria Residences is being built, described as "a luxury residential development reinforcing Cherry Creek's high-end positioning."

And right across the street from Cherry Lane, Cherry Creek West, a 13-acre mixed use development that will provide 840 residences, 600,000 square feet of office space, 100,000 square feet of retail, along with walkability and green space, is under construction, as seen in the photograph on the right. Those green spaces will connect the North Cherry Creek District with the Cherry Creek waterway, which will make it a very pleasant place to walk or bike. The developers describe it as "an integrated live-work-play environment." For most of us, however, although we might be able to play or even work in Cherry Creek West, actually living there might involve winning Power Ball or the Mega Millions lottery.  

The Year Denver Parks Lost Their Flowers

I went walking through Denver's Washington Park the other day and spent some time in the garden there. And I must say, it is very impressive this year, as seen in the photograph above. Standing in that garden reminded me that two years ago, Denver eliminated spring flowerbed planting in most of the parks to address the city's migrant crisis, which was projected to cost the city $120 million. I never paid much attention to the flowers in Denver's parks in the past, but you sure noticed it when they were gone. Over 43,000 undocumented immigrants arrived in Denver starting in January of 2023, thanks mainly to the governor of Texas busing migrants to Denver, Chicago, and New York, and the city needed to provide shelter, food, and other services for them. It had to be done, of course - most of those people were facing winter dressed for the tropics and with no means of support. The flowers came back the following year - I did take notice - and it is estimated that half of those immigrants decided to stay in Denver. Although with the Trump administration's mission to deport "the worst of the worst," which to them seems to mean all undocumented immigrants, who knows what their numbers are these days. Regardless, it is time to stop and smell the roses, or any kind of flowers, for that matter. Especially these days.

The July Mutt Of The Month

I took the photograph above of the July Mutt of the Month tied up in front of the entrance to Venice, an upscale Italian restaurant in Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo), located just around the corner from the Wynkoop Brewing Company. And no - I wasn't dining at Venice, but just feeding the meter while dining at the Wynkoop. Just for fun I checked out Venice's webpage when I got home and found that all of the items on it were in Italian, although the descriptions below were in English. Spaghetti con Polpettine is, of course, spaghetti and meatballs. I would complain about the price for it, but everything seems to be expensive at restaurants these days, even at Olive Garden. You would have saved a mere 8 bucks dining there instead. And in case you were wondering, Venice has the largest wine cellar in Colorado. Of course they do. I just hope the owners of that dog were not having a three-course meal while their dog was tied up out there. As I recall, it was starting to get chilly. The least they could have done was to send out the sommelier with a decent vintage for the poor thing. Who knows - perhaps they did after I left. One can only hope.