Revisiting Golden

I have posted several blogs about Golden, which I feel is one of the nicest towns in the State of Colorado. Of course, everyone else feels that way, too, so if you want to buy a house there, bring your checkbook. And just to emphasis this point, I am posting a photograph at sunset of an 1870s era house located in the city's historic district.  This is the home of the owner of Golden City Brewery, the 2nd largest brewery in Golden (no prize money offered to those guessing who number one is, unfortunately).  He somehow was able to convince his wife to let him install a brewery in the garage, and turn their backyard into a beer garden. If I only had that kind of persuasion, I would still be married with a huge family.  Never underestimate the power of charm.

Another Victim Of The McMansion Craze...

I took a stroll through Denver's Washington Park the other day, and then walked through the neighborhood just to the east of the park (one of Denver's priciest).  On the way, I passed still another victim of the McMansion craze, a modest bungalow being demolished to make way for a suitable home for the wealthy.  I know this is happening all over the country these days, but I still find it amazing that someone would buy a perfectly good home, and then tear it down to put up a huge edifice that most likely only two people will occupy.  They must do a LOT of entertaining, is all I can say.

The Patio Culture

Walking around the various neighborhoods of Denver - not to mention biking around them - I can't help but notice that the most popular neighborhoods have one thing in common - plenty of outdoor patios, beer gardens, and rooftop decks, where you can relax and have a beer, or for that matter, an ice cream.   That makes perfect sense to me, since that is what I myself am always looking for. I took the photograph on the left of the crowd waiting in line at Little Man Ice Cream one weekend day, one of the most popular spots in the Lower Highlands neighborhood, just a stone's throw from downtown Denver and very popular with the young, hipster set.

Another popular gathering spot is the Denver Beer Company, located on Platte Street between Lower Downtown (LoDo) and the Lower Highlands (LoHi).  I have walked past (and biked past, too) this trendy establishment for many years now, but have never stopped by to sample their beers.  I have told myself many times I need to get a group of friends together so we can have a couple of pints there, but have never followed through.  My bad, as the hipsters say.  I hear the beer is quite good, and the place is still another favorite of Denver's young hipster community. Let's face it - we would fit right in.

Unappreciated Denver Sights

I have been doing a lot of walking and biking around the City of Denver since I retired back in November, and one of the great sites I pass is Trinity Lutheran Church, seen in the photograph on the left from the 16th Street Mall. I have featured similar photographs of this scene before, but after all these years, I can't remember if I posted it a year ago or ten. At this point I don't care - I just like the view.  Just to the right of the church (which is seen in silhouette) is the Brown Palace Hotel, which has been THE place to stay in Denver since 1892.  During the National Western Stock Show every January, the champion steer is exhibited in the hotel's atrium, and during the Christmas season, the Xmas tree in that atrium is one of the holiday sights to see.  I myself once had a beer at the Ship Tavern, one of the hotel's most famous restaurants. It was made from water underneath the hotel, and sadly, it tasted to me exactly like water, but far more expensive.  But what do I know?  I am now officially a curmudgeon, after all, and proud of it.

It's Memorial Day, And That Means Hiking!

At least here in Colorado, it does.  Back when I was still married to my then wife Lisa, and my brother-in-law George was alive, we would all (including my sister Susan, of course) spend every Memorial Day hiking in Rocky Mountain National Park.  The photograph above, taken in the 1980s, shows George on the right and me on the left, hoisting a can of Stroh's Beer (made with Detroit River water. Yum). We would hike up those mountain trails until the snow started to get deep and the mist prevented us from seeing further than a few yards.  Then Lisa would start crying and demand that we turn around, and we would then head back to Estes Park for dinner.  Aren't family traditions great?

Wally's Tavern

Whenever I walk around Lower Downtown Denver, I pass a restaurant and bar called Wally's Wisconsin Tavern, located near 14th and Market Streets. As regular blog readers know, one of my best friends and former University of Denver colleagues is named Wally, and whenever I pass this place, I think of him.  Of course, wally is from the State of Michigan, and the restaurant and bar featured in the above photograph refers to itself as a Wisconsin tavern, but as a native Chicagoan, I just have to say "What's the Difference?" My fellow South Siders will surly back me up on this.

Fatal Flaw

I took the photograph on the left of the Republic Building (the tallest building in Denver) around Christmas time, during one of my walks from the Tattered Cover Bookstore on Colfax - where I used to work as the bookkeeper - to Union Station, where I take the light rail train home.  I have taken photographs of this building many times, usually with security people chasing after me to find out why. When I took the photograph posted here, a security guard in a booth next to the building's parking garage scolded me, telling me they are afraid that taking these photos will assist terrorists in trying to destroy the building.  However, I can't help but notice that these guards get off work at 6:00 P.M. and whoever wants can take photographs galore from that time onward. Does the management of this building think that terrorists stop work at 6:00 P.M. too, just like their employees?  For me, at least, it is hard to fathom the mind of corporate America these days. And perhaps that is a good thing.

Pa St. Pierre

Today I am once again featuring a photograph of my Great Grandfather Charles (Pa) St. Pierre, taken on the occasion of the wedding of my cousin Shirley and her husband Jack London back in the late 1940s or early 1950s.  Pa is standing on the sidewalk near the home of my Great Aunt Babe and her husband Byron, near 85th and May Streets on the South Side of Chicago. Pa worked as a carpenter, after selling his share of the family farm in St. Eustache, Quebec and moving the family (including my Grandmother Louise - my mother Mary's mother) to Chicago.  In later years Pa lived in the basement of my aunt's home.  He lived until he was 99 years old, passing away in 1952, and I am told he was feisty until the very end, sometimes getting into fights at the local tavern and being driven home by the police. My cousin Shirley told me a short time before she passed away to look for her on the steps of that house at 85th and May Streets after she was gone.  And I definitely intend to do that.

Reading Still More Tim Dorsey Novels

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I am a big fan of Tim Dorsey's wacky Serge A. Storms novels, featuring Serge, a Florida trivia buff and serial killer with a heart of gold (who only takes out truly horrible people who deserve taking out).  I stopped reading this series a number of years ago, but now that I am retired, have decided to start reading them again, starting with Dorsey's most recent books and reading backwards until I get to the point where I stopped reading the stories years ago.  Therefore, I need to report that I recently read three of these books in a row - Clownfish Blues, Coconut Cowboy, and Shark Skin Suite - all with lots of Florida trivia and lots of ideas of  what to visit in the Sunshine State, not to mention giving you the satisfaction of seeing evil people getting their just reward. I am now taking a break from this series for a while to make sure I don't start to think like Serge, too. I suppose it could happen.

LoDo Musings

When I first moved to Denver, there were nothing but railroad tracks between the Lower Downtown area and the Highlands neighborhood to the west.  At the time, I remember that there was still a viaduct running down 16th Street, connecting these two areas.  There is a door on the second floor of the Tattered Cover Bookstore's LoDo location that used to lead out to this structure, now long gone.  These days the Platte River Valley is made up of high rise apartments, bars, restaurants, and Commons Park, which runs along the Platte River.  There are still a few railroad tracks to allow light rail trains and Burlington Northern freight trains to pass through the area, but today  it is connected by a pedestrian walkway called the Millineum Bridge, seen in the photograph above. I must say they did a great job transforming this area.  It is now a very vibrant residential district, but it is still fun remembering what once was here.  You can do this quite easily by checking out the web site at https://denverite.com/2017/03/15/tattered-covers-second-floor-door-opens-ghost-denvers-viaducts/. Enjoy.

Broadway Station

I am anxiously awaiting the construction of Broadway Station, a mixed use development to be built next to Denver's Broadway Light Rail Station (I know, I know, I need to get a life, but I already knew that). Broadway Station will be built on the site of the old Gates Rubber Factory (seen in the photo on the left being demolished). Gates moved all it's manufacturing plants to the South and overseas years ago, making the site available (after a major clean up of the grounds).  There was a plan to build a mixed-use development there - including a branch of Robert Redford's Sundance Theater - a number of years ago, but when the Great Recession hit, those plans fell through.

I read recently that seven acres of the site have been sold to a company for development, and they will start construction in 2020.  The photograph on the right shows how it looks right now, which is basically a huge empty lot being fitted with the infrastructure needed to be installed before construction can begin.  I must say the renderings for the completed project look quite impressive.  I just wonder how close these renderings will match what is finally built.  Be sure to check out the Broadway Station website at http://www.broadwaystation.com/site-vision.html (if like me, you don't have a life, that is).

Still Another Sheep Shot

Once again I am struggling to find blog material, and therefore am featuring a new, never before published photograph of a sheep taken at the Littleton, Colorado Historical Museum.  This museum features both an 1860s homestead farm and an 1890s urban farm (including the original buildings), as well as a variety of farm animals. Best of all, these animals seem ready to pose for the camera at the drop of a hat.  And be sure to check out the museum's website at https://www.littletongov.org/city-services/city-departments/museum.

The Washington Park Boathouse

I know I have posted a photograph of Denver's Washington Park Boathouse many times, but since it is my blog, after all, I will once again post it today.  It was built as part of Denver's City Beautiful project at the beginning of the 20th century and was completed in 1913.  Ever since it was renovated in 2012, it has been used as an event space, and can be rented for weddings, bar mitzvahs, celebrating the installation of a new Pope, etc. It is definitely located on a beautiful site, and if a goose dinner is on the menu for your event, you are in luck.  The park has thousands of them. Check out the web site at https://www.denvergov.org/content/denvergov/en/denver-parks-and-recreation/rentals-permits/rental-facilities/washington-park-boathouse.html.

Portrait Of A Squirrel

Yes, I have finally hit rock bottom, featuring a photograph of a squirrel going through a trash can in Washington Park here in Denver. But I must say, there are a lot of varied opinions about squirrels.  A former co-worker at the Tattered Cover Bookstore refers to them as "tree rats." My sister Susan, who has about 100 or so bird feeders on her Fort Collins patio, originally complained about how they were taking so much of the food meant for birds, but has since expressed the opinion that "they have to eat, too." As for me, I am just happy if they are willing to pose for the camera, like the squirrel in the photo above.

Susan And Sonny Man

The photograph above was taken of my sister Susan and "Sonny Man" around 1944, when my father was in the army and in training in Abilene, Texas. My sister and mother Mary took the train there from Chicago to visit him before he shipped out to Okinawa. Susan - I have been told by various confidential sources - was a bit of a terror when she was young, and Sonny Man was deathly afraid of her.  A friend of my father's who was a photographer persuaded Susan to give Sonny Man a big hug.  I have to admit that Sonny Man does seem a bit apprehensive, if not downright terrified.

An Historic Denver Landmark

I took the above photograph of the Downing Street Waiting Station (bus stop) during one of my recent bike rides to downtown Denver and back.  I remembered that it was very historic, but when I googled it to get more details, nothing came up.  I was actually forced to take down my copy of historian Tom Noel's book Buildings of Colorado to get the details (it's formal name and the date of construction, which was 1904).  I am not sure what form of transportation they had around here back then, but suspect it was not nearly as comfortable as today.  We all have a tendency to romanticize the past, but I don't think I would want to go back to those days (unless of course I could be 18 again, but that goes without saying).

Serious Play

I went to the Denver Art Museum (The DAM) the other afternoon to see the latest exhibits on display, and sad to say I was pretty underwhelmed by the experience.  The big new event is titled "Serious Play: Design in Midcentury America." It explores the playfulness in design that took place in America after the horrors of World War II.  You would think I would like it, since this is the period that I grew up in, but it kind of left me cold.  This is art?  To me it is just an exhibit of old household objects, but keep in mind that I am now a curmudgeon. And very changeable.  Some days I can tour an exhibit and hate it, and return another day in a different mood and love it.  Technically speaking, I think that is called insanity.

The big story at the museum as far as I am concerned is that the renovation of the North Building (the Gio Ponti Building) is definitely taking shape.  The new main entrance for the building can be seen in the photograph on the right, although I have no idea how much of the interior remodeling has been completed.  I have a keen interest in the progress of this project, since once it began, the free buffet table at the monthly Final Friday events was discontinued, since the kitchens at the museum were in a part of the building that was demolished.  And once the renovation of the building is complete, will the free buffet tale return?  It better.  If you think the "Yellow Jacket" protests in Paris are something, just see what happens in Denver if free food at the DAM is eliminated.  It makes me shudder to think about it.

May Snow In Fort Collins

I was up in Fort Collins last week, and had some time on my hands, and so decided to drive through City Park in that very pleasant Northern Colorado (NoCo) city.  It was a chilly day, raining off and on throughout the day, but when I got to the park, it started snowing very heavily, nothing unusual for Colorado in May, but still a shock to the system.  It certainly didn't seem to bother the geese, who either ignored the inclement weather or actually seemed to relish it.  And driving around the park, I learned one very important thing - the old trolley line that used to serve the city had been reactivated (and not recently, either), and runs from downtown Fort Collins to City Park and back on the weekends during the spring and summer.  One more thing to add to my bucket list.

Watching Leeds Beat Derby With Mark

My friend Mark invited me over to his place to watch a soccer playoff game between Leeds and Derby,  a series that will determine who will move up the the English Premier League (England's top soccer league) from the Championship League, the AAA league of British soccer. Happily, Leeds won the match 1 to nill, as they say.  The two teams meet again for one more game to see who moves up to the final playoff game. Afterwards I took the photograph of Mark on the left in his brother Mike's garden.  Mike works at the Denver Botanical Gardens, and is as obsessed with plants as Mark is with soccer.  Hard to believe, but true.

Happy Mother's Day!

Since today is Mother's Day, I am featuring a photograph of my mother Mary taken on a bench in front of the Wynkoop Brewing  Company back in July of 2007.  She was living with me at my condo here in Denver at the time, and I tried as often as I could to take her out and about to show her the sights around town. The Wynkoop, Denver's first brewpub, has a great patio with a view of all the action on the street, and is certainly one of those sights, which I think she truly enjoyed visiting.  And since today is Mother's Day, I hope you and your family are still able to celebrate this special day with your own mothers.

The May Mutt Of The Month

I took the above photograph of the May Mutt of the Month tied up in front of Finn's Manor, a hipster joint with an outdoor patio on Upper Larimer Street (hipster central) here in Denver. It was obviously resigned to having to wait a long while for the return of its owner.  It's companion was not so patient - he can be seen in the background checking out the scene inside the patio area.  The curse of being a canine hipster, I guess.

Still More Nostalgia

I was going thru the photographs I have uploaded to my computer over the years, and found several featuring my grandfather, William (Bill) Spillard, my mother Mary's father.  He came from a fairly well off family in Elgin, Illinois, but ran away from home at the age of 14  (somewhere around there) to become a song plugger on Tin Pan Alley in Chicago.  He later became a federal narcotics agent, worked for the OSS during World War II, and finished his career as an arson investigator in Chicago.  He wrote a book called Needle in a Haystack, which told about his life as a narcotics agent. He is seen in the photograph on the left with his brother Bert (on the right in the photo) in front of our house in the south suburban community of Country Club Hills.  Bert was a very gentle man who married a younger woman laterr in life.  My grandfather took bets on whether they would have children, and lost big time when their son Danny was born.  Tragically, his wife Marie died many years before him, a truly unexpected and sad turn of events.

The photograph on the right, taken in the late 1960s, shows Grandfather Spillard with his two sons (my mother Mary's brothers) - Jack on the left, and Bill on the right.  Uncle Jack was quite the tease, and my sister and I always shied away from him, although he was a really nice and generous human being.  Uncle Bill, who moved from Chicago to Cleveland to work for an insurance company, frequently made business trips to Chicago, and was a truly funny and gentle soul.  How I wish they were all still with us today. The passage of time can be truly cruel.

The Zoo Part II

As I mentioned on yesterday's blog, I went to the Denver Zoo this past Tuesday on a cold and wet afternoon. Although it rained in the morning, the sun came out in the afternoon and I thought the weather would hold - wrong again! I was able to take the above photograph of a tiger before the rain started in earnest again. Curiously, it has the exact same expression my sister Susan has when the weather turns cold and wet.  I think they both need to be relocated to the tropics - my sister to Stuart, Florida and the tiger to the Miami Zoo.  But that is just one man's opinion.

A Cold And Rainy Day At The Zoo

The weather forecasters predicted a cold and rainy day here in Denver, and they were right.  However, in the afternoon, the sun came out, and I assumed the rain was over for the day and decided to head to the zoo to take a few photographs.  Naturally, once I was inside the gates the sun disappeared, and the rain started again.  Most of the animals headed inside, and so there were very few photo opportunities.  An exception was the zebra in the photograph above, who decided that eating was far more important than getting wet. I actually know a number of people like that, but I have not intention of naming names.  My old friend Richard would be highly insulted if I did.

The Auraria Campus

I had to drive over to the Denver Motor Vehicle Department the other day, since I had not yet received the new tags for my car in the mail, and would risk getting a ticket if I didn't get them before the end of the month.  I was truly surprised that it took virtually no time at all to get duplicate tags, and was in and out in a jiffy.  Therefore, on the way home, when I passed by the Auraria Campus, I decided to stop and walk around a bit.  Auraria is the oldest neighborhood in Denver, and a truly historic area.  However, in the early 1970s, it was leveled in order to build a campus for the University of Colorado at Denver, Metropolitan State University, and the Community Campus of Denver.  Fortunately, a block of 1870 and 1880 era homes was saved, and is now named the 9th Street Historic District, located in the center of the campus.

This is a really nice park, and is a great example of a neighborhood built at a time not too long after the city was founded. As I mentioned above, what is not so great is that they had to destroy an entire Hispanic neighborhood in order to build this campus, very much like a thriving Italian community on the west side of Chicago was destroyed in order to build the University of Illinois at Chicago, which when I lived in Chicago looked to me like the location for the movie 1984, but not nearly as cozy.

But once again I digress. Many of the homes in the 9th Street Historic District are very nice indeed, such as the one in the photo on the left, and all of them are now used as offices for the school. This campus has a student population of over 63,000, by the way, and the Tivoli Student Center was originally the Tivoli Brewery.  And best of all, the Tivoli Brewing Company has been revived and was crowded as hell when I visited it on a cold, rainy Tuesday.  If I was still a student, that is exactly where I would have spent the afternoon, for better or worse.  Probably worse.

Cinco de Mayo

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo, and as usual there were a number of festivities celebrating this holiday here in Denver, including the annual Cinco de Mayo Festival in Civic Center Park, which to be honest seems very similar to the People's Fair, The Taste of Colorado, and all the other events held there.  And as usual, they were selling traditional Mexican favorites such as "Giant Turkey Legs" and Italian Ice. In any case, I took a quick walk around Civic Center on Saturday, and on Sunday rode my bike up to the Highlands neighborhood, where I snapped the above photograph on the patio next to Little Man Ice Cream.  Evidently everyone celebrates Cinco de Mayo here in Denver, even ice cream stores. Go figure.

Derby Day!

I took the light rail train down to Denver's Union Station to watch the Kentucky Derby yesterday afternoon. A large screen television had been set up in the Great Hall, and the place was packed with ladies in floppy hats and men in straw ones. As I have mentioned before, people in Denver love an excuse to party, be it Halloween or Opening Day, and the Kentucky Derby is no exception.  I watched the race and saw Maximum Security cross the finish line first, after which everyone was giving each other high fives and celebrating big time.  It wasn't until I was heading home on the train that I head that Maximum Security had been disqualified, and that Country House, a 65-1 long shot, had been declared the winner.  I imagine the Great Hall probably erupted into fistfights after that announcement. I am just sorry I wasn't there to photograph it all.

Dinner With The Bonnie Brae Gang!

I got together with some of my friends and former DU Bookstore co-workers and their families last night at the Bonnie Brae Tavern - which has been in business since 1934, I might add - for pizza (or in my case, a burrito) and beers.  It has been a while since we have gotten together, so it was good to see everyone and find out what everyone has been up to lately.  In the photograph above are, from left to right, me, Dale, his son Mark (who works at the University of Denver's library), Mark's mother Kay, Renee and Bill (the former Operations Coordinator at the University of Denver Bookstore), Wally (the former Operations Manager at the DU Bookstore) and his wife Linda.  Someone was kind enough to take the photo as we were standing in line after dinner at Bonnie Brae Ice Cream. It seems like everyone has been traveling these days.  Mark and his parents spent a week in the Hawaiian Islands, Renee and Bill spent time up in Victoria, British Columbia, Wally recently visited Gettysburg and Antietam, and he and Linda also visited their children in San Francisco. And as regular blog readers know, I myself have frequently visited Fort Collins, with occasional side trips to Poudre Canyon and Masonville, Colorado.  Can't top that.

Captain Tony's Saloon

I took the above photograph of my sister Susan and mother Mary in front of Captain Tony's Saloon on a family trip to Key West back around 1979.  Captain Tony's was the original Sloppy Joe's, where Ernest Hemingway did all his drinking back in the 1930s. I also learned from reading Sharkskin Suite, one of Tim Dorsey's "Serge A. Storms" series of novels (which all take place in Florida and are kind of like Carl Hiaasen's books, only much weirder) that after Captain Tony sold the place, the new owner let him hang around on a bar stool, pose for photos, and accept gratuities.  Also, the place is dark, with no televisions, making it a perfect place to hide out if you are running from the authorities.  Good to know.

Walking RiNo On An RTD Free Day

All the Light Rail trains here in Denver were free this past Saturday, in celebration of the opening of the G line to the suburbs of Arvada and Wheat Ridge, which has been delayed over two years due to problems with the crossing gates.  And so it was a no-brainer to take the train free of cost to downtown Denver and enjoy an afternoon walk on Upper Larimer Street (aka hipster central).  I was just amazed at how many people were walking around the neighborhood and hanging out at various brew pubs.  And I counted five separate mobile bar bikes (which take various groups from bar to bar via pedal power, as seen in the photo on the left) heading up and down Larimer.  It is one the the most reliable signs of spring here in Denver - far more so than those damn robins.

In any case, as I have mentioned before, the River North (RiNo) neighborhood seems to be hipster central these days.  It's hallmark are the murals (such as the one in the photograph on the right) that seem to adorn virtually every building in the neighborhood.  Some are quite beautiful, and some are much more macabre, featuring skeletons taking off their masks to reveal their true selves. It is actually a lot of fun to wander this street, because virtually every outdoor patio is jammed with young people with lots of energy (not to mention drinking lots of beer) and that youthful enthusiasm for life and living. 

In any case, there are beer gardens galore in this neighborhood.  In fact, so many that I was torn as to which one I should feature on this blog.  One such beer garden encompasses an entire block, with food trucks along one side and hundreds of partying hipsters taking up the rest of the area.  Just behind this beer garden is a bar and/or brew pub called Improper City, which I assume is attached to this beer garden and supplies all the alcohol for this very popular spot.  However, instead of featuring the photographs of this really fun spot, I decided to feature a photograph of Our Mutual Friend Brewery, which was crowded as hell on this warm, spring Saturday afternoon and which I assume, due to it's name, has a Charles Dickens, Victorian England type of atmosphere.  I have never been inside, and am only guessing about this, although I must admit the patio does not seem to have that Dickinson vibe. Go figure.

May Day!

Today is May 1st, the month when temperatures are supposed to finally warm up as summer approaches. Unfortunately, in Denver the weather can be quite changeable.  This past Monday the temperatures dropped 40 degrees from Sunday.  I had to drive up to Fort Collins that day, and it snowed all day long there. The weather forecasters said Fort Collins received 5 inches, although most of it melted when it hit the ground. The mountains received much more snow, of course, which is disappointing, since my friend Mark texted me that day that an acquaintance of his spotted an entire family of moose that morning at Winter Park, a ski resort west of Denver, and says he sees them there all the time.  Of course, I wanted to head up there immediately to take photos, but what with the blowing and drifting snow, and having to drive over Berthoud Pass to get there, I decided to put it off for a few days.  All I can say is that when I do get there, there damn well better be moose up there.  As regular Blog readers know, I have been tricked before.