Happy New Year!

Today is New Year's Day, the first day of 2026, a year that no doubt will mark the beginning of a return to sanity in politics and the start of a bipartisan effort to make the lives of every American better. I am joking, of course. The atmosphere in Washington will no doubt continue to be toxic and the country run by and in the interests of billionaires for the foreseeable future. But on New Year's Day we can at least pretend things will get better. It's tradition, after all. And to celebrate New Year's Eve, my sister Susan and I had dinner at the Wynkoop Brewing Company in Lower Downtown Denver (LoDo). We arrived around 5:30 PM., and things were pretty laid back at the Wynkoop, as seen in the photograph on the left. The two fireworks shows on the nearby 16th Street Mall were going to take place at 9:00 P.M. and midnight, and I wanted to be far away from LoDo and the downtown area by then.

As I have mentioned in previous blogs, I have attended several of those fireworks shows in the past, taking the light rail train downtown to avoid parking issues. Each time, the crowds were so large you could hardly move, and I was not able to get to a place where I could actually see the fireworks, let alone take photographs of them in the 5 minutes or so they lasted. Afterwards, I had to make my way back to the light rail station at the Colorado Convention Center, the only one open, since all the downtown stops were closed, along with everyone else who attended those fireworks shows and had come by light rail. Where we all lined up for our respective trains, which of course filled up quickly, necessitating waiting for the next train, or the one after that. Enough of that nonsense. And so Susan - seen in the photograph on the right - and I made our escape by 7:30, a full hour and a half before that particular chaos began.

The nice thing about the Wynkoop, besides its good food and excellent beer, is its location in LoDo, just two blocks from Coors Field and right across the street from Union Station, seen all decked out for Christmas in the photograph on the left. The Wynkoop was opened by John Hickenlooper (who went on to become Mayor of Denver, Governor of Colorado, and currently Senator from Colorado) and three partners in October of 1988, when Lower Downtown was considered Skid Row. And that brewpub played a large part in revitalizing the area. Coors Field opened in 1995, and in 2014 Union Station was redeveloped into not only a transportation hub, but an upscale gathering spot with a 112-room hotel, restaurants, and shops, cementing LoDo's reputation as the center of Denver's nightlife. Which is a good thing for the city. Happy New Year Everyone!