48 Hours in Denver
Text By Adam Kleiner
Seven top experiences in Colorado's cultured, outdoors-loving capital. By Adam Kleiner
1. Admire the Art "Between New York and Los Angeles, there are a few places now where you can get a cosmopolitan art experience, and one is Denver," says local artist Clark Richert. His art installation "Riemiannian Tangencies" can be found outside the new glass-walled Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. Inside, acclaimed British architect David Adjaye has created a light-filled, community-friendly space using recycled materials and wood from sustainable sources. Current exhibits include a video installation by Taiwanese artist Yu-Cheng Chou and photographs by South African Trevor Appleson. The MCA's formal cube contrasts with Daniel Libeskind's bold and spiky, titanium- covered addition to the Denver Art Museum, which opened in October 2006 and evokes the crags and peaks of the Rocky Mountains. The building houses African, Western American, and Oceanic art, as well as contemporary works.
2. Shop a Western Original Jack Weil, founder of Rockmount Ranch Wear, created the iconic snap-button Western shirt. At 107 years old, he still greets visitors to his redbrick warehouse store. "It's been a romance," he says of six decades in the city. Displays of vintage shirts and framed photos of Rockmount-clad celebs, including Elvis Presley, tell part of the story. Racks of contemporary Rockmount shirts, cowboy hats, and other duds crowd the wooden floor.
3. Learn About Black Cowboys Hollywood's stories of the Old West largely overlook a key demographic: One-third of the cowboys were African American. The Black American West Museum's unparalleled collection of photographs, frontier clothing, ranching tools, and other artifacts sets the record straight. "All these towns where you would never think of finding African Americans," says executive director La Wanna Larson, "we were there." Displays fill three floors of the historic home where Colorado's first African-American female doctor, Justina Ford, formerly practiced.
4. Visit a Microbrewery Colorado leads the nation in beer production. Behemoth facilities for Anheuser-Busch and Coors help the stat, but beer geeks salute the thriving craft brewing scene. Breckenridge Brewery and Great Divide Brewing Co. bottle their strong, flavorful brews in downtown Denver. Walk between their tasting rooms—and to locals' beloved Wynkoop Brewing Company. "Ask what beer sells the most," says Brewers Association president Charlie Papazian. "That way you get an idea of what locals identify as the highlight." Rockies baseball ticketholders also can sample the Sandlot Brewery at Coors Field.
5. Pedal Cherry Creek Trail Bicycling magazine ranks Denver among the nation's top cities for cycling. Join packs of local pedal pushers on the Cherry Creek Trail, popular for its central location and cruise-friendly, concrete surface. The trail starts at Confluence Park downtown, where the brown water of Cherry Creek flows into the South Platte River. The trail rolls along the tree-lined creek banks, 40 miles through the burbs, and past the boat-filled Cherry Creek Reservoir.
6. Bite into Buffalo Denver's oldest restaurant, the Buckhorn Exchange features buffalo prime rib and other Western fare. Hunting trophies, antique rifles, and frontier paintings cover the walls. "It's Western kitsch at its best," says Denver Post food editor Kristen Browning-Blas.
7. Tap Toes at "The Pec" When top names in jazz play Denver, word is they take post-show beers at El Chapultepec. They also tend to sit for impromptu jams. Chet Baker, Frank Sinatra, and Wynton Marsalis have all played "The Pec." Music starts nightly at 9 p.m. A long cherrywood bar dominates the cramped front room. It's cash only. There's no cover charge and no misbehaving. "There are people here from all walks of life," says owner Jerry Krantz.
Published in the May 2008 issue of National Geographic Traveler.
