1st Wedding Anniversary: Trip to Denver, CO

Photography by: Angel Torres

We had the chance to visit Denver for our first-year anniversary this past September. While we were hoping to get more of the fall in the mountains weather, we were surprised to have an 87F almost every day. I guess I associated Denver with colder weather? The mountains on the other hand were crisp and chilly and we just loved it. No snow, tho. So that was a bit of a bummer.

None the less, Colorado was a magical place to go visit. Very unexpected for us since we always (or rather I) want to go to a beach destination. But this year with somewhat of a budget restriction and being such a special celebration I really wanted to go to a place that would be memorable and unique. We had the luck to partner up with Visit Denver who helped us go to amazing places like the Red Rocks Park and The Denver Botanic Gardens. Another amazing sponsor for our trip was Mazda; who lent us the new Mazda 3 hatchback. We absolutely LOVED the car and it was the perfect size for the small road trip we wanted to make from Denver to Breckenridge.

Our trip began early morning on a Friday where we got a SunCountry Airlines direct flight from Minneapolis to Denver. A short but bumpy hour and a half ride I must say. Flying to Denver its actually not that expensive, at least not from here. We managed to get both non-stop flights for $300 so it was a pretty awesome deal (minus the insane baggage fees from Frontier Airlines on our way back, but I’ll get into that later).

We got to Denver we jumped right into discovering the city, so yeah, we hit all the touristy places, because well you just have to. We went to Union Station and walked around a bit since the weather was so nice. Then we headed to our friend’s home where we were going to stay. We took it pretty chill that night since we were tired from the trip. 

The next day, was a different story, we were up bright and early to enjoy the day so we headed off to RedRocks Park. I don’t think that the words I can say here will make justice to how magnificent the place is. It is one of those places that you just have to experience to know how amazing it is. It truly made me appreciate how majestic and beautiful mother nature can be.

Then we headed to the Coors Brewery in Golden, CO. It was probably a 20-min drive from Red Rocks and yes, the views are pretty nice. I am not a huge Coors fan since I am more of a craft-beer-kind-of-gal but I have never been on a brewery tour so seeing the beer being made was a pretty cool experience. The best part of it? It’s free and you get 3 beers at the end of the tour!

We headed back to Denver to get ready for our anniversary dinner. We went to El Five, which is one of the newer restaurants and it sure was the place to be. Waiting time was about an hour but while we waited we went to Linger which is another bar/restaurant next to it to grab a drink. The food at El Five was amazing to say the least and the view was to die for. I also did not think it was expensive at all, or maybe it was because we were planning to splurge a little for our anniversary dinner, but hey any penny we could save we appreciated it!

Next day we headed up to Breckenridge, CO. It is a small town about 2 hours from Denver and the drive it’s so beautiful! A lot of sharp turns thru The Rocky Mountains and a very scenic drive. At Breckenridge, we stayed at a small lodge close to Main Street and a creek that went by next to our room. The air up in the mountains was just so fresh and crisp and taking a deep breath felt like life was coming back. I know, you are probably thinking I over exaggerated but well, I guess you just have to breath it to know what I mean.

The following day we decided to explore the town and walk around. Unfortunately, the famous Breckenridge gondolas were closed for the summer season (they closed a week before we got there!) and they are opening back up for the winter season in November. Bummer. This town is probably the live version of what I had on my head a mountain town. Small, cozy, cabins and wood everywhere, oh and don’t forget how nice everyone is! 

Later that day we headed back to Denver but before going to our friends house we had to make a pit stop at Little Man Ice Cream since everyone was raving about and the lines were always extra-long. Thankfully, when we got there was maybe a 5-people line. The ice cream itself has nothing fancy, nor does the place but it’s just good ol’ homemade ice cream.

The last day came around way too fast so we decided to make one last stop before heading back home to Minneapolis. We went to The DenverBotanic Gardens. I had been to a botanic garden years ago in Bogotá, but I’ve always wanted to go back to one in another city. I remember how peaceful and how in sync this place makes you feel with nature.

And just like that our trip was over so we headed back to the airport, returned our amazing Mazda 3 hatchback and headed for our gate. Oh! Remember what I said about luggage fees for Frontier? Well yes, they charge $40 FOR YOUR CARRY-ON!!!!!!! So, I guess to our $300 flight deal you have to add the $80 luggage fees courtesy of Frontier Airlines.

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But to end this great journey on a positive note, I definitely recommend going out and visiting Denver. If you are a fan of the outdoors, cozy places and lots of things and restaurants to discover this is definitely one of my top-rated cities in the U.S so far!

Wanna see more? Check out our recap video here: