May 29th ~ Denver, Colorado
View of downtown Denver
In between all the parties, we managed to squeeze a day in for some sightseeing in the Mile-High city.
Denver Botanic Gardens
Plants from all over the world are spread out over 24 acres of land, with 62 distinct gardens. Themes include Gardens of the West, Internationally Inspired Gardens, Ornamental Gardens, Shady Gardens and Water Gardens.
One of many, many perfect blooms
We were impressed by the variety of blooms, carefully cultivated and creative gardens, and the condition of the plants. A massive number of volunteers and garden staff are on hand who cheerfully answered our questions.
Indoor greenhouse and orchid displays
Limited free parking is right across the street, but be warned that it does fill up early during prime times. We had a wonderful salad at the cafe on the grounds, overlooking the water gardens.
Admission rates: Adults $12.50, Senior (ages 65+) $9.50 and children (ages 3-15) $9.00
We had planned on doing a tour at the Denver Mint, but the tours were already sold out for the day. They invited us to come back at 6:30 the following morning to get in line for the next days tours, but it did not fit into our schedule. Because of the holiday weekend, an excessive number of visitors were here, though it is not uncommon for the tours to sell out over the summer months.
The salad at the gardens had not quite filled us up, so when we spotted about 20 food trucks a couple blocks from the Mint, we each picked out a favorite and grabbed a snack.
Rows of food trucks in the heart of the city
Colorado State Capitol Building
Colorado State Capitol Building
“The Capitol building was designed by Elijah E. Myers, and its construction lasted from 1886 through 1901. The Colorado Capitol was designed on an axis in the form of a Greek cross and resembles the basic design of the nation’s Capitol in Washington, D.C. The cost of the construction was about $3 million. The cost of replicating this building today is impossible to determine.” ~ leg.colorado.gov
About 300,000 people visit the Capitol building every year. What a stunning historical site…
Inside the Capitol
Our tour lasted about an hour and included a visit to the gold-plated dome for beautiful views of the surrounding city.
View from the dome
Free public tours are offered hourly 10:00am – 3:00pm, Monday through Friday.
Coming Next: Colorado Springs and Garden of the Gods
GRATITUDE MOMENT: Today I am grateful that we got to see more of the highlights of Denver. This is a sophisticated city with tremendous cultural diversity, great foodie scene, and amazing architecture.
A Note From Abroad 
Nothing like a good botanical gardens!
janet
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Janet, one of my goals is to learn macro photography of flowers. A botanical garden could keep me enthralled for years.
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I bought the same camera that you have. Tips on how you get such great macro photos would be appreciated!
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Mary, I hope the tips we discussed through messenger helped. Please let me know.
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You captured the flowers beautifully. I could probably have spent an entire day in those gardens. It looks awesome. I hope you enjoy the Garden of the Gods. I have been there and enjoyed it. Just wished I had had more time to explore than I did.
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We loved Garden of the Gods and the Air Force Academy. There is much to see and do around Colorado Springs. I’m working on that write up now.
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It really is one of those places with lots to see and do. I was lucky in that, as part of my AF duties, I got a tour of the Cheyenne Moutain Complex. I say “lucky,” but, being a bit claustrophobic, had those huge doors closed, they would have had to just shoot me to put me out of my misery. LOL
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I’m so glad that you ate enjoying Denver. I was up in Rocky Mountain National Park today escaping from the heat! 🙂
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I am jealous! Loved RMNP,
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Too bad you missed the chance to see our government actually MAKING money! Lol. Great blog, as always….
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Thank you Mike. Tim commented this morning that not being able to do the tour through the mint was his one disappointment from this trip.
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Fabulous gardens!! Always a day well spent visiting gardens and historic sites.
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Darlene, I agree!
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You really captured the beautiful flowers. On your next visit, do food truck hopping. We have a variety of food and breweries served by food trucks.
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Thank you 😊 We did try a couple of the food trucks. Always a fun adventure, but somewhat challenging due to my husband having many food allergies.
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