OCTOBER 2017 businesstraveller.com
If you prefer your culture live, then Denver also
delivers. It has one of the largest performing arts
complexes in the US, with ten venues housing
everything from theatre to Broadway shows and a
symphony orchestra (denvercenter.org). The 76,000-
seat Sports Authority Field at Mile High is home to
2016 Super Bowl champions the Broncos, although
tickets are hard to come by – every Sunday home game
since 1970 has sold out (season runs Sep-Feb).
The city also boasts two legendary music venues
along East Colfax Avenue (part of the longest
commercial street in the US) – the Bluebird and
Ogden theatres, both concert halls that are symbolic of
Denver’s eclectic music scene.
LODO OR LOHI?
Head to LoDo (Lower Downtown Denver) to explore
regenerating and newly hip historic neighbourhoods
with a range of worthwhile diversions – the excellent
Tattered Cover bookshop (tatteredcover.com), the
sumptuous Art Deco Cruise Room bar at Denver’s oldest
hotel, the Oxford (theoxfordhotel.com), and the cool
bars and restaurants along Larimer Square. Don’t miss
the “brewpub” that sparked Denver’s justly famous craft
beer and microbrewing scene, Wynkoop (wynkoop.com).
There is also LoHi (Lower Highlands), just across the
South Platte River, worth visiting for the Williams and
Graham “speakeasy” alone (williamsandgraham.com) –
its wood-panelled backroom bar is hidden behind a tiny
“bookshop”. Another way to check out Denver is to jog
or cycle – there are a remarkable 137km of paved trails
around the city.
And then there is always shopping. As well as more
than 160 upmarket stores at Cherry Creek Shopping
Centre, 5km southeast of the city centre, there is one
downtown flagship store that should not be missed:
Rockmount Ranch Wear (rockmount.com). The Western
outfitters that introduced the snap-button cowboy shirt
to the world – and to Elvis, Bob Dylan, Robert Plant
and Eric Clapton – was founded in 1946 by “Papa” Jack
Weil, a businessman who worked until the age of 107.
Clockwise from
top: Denver
Art Museum;
riverfront
cycle paths;
Rockmount
Ranch Wear;
and Denver
International
Airport60 I Weekend in... Denver
VISIT DENVER/STEVE CRECELIUS/RICH GRANT