For our latest vacation destination, we chose Denver as it’s a quick (and relatively inexpensive) plane trip away and is even drive-able if you don’t mind being on the road for eight hours. We opted for the plane trip, which gave us more time to enjoy our quick weekend getaway. We arrived in Denver on a Thursday early evening and stayed through Sunday afternoon. Please take a moment to read about the wonderful establishments we stayed and dined at and the stock show that was taking place in Denver while we were there.
Magnolia Hotel
818 17th Street • Denver, Colorado 80202
(303) 607-9000 • www.magnoliahoteldenver.com
We have had the pleasure of staying at the Magnolia Hotel in Omaha numerous times and have always enjoyed the beautiful boutique hotel. This was our first time visiting the Denver location and we were so impressed! The hotel is just gorgeous and you can’t beat the downtown location. The Magnolia Hotel Denver is just a stone’s throw away from Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, the Pepsi Center, home of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche and the Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium, home of the legendary Denver Broncos. This downtown Denver hotel is also conveniently located near the Denver Museum of Art, the Colorado Convention Center, and all of the city’s major corporate headquarters. If you were to take AmTrak, you would be within 8 blocks of the hotel, a distance that’s even walkable if you don’t have too much luggage. They also offer valet service to downtown locations so you don’t even have to worry about getting a cab or taking your car out.
Of course, what really put the Magnolia over the top for us was the excellent customer service. Everyone who works there was so nice and helpful and did whatever they could to ensure our stay was an enjoyable and stress-free one. Our stay included not only a gorgeous room, but also free milk and cookies in the evening (we took a little TOO much advantage of this one the first night), cocktails in the evening and a full hot breakfast every morning.
Harry’s--inside Magnolia Hotel
Magnolia also boasts the wonderful Harry’s, a quaint lounge and restaurant that we dined at Thursday evening. I can’t tell you how much we loved the food here. We dined on butternut squash bisque, gorgonzola salad, sesame ahi tuna, Kobe beef sliders and more! To complement these delicious meals, we had to try some of Harry’s ‘Magtinis’ like the Brad’s Mango Drop (Absolut Mango, Triple Sec, sweet n’ sour, lemon juice and sugar) and the Olde Fashioned Denver (Stranahan’s Colorado Whiskey muddled with orange, cherries and served on the rocks with a splash of soda and a dash of bitters).
We highly recommend both the Magnolia for your hotel stay and a dinner and drinks in Harry’s when you are in Denver!
National Western Stock Show
National Western Complex
4655 Humboldt St. • Denver, CO 80216
303-297-1166 • www.nationalwestern.com
The National Western Stock Show was held January 9-24th this year and, being ranch girls who grew up around horses and cattle, we were very excited to attend this huge event! The Stock Show is packed full of events, including rodeos, a western art exhibit and sale, fiddle championships, horse shows, tractor races and much, much more! We had a wonderful time attending a rodeo, walking around, looking at all the displays and shopping and just taking in the excitement of the show.
This would be a great place to take your family as there really is something for everyone. The group of us girls also had a great time. There is so much to see and do that we didn’t even scratch the surface in the one day we had to attend the show.
1515 Restaurant
1515 Market Street • Denver, CO 80202
(303) 571-0011 • www.1515restaurant.com
On Friday night, we were excited to visit 1515 Restaurant in downtown Omaha. An independent establishment, 1515 boasts a relaxing, yet warm environment in which to enjoy some of the city’s most distinctive flavors.
Famous for its award-winning, nationally recognized New American cuisine, 1515 Restaurant offers fine dining and exceptional service, all in a serene, unforgettable dining experience above Market Street.
Executive Chef Chuck James brings diverse culinary skill and national fine dining experience to 1515. His menu is supplemented by in house-grown micro greens, roof top greenhouse in the summer time and an award-winning 400-plus bottle wine list.
Come in and experience Chef James’ croissant soup, James Brown’s winner salad, Sous Vide pork, barramundi and five course or seven course wine pairing dinners.
Located at 1515 Market Street in downtown Denver, 1515 Restaurant is within walking distance to the Pepsi Center, Denver Performing Arts Complex, Coors Field and major hotels. 1515 is the perfect place to begin and end an evening downtown.
We loved the food and the atmosphere at 1515 and highly recommend it if you want a fine dining experience while in downtown Denver.
Croc’s Mexican Bar and Grille
1630 Market Street • Denver, CO 80202
(303) 436-1144 • www.crocsmexicangrill.com
Croc’s is located in the heart of lower downtown’s historical district. They are known for their entertaining staff, musically fun atmosphere, and award winning Mexican food featuring authentic homemade chili rellenos, carnitas, tamales and the world famous “El Shrimp Bucket”.
What really impressed us was that the owners of Croc’s happen to be huge Nebraska fans! Well, that and the fact that they had a Bloody Mary bar where you could concoct your own spicy drink! This was place was so much fun, the food was great and the people were just awesome. They wanted to make sure we told all of our readers that Husker fans are always welcome to come in and have a Bloody Mary with them while they are in town!