Sunday, September 4, 2011

On The Road Denver Edition: The 16th Street Mall Addendum

Dateline The Birthplace of Speed, Florida: September 4, 2011



On the last full day this olelongrooffan was in the Mile High City it occurred to me that I had picked up no Denver, Colorado souvenirs to return to the Sunshine State with me.  (Well other than the cool orange thing I got during this adventure.)



So I asked cribbs where I could find a cool ball cap or t shirt to snatch before this olelongrooffan vacated the Mile High City, possibly forever.

He suggested I take the nearby pedestrian bridge over to the 16th street mall in downtown Denver.



And I did.

In downtown Denver, and I am sure other cities as well, they have these rent a bike stations all over. You can rent a bike and ride it all over downtown and drop it at any of the 16 or so rental stations such as this one which are dispersed around the downtown business district. It's pretty cool.



Outside the JET Hotel, a cool old piece of architecture, one of many around the downtown area, I spotted the dress code for entry on the front window of this night spot.



And as always, another big *ss animal following me around.



The 16th Street Mall is a sweet outdoor mall that was bustling during that Tuesday lunch hour. It is closed to all vehicles except the free buses that traverse the 17 blocks that make up the mall.



It begins at the Platte River and extends to the State Capitol Building.



And in that 17 block stretch, there were no fewer than seven Starbucks, none of which were visited by this olelongrooffan that day.



I did, however, make it to this cool park I had driven around several times early on in my visit.



I also spotted this facility and it, along with the JET Hotel, reminded me of thejeepjunkie and I stopped to text him to remind him to pick me up at the airport the next day.



Out in front of the Sheraton Hotel were these



odd looking ballerina statuettes and I had to capture a couple images to share with those of you Counting Along With Me.



And, again, another large animal following me around.



There also were several old school pianos scattered around the mall and anyone with, or without, any piano playing skills were welcome to have a seat at those keyboards and do your best Ray Charles impression.



The is the marker on the 13th step on the west side of the Colorado State Capitol Building marking exactly 5,280 feet above sea level. I did wonder if that was at low or high tide but no one was around to answer my inquiry.



And this is the view looking to the west from 5,286 feet above sea level.



That park I mentioned I drove around several times earlier?  There was a beautiful flower garden in the center of it along with some huge brass statues of a cowboy and and Indian, each on their own horse. Lousy images though so they aren't included.



Do you think this olelongrooffan could do a blog without a reference to an automobile? Me neither. I spotted this Nissan Ford Transit fighter leaving an alley in the mall area. I had earlier blogged about this truck and it can be seen here.



More large animals following me around, once again.



As I was crossing over one of the bridges back to Filmore, I crossed over some active railroad tracks filled with coal laden train cars.



This is an image of the park between downtown and the Platte River. Incidentally, the building just to the left houses the McLaughlin House, one of the places frequented by cribbs and this olelongrooffan later that evening.



Just outside of it was this pretty cool sculpture that looked even cooler at nite with uplights illuminating it.



I gathered an image or two of some rapids on the Platte River as well as




a self portrait of this olelongrooffan standing on that bridge.



I also got this image as I was crossing Eisenhower's Highway System number 25. I wonder if it will be featured by Hemmings 50 years from now?

Now by this time this olelongrooffan would suspect those of you Counting Along With Me are wondering if I was able to locate a souvenir on the 16th Street Mall that day.

I can confirm a Denver, Colorado ball cap is resting comfortably on the front seat of the Indian awaiting its journey to Palm Beach Gardens later this afternoon.

But even better, if all ya'll remember the tragedy that was described here,



you will be happy to know this olelongrooffan got the Deal Of The Day on my replacement sandals and please join me and my new sandals as we

Celebrate Life.

2 comments:

Junior Perrera said...

What a nice shot of Eisenhower's Highway System number 25! Dude, it would be good if you took that shot at night! The lights would add a more dramatic effect to the photos.

Horse-farmer said...

Am so glad you took this trip. Now I don't have to travel to that mile high city to see the sites. You did an excellent job as a tour guide.
Great, welcome home. See you later
I guess I am now the "Relocated Horse-farmer" or something like that.
tom