Denver, Colorado

My husband had a business trip in Denver which meant he had to be there all day Tuesday and most of Wednesday. We was set to fly out of town on Monday evening and would be returning late Wednesday. So my wheels got to turning and since we were to be in Taos for the weekend and Denver is about five hours north of Taos, how about if we all drove up on Monday. He was off for MLK day, so it would be perfect. Plus the hotel would be free since it was for a business trip. We would pay for the upgrade to a larger room, but basically this was Denver on hardly any money! TERRIFIC!

So I packed a few extra outfits for our trip and we were off! The plan was to spend the days touring Denver and having fun in their museums and such. Plus getting to see a different city, stay in a hotel and enjoy the majestic Rocky Mountains while covered in snow! It was really a nice getaway.

We made great time from Taos up to Denver. Leaving around 11:30 am from the snow COVERED mountains in Taos Ski Valley and driving north we made it to Denver by 4;30pm. The weather cooperated and the snow and ice covered roads were at least in the valleys where it was flat and you could use the 4x4 and get some traction. All was great.

We arrived at our hotel, got checked in and headed upstairs to take showers before heading to the Aquarium for dinner and a tour. The Downtown Aquarium in Denver is open until 10pm and has a discounted admission after 6pm. Something I was happy about when we realized how small it was. Even with the discount it was 10.00 a person, and the whole aquarium takes about 45 minutes to see. So I was happy not to have paid their full rate. However it was a WONDERFUL aquarium. The kids loved it, they got to pet some stingrays and see so many cool things. GD was stoked that he got to see Seahorses, something he saw an entire traveling exhibit of in Baltimore, but doesnt remember. ME got to see a Sea Turtle which she loved and GM just had such a great time throughout the whole thing. It was definitely a favorite of all of ours!

Better yet was dinner!!! they have a restaurant that is up against the aquarium, something that is fairly common these days, but the food was just delicious! The margaritas were even better and they had so much food that GM could eat and enjoy! He even got to have a rice crispy treat desert that you could paint with colored powdered sugar water. He was really happy, and so was I! They all got cool souvenir cups to being home and we all laughed and enjoyed one another throughout our dinner. I love times like that!

I highly recommend the aquarium and the restaurant. Both are a bit pricey, but we just had the greatest time. Even after the day's long drive. It was fun way to kick off Denver, especially since it is right next to downtown, which is just beautiful at night. Denver was off to a great start!