An incomplete tour of Downtown Denver and some of it's surrounding neighborhoods with personal ties. We begin with a night view of the city. This photo was taken 2011.
We make our way into LoDo (Lower Downtown) and a more popular and recognizable spot, Larimer Street. This street is always busy and is decorated with lights, flags, etc. depending on the time of year and festivities. This shot was captured during Thanksgiving and some garland and bows can be seen hanging from some of the lights. Notice no cars or people? This was not done with Photoshop. BTW we do not Photoshop any of our photos, we do very minimal post editing.
This reflective shot was taken just outside the Museum of Contemporary Art Denver. There are some pretty amazing art instillations around this area that I have photographed a ton. This is one of my favorite areas to walk around and explore.
Denver Museum of Contemporary Art
These photos were taken in the same area as the Bleeding Heart Reflection photo above. The building on the right was built in 1906 and has since been converted into lofts and commercial space but still retains some of the writing of its origins as the Spratlen & Anderson Wholesale Grocery. The photo on the right was taken from an old rail bridge preserved as a pedestrian bridge over Cherry Creek.
This is a photo of the Millennium Bridge. This photo was taken in 2011 and there was a large building under construction behind it which has since been completed. We were lucky to get a photo of the mast with the sky as a back drop instead of a building. Although, we have plans of going back and taking similar photos again with the completed building.
This was taken outside the Denver Performing Arts complex. I love these dancing aliens, they make me smile every time I see them.
This is the Colorado State Capital building!
Civic Center Park sits in front of the State Capital and is home to many festivities. It's also a beautiful place to sit and enjoy the City during the week.
The Tivoli Building (left) which could be seen from the Spear Blvd Bridge (right) before Elitches was moved downtown, was built in 1864 by a German immigrant who brewed beer (much of Denvers History and beginnings are steeped in beer, which explains our rich beer culture). In the 1950's, the Tivoli was one of the largest breweries in the country. It closed in 1969 but until then it was the second oldest continuously operating brewery in the country. It was converted into a shopping center in the 1980's and had a movie theatre I used to go to in high school where it had midnight showings of Rocky Horror Picture Show! Today it is the Tivoli Student Union on the Auraria Campus for Metro State and UC Denver students. The building still contains some of the copper brewing barrels and I've heard some local breweries have started brewing some of the beers that used to be brewed here.
The Highlands and surrounding neighborhoods are a popular and historic area in Denver. Many years ago, this area was home to many Italian Immigrants. A handful of Italian Restaurants and Deli's from this era remain. There's also a Masonic Temple and other historic buildings and architecture.
In 2011 Denver had a huge snow storm accumulating two feet of snow! It was a great opportunity to get some unique shots of the neighborhood. There was hardly any people or cars on the streets and in the parks. It was hard trekking through the deep snow but it was worth it!
Top left: Lakeside Amusement Park Tower Top right: Rocky Mountain Lake Park
Denver's "Cash Register Building" located Downtown as seen from Highland Park
From left to right: Highland Masonic Temple, Woodbury Branch Library near Highland Park and Highlands Square.
Wash Park (short for Washington Park) is another popular neighborhood in Denver. My parents grew up in this neighborhood and I have many great memories of going my Grandmother's house on Gaylord and Vine and my Aunt's and Uncle's taking us to Bonnie Brae Ice Cream. I still enjoy meeting family for lunch at Bonnie Brae Pizza or having a few beers at the Campus Lounge, a former drinking hole for my parents back in the day. We attended a few the Old Gaylord Street Art Festivals and always met people from the neighborhood who remembered my Dad's family. It's hard to believe that not so long ago, Denver wasn't such a big place.
The Ritchie Center Tower is located on the University of Denver campus. I don't have a lot of historic information about the University, I just have lots of pictures of the tower because my Dad was a Metalsmith and made the brass on the tower and some of the real copper work around the campus (some of the real copper was removed because the University didn't realize that real copper patina's especially when used outside). In my family, we call it "Papa's Steeple". There wasn't a lot of tall buildings in the area so it used to be the only thing you could see for miles in the area. Recent growth is changing the skyline and there's a near by parking garage and apartment building obstructing the view of the Steeple.
