Totally in love with the Denver Public Library!

I was so surprised by the Denver Public Library, right in the middle of the downtown area. It's incredibly unique...but that's what you would expect, since it was designed by Michael Graves. We saw the outside (and took tons of photos) on Friday night, but we didn't get to go inside. Yesterday morning, though, we took the speed tour before leaving Denver. It was great! It's so large that they have a self-guided tour map available at the front desk. Not only is it absolutely filled with books, but the art collection is astounding! There's art on every floor, and the about half of the top floor is a gallery. The main gallery space overlooks the city, facing the park; there's a deck that is opened for the special events, too.

The fifth floor historical room is breathtaking. I'll upload a photo later, but the center is dominated by the timbers that form the central space. AND along one side are table areas that overlook the museum. The coolest part? It's like a big desk and a window seat all in one; the table is that deep. I would have loved to have climbed up and sat in the window, but I doubt they would have been too happy about that...

We proposed a "bring Colorado here" lever so we could visit the library frequently, but I think they have a backlog.

Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver

We visited Tattered Cover's downtown location after finishing up downtown. If you know us, you know we had no choice. It is a bookstore, after all. It is also practically an institution in Denver; I had read about it long before, so it was on the must-visit list. Plus it had a coffee shop and was open late...

The selection is great, and the atmosphere is wonderful! There's antique furniture everywhere (but the friendly type of antique, not the "don't touch me" type). The sections are logically arranged, and the magazine assortment is wonderful! The art in the store is unique: portraits of every writer or illustrator who has visited the store, taken when they visited. I didn't have time to look at every single one--there were way too many--but I was happy to see Madeline l'Engle. Yay.

Anyway, if you visit Denver, you must visit Tattered Cover. Next time we hope to visit the Lower Downtown ("LoDo") location, too.

A little more of Denver

Dredd is totally nuts. Denver really is a nice little city. There's a lot of interesting buildings downtown, including an unbelievably beautiful library, the really weird (yet appealing) Denver Art Museum, the Byers-Evans House (where the people were very, very nice), and all the great government buildings.

And of course, there's the Capitol building, with its official "One Mile Above Sea Level" marker. Um, make that markers: the one mile mark was officially changed in 2003, presumably as a result of more accurate measurements.

Parking can be very difficult, but after 6 pm and on Sundays and holidays you don't have to pay the meters...which is a big help.

All in all, it's very compact, so getting from one place to the other is easy!