It really is the perfect place for families. There's a little manmade "kayak run" that's not deep or dangerous, and I could totally see kids spending an entire afternoon floating down it in tubes, then running up to the top and doing it again. We didn't think to bring the camera, so I don't have a photo, but I'm borrowing this photo from here:
The thing that makes it especially nice for families is that the part where Cherry Creek comes in and meets the river is totally calm and shallow--maybe three inches deep. We saw lots of younger kids splashing around in there, just having a great time.
Plus, the place is gorgeous. I want to back with the camera when the light and weather are right so that we can attempt to take photos like this (taken from here):
Is that not gorgeous? I love that we live in a city with a real river in it, one that runs right through downtown.
But, you know, what our little walk made me realize is that we don't actually know that much about downtown Denver. I know that Denver has a great downtown--not just the sports teams and the river but also lots of parks, art galleries, and shops. We have an outdoor pedestrian mall that's pretty nice, although mostly made up of chain stores, but other than that, we haven't been very many places downtown. Most of our exploring of the area has actually been outside of Denver, in the mountains and foothills and other hiking spots.
And because we live on the edge of town, even though we're only 10 minutes from downtown, it isn't an integral part of our day-to-day lives, so we don't know it that well. So when people come to visit and ask me to show them the town, I don't totally know what to show them.
I know a lot of this comes with time, but I feel like I need to make a more concerted effort to learn about the town itself. Everything I know and have seen of this city, I love, but I want to get to know specific spots that we will return to again and again, the places we'll take visitors to see, the places we would recommend to everyone. We've been here six months now--I don't know what the expectations are for how long it takes you to get to know a town, and I feel like we've been pretty active and good about getting out and about--but somehow we seem to have forgotten our own downtown in the process.
So! Time for me to do some research. This sounds silly, but perhaps I should buy a guidebook to Denver. It will recommend everything there is to see, and that sounds good to me. We did get a magazine visitor's guide when we were staying in a hotel here while looking for an apartment, and that's a good start, but some of the places it recommends have turned out to be not quite what they were made out to be when we actually got there. So maybe it's time to invest in a Lonely Planet guide to Denver, or something.
What about you? How long have you lived in your current town? Do you feel like you really know all its sights and attractions? How long do you think it took you to get to that point?
Ryan and I have lived in Duluth for 10+ years (minus a year I lived elsewhere), and while we know a LOT about the city and the fabulous parks and places to visit, we still occasionally stumble on a new "thing" we haven't explored before (like when we moved to a house a couple years ago and found out that the block backed up to a city park with hiking trails that we had never heard of before). So while I think getting a guide to your city is a great idea, you definitely aren't behind on anything. :)
ReplyDeleteI've lived in St. John's, NL for 8 years now and I haven't seen all of the tourist spots yet. I've actually only seen a few. This is a small city though, so I know of them all, just never made the effort to go see as many as I should have. That being said, I would love to explore a lot of the smaller, less well known spots of my town. I'd like to get to know it on a more intimate level than all of the tourist places allow, ya know?
ReplyDeleteWow, that area looks so pretty. I am so not a 'mountains person', but all these stories you share about the area make it sound so freakin enticing :)
ReplyDeleteI've lived here for .... almost 6 years now, and I would say I know the city super well. I've somehow never made it to the beaches, I've only skated on the canal once, and I've NEVER been to the Parliment Buildings. When you live in a city, I find you don't really make a priority to do all the 'touristy' things that people who visit do.
ReplyDeleteDon't be fooled! That beach is also known as "E Coli Beach," because the water has consistently tested positive for insanely high levels of bacteria.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thing about Confluence Park: I got an $80 dog off-leash ticket for letting Lucy (our old dog) in the water. They're strict there!
It takes awhile to find all the city's treasures...we've been here for 6 years and we're still discovering :)
Oh! And you should subscribe to 5280 magazine. It's a very good Denver info source.
ReplyDeleteI bought a guide book when I moved to Chicago (Frommer's) and it is totally worth the investment. I've been here almost a year but have not come close to exploring all the cool things the city has to offer. I always mean to do more but sometimes life just gets in the way!
ReplyDeleteI think you've explored more of Denver than we have. Must remember to visit confluence park.
ReplyDeleteI've found that the Not For Tourists guides are very helpful because they're aimed at residents (not tourists, obviously!). They're very detailed. Might be helpful if you're looking to learn more about the downtown area!
ReplyDeleteI think buying a tour guide book is a great idea. I've lived in the same town in IL my whole life so I know pretty much everything here.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the Not for Tourist guidebook. It's got great information jammed in there. I've been in Southern California for a little over 20 years (before that it was Idaho Falls). Eventhough L.A. is so large and I'm still occasionally finding little suprises, I'm so OVER it. I feel like I know it too well. We're thinking DC but we're still in the gathering information stage.
ReplyDeleteWe've lived in Bristol for almost 3 years now. I'd say it took less than a year to get to know the city centre and shopping district well but there's still a lot to the city that we haven't yet explored. It helps that we don't own a car so we walk or take public transport everywhere and that really gets you familiar with a place, especially the train and bus stations!
ReplyDeleteI probably wouldn't buy a tourist guide to Bristol but I have bought some local history books with old photos of places we're familiar with and we've gone on organised tours of old sites like a closed-down funicular railway. That's a pretty cool way to get to know your city!
Oh! And subscribing to a local magazine - that's the thing that helped the most. It keeps us up to date with free festivals/exhibitions and there's always great articles about places to visit or local people.
ReplyDeleteIf you want a guide book for the whole state check out this one:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.amazon.com/Colorado-Guide-5th-Bruce-Caughey/dp/1555910068
It's a great one, by people who live in the centennial state. :)
Putting it mildly, Dallas has nothing nice to look at.
ReplyDeleteYou've inspired me! I've lived in Brisbane (Australia) for almost five years now and I barely know the place. I am embarrassed when friends that are new to the city know more about it than I do. I am going to do the same thing and get myself a tourist guide and start planning some trips :)
ReplyDeleteYou're becoming a real tour guide for Denver! I love reading your Denver posts because they all pretty much summarize why I know I'd love living there. And after our trip to Montana? Well, let's just say that if it weren't for family, we'd likely be moving west soon!!!
ReplyDeleteIt sure didn't take us long to get to know our city. But then, it's only got about 4500 people and there's not all that much to see. There's a big festival in the summer that swells the population to about 65,000 for the weekend, but before and after that, it's just another prairie town.
ReplyDeleteI think the idea of buying a Lonely Planet guide is a great one!