A Day in the Mile-High City
Wednesday was all about Denver — the Mile-High City. I decided to spend the day there, revisiting some of the places I hadn’t seen since the early 2000s and exploring a few new ones I’d missed even when I lived there.
I started at the Denver Zoo, wandering through on a warm, sunny morning. They had new lion cubs on display, but the line to see them was already an hour long — and the zoo had barely opened — so I settled for watching the rest of the pride instead. The zoo had changed a lot since I was last there, probably around 2006 or 2007. It’s not surprising, but it still felt a little strange that nothing looked quite how I remembered. I spent most of the morning there before heading out for my next stop.
After dropping off my camera, I made my way to the Denver Museum of Nature & Science — a first for me. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but it turned out to be a great museum. I probably would have stayed longer if it hadn’t been for three simultaneous field trips and, honestly, if I’d had someone to explore it with. Museums are always more interesting when you can talk through the exhibits with someone else.
I wandered through all three halls, checked out the dinosaur displays, and peeked into the working labs before deciding to wrap up the day at the Downtown Aquarium. It’s not the best aquarium I’ve ever seen, but it’s definitely not the worst (I won’t name names, but let’s just say it’s somewhere in the middle of nowhere Oklahoma). I spent the afternoon there, taking in the tanks and relaxing a bit before heading to the Aquarium Restaurant for dinner.
And yes, I did have seafood — right next to the tanks. I couldn’t help but laugh at the irony. Hopefully the shrimp on my plate hadn’t been swimming by earlier that afternoon.
