Downtown Denver, Colorado | City Finds 2023
/For Jake's 35th birthday we decided to go to one of his favorite places Denver, Colorado. This place is special to both of us because it is where we got engaged 2 years ago. The first visit we didn't get to explore as much of the city so we made that a priority this time.
Here is the lowdown on the cutest places that we visited during our trip.
Starting with the Hyatt Centric Downtown Denver it is located in the Heart of the City and was in a really great location for seeing the city,
I am pretty picky about where I like to stay as I always want to have an environment that is inspirational and different from my everyday life. I love how modern but also understated the details were in our room and throughout the hotel. While the space was small, it provided everything that we needed for our stay. The shower was probably one of my favorite things because it was very spacious.
Since we arrived very early on our nonstop flight from Evansville we weren't able to check in right away but the staff was very accommodating and let us check in our luggage while we explored around downtown until the room was ready.
We walked a couple blocks down to Milk Market which was full of really cute restaurants. We weren't quite used to the set up so we were a little confused when we were trying to order but got it all figured out and I had a sushi bowl and Jake had a burger and we both got a drink while we were waiting. Our room was ready by the time we were getting the check and we headed back to the hotel to freshen up before dinner.
On our first night we stayed in and went to Apple Blossom which is a very cute restaurant located inside of our hotel. It is a farm-to-table dive but they do have a happy hour prior which was pretty by saying due to the cute drinks decor and nice prices.
Once we had a couple drinks at happy hour our reservation was ready for Apple Blossom and we headed over and did I believe about three courses of extremely delicious food.
The next morning when Jake explored out with his friend I decided to get a facial at Aveda, it is a cute experience if you are tight on funds but still want to treat yourself I highly recommend going to the Aveda Institute for a treatment. Once I was done there I headed to ChoLun- a very Swanky asian-inspired restaurant for lunch. some of the best food I've ever put in my mouth.
As I was wrapping up on my solo daytime date, we met up and visited the Denver Aquarium which was bigger than I expected and randomly had a lion in it. The aquarium was very cute. We saw all of these different types of fishes and it also had a space where you could pet the stingrays. I would highly recommend it if you are wanting to entertain children or just have a chill moment in your day while exploring.
Our following day we met up with one of Jake's friends that lives in Denver and headed out to Breckenridge for the morning. Unfortunately the slopes were closed to go up the mountain but we did go into the City and found a cute restaurant to check out. I also got a really great Donut for free from the sweet lady at Daylight Donuts. We wandered a bit further and found a restaurant up in the mountains. The landscape was beautiful and I can't wait to visit during the winter so that we can see more of that side of Denver.
That night we had planned to meet up with our photographers so we spent time with them at happy hour at apple blossom before we headed around downtown to take photos.
Once we were done with photos we headed to Sunday vinyl this very cute bar to meet up with friends. They had just moved to Denver a couple weeks prior. This small bar had such a Vibe. I ended up getting a wine flight inspired by the vinyl that they had on playing that evening. The food was all so amazing and of course we couldn't have had better company.
Wine Flight Night at Sunday Vinyl
Once we were done there we headed to Citizen rail or Jake's birthday dinner. He loves steak and I literally looked up probably 20 places before we decided on this one and it did not disappoint. The highlight of this dinner was the duck fat potatoes you must get if you stop here.
The Hyatt Centric Downtown Denver made some cute touches for Jake's birthday. They included a set of drinks from the family Jones and a coupon so we decided to drop by the family Jones for drinks. I immediately loved the place for its cozy decor oh, but what made me love it the most was the quality of their drinks and their food.
Drinks courtsey of Hyatt Centric from The Family Jones
We capped the night by stopping by Avanti which was a mixed-use space of restaurants and bars in a really cute neighborhood. They were playing a movie outside on a huge projector. I wish we had more things like this back home so there were lots of people doing lots of different things and we just mingled around the space.