We don’t always get to go out of town – contrary to popular belief, we DO have jobs and responsibilities here at home… So occasionally we like to have a “tourist in our own town” kind of day where we leave the house early, grab some breakfast, and wander to the far corners of the city. This was one such day.

We left the house bright and early on a random Tuesday (I think), and headed to Sam’s No. 3 for breakfast. It’s a slightly upscale greasy spoon in the middle of Denver with really good coffee and great food. As usual, it did not disappoint. Stuffed to the gills, we started on our tour through town.

We hit up Larimer Square next, which is always cool with the flags dangling over the street. You used to be able to drive down Larimer St., but at some point it got closed to motor vehicles (maybe during the pandemic?) and never quite reopened. There are shops and restaurants, and an ice cream shop that’s pretty good. There’s also a bar on the street that opens in the afternoons, which is kinda cool.

Then we meandered our way to Union Station, which is awesome. It’s the old train depot, which is still in operation, but now also features shops, restaurants, and bars and has lots of character. It’s one of our favorites, really. It’s a cool place to just go grab a drink and hang out for awhile and, if nothing else, people watch.

After chilling out there for a bit, we continued up via the Dairy Block (another cool alley turned into bars and shops) up into the RiNo Arts District, which has become known for all the murals on the buildings. We hadn’t wandered too far up there before, and it ended up being pretty cool!

By this point, we needed a break. Lucky for us, Stem Ciders is up in RiNo, and we hadn’t been there since they moved to their new location. We shared a flight of ciders and hung out for a bit. We wandered our way back home after that – we had big plans for an evening on the town!

After having some dinner, grabbing showers, and resting for a bit, we headed back out. We were going to go to the Peaks Lounge, a really cool bar on the 27th floor of the Hyatt with awesome views. We walked over, and then…. THWARTED! The bar was closed for a private event. ARG!

No big deal. We’ll just go to 54Thirty, the rooftop bar on top of Le Meridien, across the street (are you seeing a rooftop theme here?). Luckily, we looked at their website before heading over. Closed for a private event. Dammit.

We were racking our brains over what to do next – we were literally all dressed up with nowhere to go. As we passed by Stout St. Social, we poked our heads in. The wait was something like two hours without reservations. That place is always ridiculously crowded.

Eventually, we ended up at The 9th Door, a wine and tapas bar down the street from our house. Their food is always awesome, and their sangria is really good too. Plus, it was Tuesday, so they had lots of specials.

The takeaway? Tapas Tuesday is better than Taco Tuesday.