Was there and gone too fast, in Denver. I visited for a conference and squeezed in a few sights between sessions, speaking and saying hi to colleagues from around the country. Thankfully it was nowhere near my first go-around in this fun city, and hopefully not the last. A few snaps …
Rock climbers clambering up the wall of our hotel lobby:
Are there many manhole covers cooler than this?
Watch your step, you never know what you might see below your feet. This makes me want to Google “manhole covers.” Like, otherwise why would I do that?!?
This wood keg welcomed us to Tamayo, a restaurant with upscale Mexican fare and a great drink menu. We wound up on an outdoor deck there, very happy Chicagoans actually outside without wearing coats!
I was just reading about Herradura tequila in a book of 100 margarita recipes from Maria’s in Santa Fe, which is said to make the best margaritas in Santa Fe. I missed out on margaritas while we were there, but more than made up for that in Denver.
Some folks from work and I plopped down at Tamayo at the coolest little table, with wooden drink menus bound with ikat fabric spine. Now I’m likin’ the little details like that.
Hey why so fast goin’ for those drink menus?
Do you know that happy hour here starts at 5 and goes until restaurant closing? Even more reason for happy Chicagoans here.
Every time I’m in Denver, a trip to Tattered Cover bookstore is a must. Here’s the worn wood floor:
Our water during lunch at Appaloosa Grill was delivered in a whiskey bottle:
Well I think beer is bitter and awful but apparently I’ve been drinking it wrong?
Hmmm. This post is getting a strong alcohol theme running through it! Believe me, I’m a conference geek — I attend all sessions and don’t overdo it at night. I definitely worked here too!
We found a relic:
This old wall was interesting to me. It seems like a natural canvas that evolved over a long time:
The wall above was in a chocolate shop, Chocolatier BLUE, that had contemporary candied jewels, big contrast to the rustic wood-beam basement ceiling surroundings:
And that’s Denver through my eyes.
OHMYGODDESS! You’ve got a great eye! That “man”hole cover is circled by symbols of serpents/water and spirals — representative of the ancient Mother Goddess in her various forms. Life (spiral = womb/cave); life-giving water (=serpent shape or wave shape = water; and in patriarchal times, the serpent shape = the all-seeing eye, i.e., knowledge of good and evil), and became anathema, because it challenged and continues to challenge the orthodox beliefs.) The signs are universal and cross cultures over thousands of years. I wonder who designed that sewer (“sew”er) cover? Thanks for the beautiful vignettes of Denver. When I was in St. Louis a few years ago (September 2011) I came across Bisseger’s Chocolates just a few blocks away from the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of St. Louis and fell in love all over again with chocolate! Chocolate — one of the New World’s gifts to the Old World.
Thank you Jan. And the info about the symbols on the manhole cover are fascinating – thanks for sharing! I have noticed how some ancient symbols show up on all continents where there was man, and wondered how that happened. Did they mean the same everywhere? How did that sharing happen? If we could go back in time …
And yes I think chocolate should be an official food group. No guilt about it if it’s the good stuff (forget Nestle, Hershey), it has benefits!
Manhole covers don’t get no respect. :) Here’s an interesting article about Denver’s manhole covers, from a different view, a business culture view: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_3110777
I was walking between two of my friends from work, the two of them chatting over my head and me looking at the ground because the stones looked cool. They never noticed that manhole cover. Of course my phone is always in my hand (but please folks don’t try to text and walk at same time – it can be dangerous) and I dropped behind to appreciate this cover and share it. Maybe sometimes we should walk like we’re little kids looking for pennies on the ground again.
There are lots of people doing cool manhole covers including well-known designers. I’ve just done a profile on Giulio Iacchetti who designed some thoughtful and interesting covers. I think it is so cool that something so utilitarian and un-noticed gets a new lease of life.
Thank you for letting us know! I will check out your profile. I agree even utilitarian things should be interesting and why shouldn’t they be noticed? The world would be more interesting then.
Where did you find the climber figurines to buy?? I go by the hotel every day and love them.
Hi, I found similar climbers at Leon & Lulu, a shop in Clawson, Michigan. The store has a website and I’m sure you can call them to ship if you want. Their climbers are a bit different, you can see them on this post:
http://nomadicdecorator.com/2013/05/12/india-design-and-color-at-leon-lulu/
I think they were $99 each.