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Summer 2014 - Coors Factory Tour, Celestial Seasonings Tea Factory Tour, Buffalo Bill's Museum & Grave, Vail (in the summer), Piney River Ranch, Denver Zoo, Cave of the Winds, East Side Kosher Deli, Brooklyn Pizza and Bonnie Brae Ice Cream.
Thanksgiving 2015 - Denver Museum of Natural History, Bonnie Brae
December 2015 - Denver Aquarium, Bonnie Brae, East Side Kosher Deli, Brooklyn Pizza, Outlets at Castle Point, Monaco Lanes, Colorado Adventure Park - snow tubing
Pesach 2016 - Breckenridge, Grand Lodge on Peak 7
Labor Day 2016 - Seven Falls
Pesach 2017 - Cheyenne Mountain Zoo
Pesach 2018 - Avon, Sheraton Lakeside Terrace Villas
July 4th 2018 - Garden of the Gods
Pesach 2019 - Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, Betty Ford Botanical Gardens
Summer 2019 - Garden of the Gods, St. Mary's Glacier Hike
Succos 2019, Succos 2020, Pesach 2021 - Lower Maxwell Falls Trail, Evergreen Lake, Lake Dillon, Aqua Mini Golf
« Last edited by @Yehuda on July 14, 2021, 03:36:23 PM »

Author Topic: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN  (Read 36469 times)

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #20 on: December 20, 2015, 10:31:24 AM »
Wow, what  a thread! Nice TR's though.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #21 on: March 27, 2016, 08:57:30 PM »
December 2015

Having been to Denver just a month earlier for Thanksgiving, we were fortunate to spend quite some time here again at the end of the year. This trip ending up consisting of Denver for Shabbos, Hawaii for a week, and then back to Denver for another 10 days. You can read all about the flight bookings, our first Shabbos in Denver and our incredible week in Maui over here. Now, it was time to return to Denver for 2 more Shabbosim and a week of Coloradan activities.

Christmas, Friday, 12/25 - Shabbos, 12/26
After flying from Maui to LA on Thursday, we spent the night at an airport hotel before catching an early Christmas morning SW flight to Denver for a measly 4,299 SW points (divided by 2 when you consider the Companion Pass). The airport felt quiet, but it could have easily been due to how early it was and not because of Christmas. The uneventful flight got us into Denver with plenty of time till Shabbos. Our second Shabbos in Denver was as nice as the first, with Davening at EDOS and wonderful family meals.


Getting greeted by a cowboy in the airport. That's Denver for ya.

Sunday, 12/27
Today we went to the Denver Aquarium, which was very nice.




An insanely old turtle.


Otters!




We saw these black-and-white striped fish in Maui!


Cool tunnel you can walk through and have sea life swim over you, including sting rays.



For some reason, they have a few endangered tigers in an Aquarium? The size of their cage brought up feelings of Blackfish...




Finding Dory #classic




Those TEEEETH!!!


Aren't these poisonous little guys so beautiful?

They also had a cool area where you could touch sting rays.


After a fun morning, we headed to our favorite in-between-lunch-and-dinner spot... Bonnie Brae!





After catching Mincha/Maariv at EDOS...[/i]



...it was off to the East Side Kosher Deli for dinner.






Some of their fantastic wings and ranch sauce.


Their classic bourbon burger.


My wife's favorite since she's been a kid - chicken nuggets. :)

That wraps up some #SundayFunday!

Monday, 12/28
We started the late morning off by going to the Cherry Creek Mall. It's on the mid- to high-end level, and looks very nice inside. After shopping, we headed over to Brooklyn Pizza for a late lunch. While I have been very critical of this place in the past, they really changed things around, and the pizza was very tasty. Glad for that!





Nothing too exciting at night, as we just stayed at home.

Tuesday - 12/29
After a chill morning, we got in the car and drove out for a free tour of the Kosher Hammond's Candy Factory. Their website said they don't take reservations in advance, so we just went and figured we'd go on whatever tour was next when we got there. Unfortunately, the place was packed when we got there, and the lady behind the counter rudely told us that all the tours were booked for the remainder of the day! We asked how that could be if they don't take reservations, and she just rudely said, "Sorry." Frustrated, we left, but maybe one day we'll return...





We continued on to our next stop -- more shopping. :P This time, we went to the really nice, outdoor Outlets at Castle Rock.





Turns out there was a ton of Kosher chocolate at Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.



We headed out as the sun was setting and got a gorgeous look from the parking lot.



Back in Denver, we stopped by King Soopers, one of the main super market chains in Colorado, to pick up some stuff for dinner. (It's actually located in the same parking plaza as Brooklyn Pizza.)



In the evening, we went out to Monaco Lanes for some bowling.



Wednesday, 12/30
On Wednesday, we were ready to experience our first day of Colorado snow.  We debated between going skiing or snowtubing, but when we researched the costs and considered the anticipated 0 degree weather in the mountains, we decided on snowtubing. The roads were not too kind what with snow coming down for a good portion of the journey, but my father in law handled it superbly. On the way up to the mountains, we were treated to some gorgeous views.





Finally, we pulled into the city of Winter Park.



We had already decided on which company/hill we'd be going with, but there were several that we passed as we got to Colorado Adventure Park. Thankfully, it was also a bit warmer - at 12 degrees - than the forecast predicted.



Our hill looked like a fluffly, white blanket.



The view of the mountains behind the parking lot was quite special.



Whoever brought their husky out for the day wins the awesome award.



Now, here's where things went bad. We went into the office and found out that they had an estimated 1.5-2 hour wait until we could get on the hill! They have a limited number of people that are allowed on the hill at once and everyone pays for either 1 or 2 hours of tubing, so we had to get on a waiting list and just sit around. You never really saw more than 5 people at the top of the hill at once, nor more than 20 people going up the lift at any time, which meant that there was plenty of time that no one was tubing down. I really wonder where they came up with their numbers, because it seemed like they could have even doubled their capacity and everyone would have still been safely enjoying their afternoon. Almost 2 hours in, they told us it would be yet another hour. It was quite frustrating, but we weren't going to just go home. We stayed warm by the campfire they had set up, and eventually got our turn to take the tubes and head up the hill.



Going down had an exhilarating feeling to it, although I'm sure the skiers here will say it's nothing compared to skiing. Yeah, yeah. Part of the hill was smooth, but part of it had 2-3 bumps set up where you could actually catch some air. Some times we went alone, others in double tubes, and sometimes all of us went together by holding onto each others' tubes. All in all we went down probably close to 10 times in our hour.



We had a blast and then headed back to Denver where we, once again, went out to the Deli. As always, the chips and salsa on the table kept us busy while our food was being prepared.



The chicken soup was very good with a homemade taste to it.



I then went for the shnitzel sandwich, which came out as a completely fried chunk that I simply couldn't even bite into.



I courageously asked for it to be replaced, and the next version was much better.



After dinner we called it a night, and that's it for a fun, Colorado-filled day!

New Year's Eve, Thursday, 12/31
Today, we really relaxed by just sticking around the house for most of the day. Towards the evening, we went to our uncle and aunt's house for a New Year's party, where we had an amazing dinner, played games, re-watched some of the Broncos-Patriots Conference Championship game, watched a movie and had some Bonnie Brae New Year's ice cream cake. Yummmm.



New Year's Day, Friday, 1/1 - Sunday, 1/3
On Friday, we went bowling again, hehe, and then spent a 3rd wonderful Shabbos in a row in Denver. On Sunday, we headed to the airport, passing by the famous Bronco.


I know, I know, these pics were in the Maui TR.

We said our goodbyes and headed into the airport. At the self checkin kiosk, I realized that my boarding pass didn't say TSA Precheck on it! So, I tweeted to @SouthwestAir, and while waiting on line to check our bags, they responded that it was typed in wrong, updated it, and when we got to the front of the line, the agent re-printed me a new boarding pass. Gotta love it. We flew through security, got on the train and had enough time to pick up some Coffee Bean before our SW flight back to NY (at an amazing 9,574 SW for 2 people).



What an amazing 2.5 weeks, from the Rockies to Maui and back, topped off with a beautiful picture from the sky.


Offline Moshe123

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #22 on: March 27, 2016, 09:18:16 PM »
Amazing

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #23 on: March 27, 2016, 10:08:11 PM »
Sounds like it was an awesome trip!

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #24 on: March 28, 2016, 10:47:39 AM »

Offline Proisrael

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #25 on: March 28, 2016, 11:35:44 AM »
Weird to see the fish swimming freely in beautiful Maui and then in a cage in Denver.....LOL

Great TR!

Offline msg

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #26 on: March 29, 2016, 10:19:27 PM »
Great TR! Regards from Chicago

Offline Denverite

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #27 on: March 30, 2016, 12:04:56 AM »
Wow you should give those food pics to the Deli to use for marketing! I go there every week and my food doesn't look that good! 😜

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #28 on: March 30, 2016, 11:35:49 AM »
Weird to see the fish swimming freely in beautiful Maui and then in a cage in Denver.....LOL

Great TR!
Haha true, thanks!

Great TR! Regards from Chicago
Thanks, poor guy.  :-\

Wow you should give those food pics to the Deli to use for marketing! I go there every week and my food doesn't look that good! 😜
LOL

Offline msg

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #29 on: April 04, 2016, 06:03:20 PM »
Wonder if you will write a TR for Charlotte NC

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #30 on: May 16, 2016, 04:34:57 PM »
Pesach 2016 / 5776

Pesach once again meant another trip to DEN. SW with the Companion Pass was a no-brainer, and after switching flights options a bunch of times, we ended up going with EWR-DEN on Erev Pesach and returning DEN-EWR on the 3rd day of Chol Hamoed for about 7K SW roundtrip per person. That's literally like paying $80 for a roundtrip flight to Denver. Amazing value. It was also nice to be able to stay for a few days of Chol Hamoed, which helps make a bit more of a vacation. With that in mind, I set out to see if we could do a small trip during CH.


A little ad for SW ;)

My in laws were able to take off from work for 2 nights, so I went about looking for a hotel up in the mountains for us to go to. April is part of the shoulder season - just past the end of ski season, so most of the slopes were closed, and still before the summer season, so rates were pretty low. Since I met my Denver-wife and got into this game, my eye has always been on the Park Hyatt Beaver Creek, and with being Hyatt Diamond and 2 Hyatt signup nights already in my account, I thought now would be a great time to use them. However, I realized pretty quickly that between my wife and myself, my in laws, and my 3 siblings-in-law, we'd need 3 rooms. My 2 Hyatt nights weren't going to get us 3 rooms for 2 nights. So, unfortunately, the PH would have to wait for another time. I asked around in the Colorado thread, and Denverite suggested looking into the Grand Lodge on Peak 7 in Breckenridge, a fairly new hotel/timeshare. It seems that all the rooms are owned by people, but are rented out as a "hotel" when the owners aren't around. I sold my Hyatt nights for $500 and was able to book a 2 bedroom suite with 2 living room areas (perfect for my sibs-in-law) for a total of $520 for the 2 nights. What a deal! This was my first time treating family to my points, and it was a lot of fun.

The drive to Breckenridge took about 2 hours, and boy was it beautiful.





When we saw these buffalo just chilling in their reserve at the side of the highway, we had to pull over for some pics.





We pulled off the highway at Breckenridge and drove through the town gawking at the mansions we saw around us hiding away among the trees. What it would be like to own a "house" up here for quick getaways. We soon pulled up to the Grand Lodge and could tell we were in for a treat.



We checked in, and instead of key cards, everyone got a bracelet that swiped at the door to unlock it. Pretty neat feature. The lobby was elaborate and did a terrific job of exuding the lodge feel.







If we thought the lobby was nice, the suite was just gorgeous.

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A second kitchenette

Remember, there was still another living room area, bedroom and bathroom. The place was huge and very comfortable for our family of 7 adults. When we stepped out onto the porch, the view was WOW inducing.



We spent a ton of time in the pools and hot tubs. As opposed to other "heated" hotel pools we've been in, these were really warm and needed to be to compete with the snow that was literally falling on us while swimming. The hotel also has free, cozy robes (and towels) to wear down to the pool area.


The indoor pools (and hot tub) that connect to the outdoor pools by that open window in the back


The blurriness is actually the steam rising from the pool


The FOUR outdoor hot tubs



We may have eaten Matzah for basically every meal, but we also made sure to get in some marshmallow roasting!



At night, we reserved one of the 4 private movie theaters that have about 50 different movie options to choose from. Watching Pirates of the Caribbean in here was a blast!



The hotel also has a game room with free ping pong and pool, as well as arcades (not free).

We took the free shuttle for the 5 minute ride into "town" where we spent a few hours browsing the shops. Basically every shop is a souvenir shop, but they were still fun to check out and collect a few more shotglasses.






Go home shirt. You're drunk.

All in all, we had a blast of a 2 days. While we didn't do any snow activities on this trip, we still had a great time. The pools were awesome, the private theater was a great night activity, and the town was cute to walk through. Comparing the street shopping/experience to Vail, I would say that Vail was a bit nicer. The main street in Vail is a pedestrian street, which adds a lot of the feel to the village as opposed to Breckenridge, which was more of a classic main street.

Well, that's my 13th trip to DEN, and it was as great as ever!

Offline David Smith

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #31 on: May 16, 2016, 04:42:09 PM »
Interesting perspective on your "points booking" on the hotel. I guess it goes well with A+ "points redemptions".
Who do you think you are fooling? You think you are going to pull a quick one on your Creator? Good luck with that.
JTZ

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #32 on: May 16, 2016, 04:48:54 PM »
Interesting perspective on your "points booking" on the hotel. I guess it goes well with A+ "points redemptions".
Glad you enjoyed!

Offline David Smith

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #33 on: May 16, 2016, 04:50:26 PM »
Glad you enjoyed!
My favorite part. CM would be proud.
Others would consider it sacrilegious, but that's their problem.
Who do you think you are fooling? You think you are going to pull a quick one on your Creator? Good luck with that.
JTZ

Offline Yehoshua

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #34 on: May 16, 2016, 04:54:20 PM »
That place looks really nice! Love the T-shirt at the end.

Offline shmebeble

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #35 on: May 16, 2016, 05:31:41 PM »
I stayed there once!
Its very homey and cozy.
How'd you sell the nights? isnt it against T&C?

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #36 on: May 16, 2016, 05:44:54 PM »
That place looks really nice! Love the T-shirt at the end.
Ha, yep it was!
I stayed there once!
Its very homey and cozy.
How'd you sell the nights? isnt it against T&C?
Cool! Here - http://forums.dansdeals.com/index.php?topic=8769.0

Offline Denverite

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #37 on: May 16, 2016, 06:40:08 PM »
So glad you guys went and had fun (and good call that sometimes it's worth it to pay)!   We stayed Pre-Pesach to ski those extra few days my kids were off school and are going back in the summer.   I love all the amenities and kitchen.

Offline mgarfin

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #38 on: May 17, 2016, 02:38:23 PM »
THANKS.

Im taking my family for 5 days in the end of the summer, these TR are helpful and get me existed.

Offline @Yehuda

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Re: @Yehuda's Trips to DEN
« Reply #39 on: May 17, 2016, 04:03:13 PM »
So glad you guys went and had fun (and good call that sometimes it's worth it to pay)!   We stayed Pre-Pesach to ski those extra few days my kids were off school and are going back in the summer.   I love all the amenities and kitchen.
Thanks again for the suggestion! Yeah, it was great.

THANKS.

Im taking my family for 5 days in the end of the summer, these TR are helpful and get me existed.
Cool, enjoy! Glad I wrote it up then. :)