we love the denver library. we are dedicated library-goers. so many books at your fingertips! and denver’s library system (and most library programs in urban centers fro my experience) has great online resources for putting books on hold, keeping track of books-to-be-read, e-books, and calendars for free activities. ramona loves the library bc it has chairs that look like animals and she lugs them around from book bin to book bin. she’s not too interested in the books until we take them home. i usually just grab the nicest looking book on the shelf (who ever said you can’t judge a book by it’s cover?). one of these recent impulse grabs was where’s walrus?
a walrus escapes the zoo during nap time and proceeds to explore the city, blending in with the people he’s around while the zookeeper attempts to catch him. the story’s end is a feel-good one. ramona cannot get enough.
what books are your favorite to read with your little one?
on sunday, the three of us went exploring by bike. traipsing over to the other side of 38th, we wound through the business district and found ourselves along the railroad in the sunnyside neighborhood. though there are residential homes just one block over and a great panoramic of denver behind us, this area made us feel like we were in the middle nowhere. at 43rd and inca is an old foot bridge that has it’s original wood stairs (most likely from well before when scarecrow was filmed over here!). it looks like it’s fenced off –probably bc rickety-looking structures like this usually are– but it’s open to the public and is a great shortcut for getting to and fro sunnyside and globeville.
we’d heard about this place when researching the development plans that are happening along inca for the 38th and inca lightrail station slated for 2016. it’ll most likely be torn down and rebuilt w something a lot less, well, awesome looking. the whole bridge spans over a dozen rail tracks and, as mentioned, gives a pretty great view of downtown denver. we were in the stairwell when a train came zooming by, the conductor giving us a friendly hello w his whistle after he passed. it was exhilarating being not ten feet from it (as well as terrifying; i held on to miss mo so tight!).
if you bike denver or are into exploring interesting pockets of this fine city, i’d highly recommend heading that way. especially before that whole area is redeveloped. (scroll down through this blog post for a photo of the wooden stairwell and ideas of where to explore once in globeville).
sunday sweet treats at crema coffee house. what’s your sunday tradition?
yeehaw! i am delighted to introduce you to a new sponsor here at A Denver Home Companion: the Clyfford Still Museum! i’ve been there a handful of times but really fell in love with it when i finally got to take ramona with us on a family date. watching her toddle through the big rooms with the high ceilings, stopping to point out animals and, mostly, odd shapes that caught her eye. the Clyfford Still Museum is truly a magical place, for adults and young ones alike.
i’m hoping that if you live in the denver area you already know a little something about this place that has gotten much deserved press and applause. however, if you’re not in the know and/or are not from around here, here’s the gist:
The words legendary and unknown aren’t often used to describe the same artist. Clyfford Still is considered one of the most important artists of the 20th century. He originated the abstract expressionism movement and influenced the work of contemporaries such as Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Yet, most people have never heard of him. At the height of his career, Still severed ties with the art world, and continued to paint. At the time of his death, Still’s personal collection of work contained over 2500 pieces of art or 95% of everything he ever made. That collection is now available to the public to view at the Clyfford Still Museum in Denver. Visit the Clyfford Still Museum, and experience a life in paintings.
the building is quite stunning inside and out, and it has a nice green lawn right outside the front door — not to mention its proximity to the denver art museum, the central library, and the cherry creek trail,
in celebration of this new sponsorship, the Clyfford Still Museum is generously offering one reader of A Denver Home Companion a membership to the museum! if you’d like to enter for a chance to win, simply leave a comment below.
you can gain extra entries in the following ways. please leave an additional comment w a link for each.
- tweet this giveaway (don’t forget to mention @eopower!)
- pin this giveaway
- share this giveaway on any other social media platform (instagram/blog/facebook)
entries are accepted through 4/15. the winner will be announced on a post, tuesday 4/16. make sure you check back to see if it’s you to claim your prize. this giveaway open to residents of the state of colorado.
psst: the clyfford still museum has a free day with lots of family-friendly activities coming up on april 28. make sure to stop by!
thank you for supporting the sponsors that help this little blog keep going.
yesterday, after ramona’s nap, the three of us got all dolled up and headed to a special free day at the clyfford still museum. ramona loved the tall ceilings and big rooms and we followed her closely to make sure she didn’t get too close to the beautiful canvases. she was none too thrilled when we whisked her away for some pints and half crisps at pints pub. until she tried a crisp. and then she was in heaven — a girl after her father’s anglophile heart. then we dropped ramona off at our friends’ house so jp and i could have a date night at noble swine supper club. jp and i were half of the original partners of this underground denver supper club but haven’t been involved in over two years. it was really fun to be at it again, but this time dining instead of cooking or serving. our friends do really amazing things, especially for the denver food scene!
welcome
