USA - The Mile High Club

July 27-28

Hello everyone!

I started my great American adventure pretty close to a state capital, and am finishing the 6 week trip in another. This one’s a bit higher up…

Squatting at one mile high - well, technically
not quite, but I'll explain that later

Many tall buildings like so many major US cities 

Denver is situated just outside the Rocky Mountains, a range of mountain ranges that starts in Canada and ends in New Mexico. It is also a long way from Rapid City, where we started our day. About eight hours of travel time to get to the airport, and then more than another hour for me to get to my hostel downtown.

Some...alternative art here

We stopped for lunch in Nebraska, where I sat in a Walmart
watching the penalty shootout of Euro 2025 on their wi-fi

The obvious thing to do from Denver would be to venture into those mountains, specifically Rocky Mountain National Park. However, the last point of a trip like this is where fatigue often sets in, reality needs to be prepared for, and a bit of chill time is appreciated. My ankle still not being 100% also helped me make the decision to instead stay in Denver for the day.

Shame, as the mountains look incredible

Along with Washington, Colorado was the first
state to legalise recreational marijuana in 2012

Denver is quite an expensive city so I also didn’t live it to the max. I didn’t go to the Meow Wolf immersive experience, nor did I spend time in Denver Art Museum. I did walk outside the latter, finding a couple of interesting pieces.

This is "The Yearling" - the horse needed repainting
annually due to the strength of the sun here

This is a dustpan and brush. I
have one at home. Mine isn't art.

I also didn’t take in a game featuring any of Denver’s main sports teams, nor did I quench my thirst in the hot and surprisingly humid city with their famous local beer: Coors.

Denver is one of 12 US cities that has a team in each of the ‘Big 4’ male sports leagues

Coors is made with water from the Rocky Mountains - seemed strange to me that Bud Light was advertised on a higher window

So what did I do with my 24 hours in Denver that didn’t cost me a cent? Quite a few quirky things, actually. We’ll start with the blog title.

Quirky and without any obvious reason, this sign

Denver was chosen as state capital in
a referendum in 1881...by one vote.

Denver is the state capital of Colorado. The city sits quite a way above sea level - it’s the third highest out of the 50 - with some of it sitting 1609 metres above the sea. It sounds better in imperial measures: one mile high. One of the steps up to the Capitol is that exact height. It’s the obvious photo op in the city, even if the step with the writing isn’t actually one mile high.

The floors of the Capitol are made from marble
that comes from...Marble, Colorado.

It was remeasured in 1969, putting 1 mile at the 18th step
(shown above). When measured again in 2003, 1 mile was said to
be the 13th step (not shown above as I didn't notice the brass plaque below).

The area around the golden-domed building is well-maintained, though often populated with people who are taking or have taken drugs. It’s a long way from the original vice that brought people to Colorado in the first place: gold. 

Civic Centre Park

Colorado's Gold Rush was in 1859, about a decade after
a similar movement further west in California

After the gold rush, Denver established itself as a major city. It helps that it is situated in the heart of the continental United States of America, making it a popular transport and industrial hub over time. Art Deco murals from an acclaimed Colorado painter give an insight into the time.

A quote appearing on a board near Denver's Union Station
reads: "Without railroads, Denver would be too dead to bury."

The building itself is off-limits - a few of the paintings are found in the lobby 

With industry comes immigration. There are areas across downtown that evoke memories of citizens and peoples that came to Denver. One example is a mural on the side of a fire station, reminding locals that this used to be a thriving Chinatown until a huge riot in 1880. Across the street is Sakura Square, which houses the bust of Colorado’s governor at the start of WW2, Ralph Carr. He was the only governor in the country to object to an executive order that imprisoned people in America with Japanese ancestry.

The district was known as Hop Alley, which references opium dens

Carr was named Denver Post's "Person of the Century" in 1999

Like many cities across the world, Denver underwent urban renewal in the 1960s. They redesigned the downtown area, knocking down most of the buildings. The one that remained, after protest, was the Daniels and Fisher Tower, a replica of St. Mark’s Bell Tower in Venice, Italy. 

For a brief moment, this was the tallest building west of
the Mississippi River after its construction in 1911

It was originally part of a department store

One of the stranger things that has been added recently is a ‘soundwalk’. The pavement of this one block downtown has some drains that play sounds, such as the gushing of a stream or the tweeting of birds. Very strange if you aren’t expecting it to be there.

As I’ve alluded to, the last place to visit on a long trip like my six-week American adventure can become a bit of a damp squib. Nevertheless, Denver’s downtown had enough quirky elements to keep me entertained on the cheap for a day. 

This is Big Blue Bear, found peering
into Colorado Convention Centre

Adios, los Estados Unidos!

Love you all,

Matt