Making holiday memories in Denver can be easy. You just need to pick something you like to do and make it your tradition. We have so many beautiful places in Denver from Downtown to the mountain towns. Our days can be bitterly cold or 65 degrees and sunny, so depending on what you like to do during the month of December, you have a great opportunity to make a day of memories that will last a lifetime.
“The heart, like the mind, has a memory. And in it are kept the most precious keepsakes.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
When my son was little, I would take him downtown on a day off of school every year. We would spend the whole day between Union Station east to Broadway. We would look at the shops on Larimer Square, Denver Pavilions, Tabor Center, 16th Street Mall and whatever else seemed interesting. We would go just the two of us, or we would take his cousin or best friend. We would spend at least 2 hours each time in either the Tattered Cover or another bookstore depending on what caught their attention. It was so cold one year we went to a movie. We had a Christmas list most years but not all, and if we could find presents on the list we checked them off. It wasn’t about the shops or shopping, it was the experience of walking downtown, riding the mall bus, seeing all the restaurants and by mid-day, knowing which one we were going back to for lunch. It was about remembering the year before, being thankful and making a plan for the year ahead.
My most favorite memories included non-stop talking, laughing, losing gloves, runny noses, germy buses, squeals of excitement, wishing we wore hats, and kind strangers. One year I was sitting listening to the boys talk politics in the bookstore for at least an hour, there were many adults who told me how great it was to see two young men (high school) not only talking about politics but asking questions and hashing out what they thought was right and wrong. Another year, my nephew was with us, he loved trains so we went through as many doors as we could open at Union Station which at that time was a big room filled with benches, it was freezing and could have been miserable, but we made it fun. Every year getting on and off the mall bus and making the boys pay attention for our next stop when their overstimulated brains were going a million miles per hour, so fun and silly. Eating so much spaghetti I thought I was going to burst and then my son wanted dessert, so we ate that too, he was growing…you know.
Downtown Denver now has an ice skating rink, the Theatre District has more restaurants and it is more alive than it was when my son was little. Union Station is amazing – you could spend half a day there, restaurants, gift shops, ice cream, the Tattered Cover bookstore – the main hall is a beautiful public gathering place and the people watching is fantastic!
As you plan your next month I encourage you to think about those moments with your parents and grandparents and think about how you can start making beautiful memories with your kids and grandkids. The experience is important for all of us, a day like that through a child’s eyes reminds us of a lot of things, to be kind, to be compassionate to share our love. I’d love to hear about your favorite memories and if you plan on making new memories in the comments section below!!
Make those holiday memories happen!!
[nggallery id=22]
