Denver Road Trip – a Visit to Mile High City
Creation Rock, Photo by Mindy Stern
My first road trip began the day after I got a driver’s license. I was nineteen. In a car loaded with 8-track cassettes, my then-boyfriend and I sang along with the Grateful Dead and Van Morrison, heading towards Colorado. Passing long stretches of agricultural land, I marveled at corn growing high as an elephant’s eye. Towards sunset on our second or third day, I blurted, “what’s that huge purple line ahead of us?” We were approaching the Rockies, and the purple mountains’ majesty was on full display. Atmospheric light – a Rayleigh Scattering – spread across the horizon, painting the mountains’ foothills in deep violets and blues. I gasped in awe.
Over fifty years and many road trips have passed since that summer. This past June, my husband and I set out for Denver, Colorado to attend a concert at Red Rocks Amphitheater, an outdoor venue nestled between sandstone rocks that formed 300 million years ago. It’s reputedly one of the most beautiful open-air theaters in the world. We’d never been, and a concert in a venue like that sounded magical.
Three years ago, when Elton John performed at the Tacoma Dome, we got tickets and booked an overnight stay at the Murano Hotel, walking distance to the venue. After only two songs, I fled, my ears begging for mercy from the over-amped volume. Lesson learned. When choosing which concert to attend at Red Rocks, we picked Alison Krauss, a bluegrass artist with the voice of an angel. Backed by fiddle, dobro, banjo, guitar and bass, I figured her mellow music would feel just right.
Arriving in Denver two days before the concert, we had time to stretch our legs and explore. The light rail system just outside our hotel, the Hyatt Place Peña Station, took us right to Denver’s Union Station, where the Contemporary Art Museum was a few blocks away. A perfect way to spend a rainy afternoon. When the sun came out the next day, we trained and bused to Denver’s Botanical Gardens in Cheesman Park, spending a few happy hours admiring the indoor and outdoor wonders.
The Train Station, NOT the band, Photo by Mindy Stern
On the evening of the concert, we left our hotel two and a half hours before showtime, allowing for rush-hour traffic, parking, shuttling, choosing seats, dinner & drinks before the first act came onstage. As early arrivals, we scored a parking spot right by the exit, and chatted with friendly tail-gaiters who’d come even earlier. A shuttle bus collected us and drove up, up, up to the 6,500-foot elevation venue. After a security check, we passed the gate and looked down into the 9,525-seat arena. Wide benches led down, down, down to the stage. We placed our belongings on the very top bench, the only one with back support, and asked the people next to us to keep an eye on our things while we searched for dinner.
Aerial View of Red Rocks Amphitheater, Photo by Mindy Stern
You can bring your own food into Red Rocks, but we opted for Colorado specialties (hint: smash-burgers) and beer on tap. At communal tables, we easily struck up conversations with folks from all over the country “This was on my husband’s bucket list, so I bought him tickets for his birthday,” a woman from North Carolina said. “I just moved here from Texas,” another explained.
Exploring the Trading Post after dinner, I found historical information about the construction and history of the venue. The Civilian Conservation Corps began work in 1936, during the Great Depression, removing over 25,000 cubic yards of rock and dirt. Surrounded by two giant, red monoliths that flank the theater, they installed flagstone, cement, stone, and steel. Red Rocks has hosted countless famous bands since opening in 1941, and performing here is on many artists’ bucket lists.
Sitting way up top, I wondered how much we’d see and how good the acoustics would be. Turns out, sound travels really well through the canyon. At high elevation, air is less dense, sound particles travel more slowly, and the rocks prevent reverb. All this adds up to super-clean sound. Two giant screens on either side of the stage let us see what the tiny dots - the real performers - were actually doing, and our last-row seat, with back-support, was comfortable.
Red Rocks Amphitheater, Photo by Mindy Stern
Alison Krauss and the band named Union Station performed for decades before going separate ways. This gig was a reunion for them, and the joy of playing together shone through. With heavenly music and a spectacular venue, this road trip to Mile High City was a huge success. When can we go again?
Meanderings is an award-winning travel column by Mercer Island resident, Mindy Stern. For more essays, or to comment, visit her website www.mindysternauthor.com