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This post will be a quick recap of our trip to Denver this past weekend. As I’ve written about previously, last year I started getting into travel hacking, which is earning travel rewards through credit card signup bonuses. Our first big win was signing up for two Southwest credit cards, earning us the Southwest Companion Pass. The Companion Pass lets the pass holder bring a companion for free on ANY Southwest flight they take. You can read more about how we earned it and the benefits to it here.
Since we have the Companion Pass until the end of 2018, our goal for the year was to utilize it as much as possible. Travel is important to us and we make it a priority to explore new places together. One of the destinations we identified was Denver, and we made this trip happen last weekend!
Now to recap our experience visiting the city and the costs that went into this trip.
Day 1: Brunch at Noshery, Rocky Mountain Lake Park, Great Divide Brewing Company, Coors Field, Marco’s Pizzeria
We flew in Saturday morning to Denver airport. After a long wait for our rental car, we stopped for brunch at a local eatery called Noshery. The rest of the day included a walk around nearby Rocky Mountain Lake Park, getting checked into our Airbnb (basement suite about 10 minutes away from downtown Denver), a quick beer at Great Divide Brewing Company, taking in a baseball game at Coors Field, and then a late dinner/dessert at Marco’s Pizzeria. Dessert consisted of an AMAZING Nutella pizza!
One of my bucket list items is to watch a baseball game at all 30 major league ballparks across the United States. When we visit a new place, we always make sure to check out a game while we’re there. Coors Field marked ballpark #8! Overall, it was a nice field and seems like a great spot for the younger crowd to hang out and watch a game. Nothing in particular jumped out at me, other than the fountain area in center field and the beautiful sunset during the game.
Day 2: Hiking at Mount Falcon Park, Red Rocks Amphitheater, Cannonball Brewery, Hopdoddy Burger Bar
On day two we went for a leisurely hike at Mount Falcon Park and explored the Red Rocks Amphitheater. It was a very hot day, 95 degrees! After hiking we stopped by Cannonball Brewery in Golden, CO. This was one of my favorite spots we visited. At most of the breweries in Denver food isn’t served, and instead food trucks pull up right outside. You order food from the food truck and then bring it inside while you have your beer. We had some more delicious pizza from the food truck outside Cannonball Brewery.
Day 3 & 4: Coors Brewery Tour, Butterfly Pavilion, meeting up with our friends at Woods Boss Brewery, Sloan’s Lake Park
We went back to Golden, CO for the Coors Brewery Tour. It was really cool seeing how big the brewery was and the intricate process for how Coors makes their beer. The tour is self-paced and you have an audio pack that you carry throughout. At the end of the tour you get to hang out in the tasting room and have three free beers for sampling.
After the brewery tour we explored the Denver Butterfly Pavilion. The main exhibit was a huge room with hundreds of butterflies flying around you! In the evening we met up with some friends and got to catch up with how they’re enjoying life in Colorado after moving from the Bay Area.
Before heading to the airport on our last day, we checked out another beautiful local park called Sloan’s Lake Park.
Cost Breakdown
Flights: $22 – We used Chase Ultimate Rewards along with the Southwest Companion Pass to book these flights, meaning it only cost us $11 in taxes for each ticket!
Airbnb: $260.59 – We love using Airbnb when we travel. For this trip we stayed in a basement suite about 10 minutes away from downtown. Great price, central location, and very nice space!
Use my exclusive link to receive $40 off your first stay!
Baseball Tickets: $47 – We got our tickets for the Rockies vs Diamondbacks game on SeatGeek. Use my promo code SGSPILLS for $20 off your first purchase! For more info about SeatGeek, check out my writeup here.
Butterfly Pavilion: $24.72
Food/Drinks/Grocery Items: $251.26 – Includes all meals, drinks, coffee, dessert.
Rental Car/Gas/Parking: $244.46
Total: $850.03
This all comes out of our “Vacation Fund” that we set aside savings for each month.
Final Thoughts
Overall we had a great time exploring a new city! Denver is a unique and beautiful place. The food and beer was all amazing, and I loved how much there was to do around downtown, the numerous beautiful local parks, and the vibe of the city in general. We would love to go back and explore other areas of Colorado, including Rocky Mountain National Park and Mount Evans.
Related Reading: Recapping Our Trip to Portland
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