Downtown Denver: RiNO and Records

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Monday was shaping up to be a pretty good day for us in Denver. We were pretty exhausted when we got back from playing disc golf, but any day on the disc golf course is better than no day on the disc golf course. We grabbed a bit of lunch and then we just relaxed around the house because we knew we had big plans for later that night.

Someone from our nieces softball team had scored some tickets for the Colorado Rockies baseball game that night, so we decided to head to the downtown area early and make an afternoon of it. I'll get to the baseball game in another post, but today I am going to talk about some of the spots we visited downtown.

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This ended up being our only trip to the downtown area while we were in Denver. That might seem crazy, but there is just so much to do in and around Denver that it sort of makes sense once you've been there for a bit. Especially with the mountains directly to your west, you just always seem to be drawn to them no matter how appealing the downtown area might be.

@mrsbozz had been doing some research before our trip and she found this cool area of Denver called RiNo(River North) that she wanted to check out. Someone else on Hive did a short post about it back in 2020. The draw for this area is the large amount of street art that adorns the buildings. Unlike your typical graffiti, this art is supported and encouraged by the city.

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We rolled into the downtown area and quickly found a place to park. Although there was a baseball game that night, we had arrived early enough that parking wasn't too annoying. We found ourselves near a short alley that runs between Larimer and Walnut streets all the way from 30th to Broadway.

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It was pretty cool because right near where we parked was this map that gave you a really good overview of the RiNo district. As you can see there was a ton to do an see in this area.

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We had only taken a few steps before we found ourselves outside a store called Be A Good Person. Given the fact that my sister in law is a elementary school teacher and @mrsbozz is a school social worker, they felt the need to check this place out.

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My brother in law stood outside while @mrsbozz, her sister, and our nieces made some purchases. Basically all the items in the store have the "Be A Good Person" saying on them. While it might seem simple, it's a great message that more people need to put into practice. It was also cool because the guy behind the counter (I think it was the owner) had a DJ deck right next to the cash register and he was spinning and mixing the music that was being played in the store.

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Meanwhile, my brother in law and I stood outside and I grabbed some more photos of the street art that you see above. After the ladies finished up at the store we started walking. We were just a couple steps away from the Denver Central Market, so we popped in there. I didn't get any photos because it was packed with people, but believe me when I tell you the smells coming from that place were amazing.

There were so many amazing vendors inside the market, I could have spent the whole afternoon there and been quite content. If I ever make my way back to Denver one day, I will definitely be spending more time at the Central Market.

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We continued walking and it seemed like everywhere we went there was just another example of amazing art. Most of it was so colorful and it really caught your eye or attention. I believe they have a walking tour that gives some more background on each piece and artist, but we didn't do any of that.

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Don't ask me why, but I thought this old pool hall sign was cool, so I took a photo of it. I didn't go into the pool hall, but there was something about it that was drawing me. If I had been alone or with just @mrsbozz there is a good chance we might have stopped in. Perhaps it's just my fondness for "The Music Man" that was drawing me to it.

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Apparently it had just been Pride week in Denver, so they were taking down a lot of props and stages that had been set up for that occasion.

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We continued to walk around a bit more before we headed back to the car and started off to our next destination. This was a pretty big step day for @mrsbozz and I. Between playing a round of disc golf, walking around downtown and going to the baseball game, we clocked in close to 20,000 steps and nearly 9 miles.

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As we were passing by, I noticed this Rivian dealership at the end of one of the streets, so I thought I would grab a photo of it for those electric vehicle lovers out there.

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I can't tell you who it was now, and I hope they see this, but before we headed to Denver, I asked anyone if they could recommend some good record stores in the area. Someone mentioned Twist and Shout Records, so we made our way over to the store to check it out. My younger niece and I are both big fans of vinyl, so we were pretty excited to check it out.

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This place was huge! I think my niece and I could have spent half a day in this place and still not looked at everything we wanted to check out. I have a list of vinyl that I want to look for whenever I go anywhere, but I always get overwhelmed and either forget to look at it, or I look at it, but I find myself going back and forth to different sections looking for things. By the time I am finished I have usually circumnavigated the store five times over.

I really need to alphabetize my list to make things easier for me!

In the end, I bought one new record for my niece (it was an R&B or rap one, I can't remember now), and for myself I got a John Waite solo album and two .38 special albums (all used). I'm a big fan of buying used vinyl. The price is often much better and as long as they are still in good shape, they sound just fine.

We quickly finished up at the record store and piled ourselves into the car to find a restaurant and parking spot closer to Coors Field for the game. That's a story for a different post though. The one thing I wish I had been able to do while we were downtown was stop in to the Denver Mint as someone else suggested, but I guess that gives me something to look forward to the next time we visit!

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Sports Talk Social - @bozz.sports

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All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or @mrsbozz unless otherwise sourced