Must-Do's in Denver
Tiffany Roy
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You may have noticed that Denver, Colorado is really popular on the professional meeting circuit this year. Several major forensic conferences are being offered in Denver this year, including the 34th International Symposium on Human Identification and the 76th Conference of the American Association of Forensic Sciences.
There are more than 300 professional meetings scheduled between August of 2023 and August of 2024 in the Denver Convention Center. So what gives? Why are so many professional conferences choosing Denver this year? There is a lot to do in Denver and the surrounding areas. I did my research for a conference I attended with my husband in May 2023, and I found Denver had some great offerings for food, culture, arts and entertainment.
When I travel, one of the first places I start my research is restaurants. For my research on dining in the city of Denver, I started with recommendations from Conde Nast editors about the best restaurants in the area. From there, I go directly to the restaurant websites to see if the menu interests me. While in Denver, we tried two restaurants from the Conde Nast list, The Wolf’s Tailor and Tavernetta. First, if you want to go to either of these restaurants, you’re going to need to make a reservation early. These aren’t restaurants where you can walk up and grab a table. The Wolf’s Table is small, and when we visited in May, they utilized their back garden for al fresco dining to increase capacity, but it’s unclear what they would do in the colder months. Tavernetta is larger, but it’s one of the most popular restaurants in Denver and reservations tend to fill up fast for prime dining hours. Highlights from Tavernetta include the simple and classic Italian dishes and the extensive wine list. The wait staff were also friendly, knowledgeable, and attentive. The service at Tavernetta elevates this restaurant beyond the delicious food to make dining here an exceptional experience. Dining here isn’t cheap, but you get what you pay for with this one. Five out of five stars would recommend.
Next, The Wolf’s Tailor was a completely different experience. The menu changes seasonally and the meal is served as a pre-fixe tasting menu instead of a la cart. And they don’t tell you what they’re going to cook specifically, you just have to reference what ingredients they list as “in season” on their website. Kinda scary, but I’m an adventurous eater and like researching forensic DNA experts (or any experts), you have to do your research to know who you should trust! We trusted the chef at The Wolf’s Tailor, and I was not disappointed. When we dined here, I will say the menu felt very fresh. There were a lot of bright vegetable notes in our dishes, and you could tell the restaurant sources their ingredients locally. My husband isn’t a big vegetable guy, so some of the dishes were misses for him, because he could taste, well…vegetables. I love tasting menus because I get little portions of a lot of different things so even if one isn’t my favorite, I still have other bites to look forward to. We also did the cocktail pairing with our meals, which I recommend.
There are some excellent museums in Denver, and I know at least one reception at ISHI will be held in one of Denver’s many excellent museums. While we were there, my husband’s conference held a reception in the Wings over the Rockies Air and Space Museum. They had a lot of really cool Star Wars exhibits and props that we thought were fun.
The historical artifacts displayed from the space shuttle program were impressive. This museum would be good for families who are Star Wars fans, anyone interested in the military and anyone with interest in being an astronaut. I also received many recommendations to visit the Denver Museum of Nature and Science, which is still on my list of places I need to visit in Denver.
Finally, I wanted to see something in Denver that I would never be able to see anywhere else. On a day when my husband had lectures all day, I took an Uber to Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. It was about an hours drive away, but it was absolutely breath taking. I would recommend this to anyone, the landscapes and rock formations were like nothing I’d even seen before. I booked a half bus tour, half hike and took in some of the beautiful sights, including Pike’s Peak in the distance. You can probably imagine that the pictures do not do it justice, you have to see it with your own eyes.
Some other members of my tour group had taken the gondola to the summit of Pike’s Peak, and they told me that was excellent as well. Unfortunately, we were there during the Canadian wildfires, so visibility was reduced but in September I’m hopeful there will be some nice clear skies for beautiful viewing from the summit of Pike’s Peak.