The dome’s observation deck is accessible only on one of the free hourly tours, so I join a group. In addition to marking the spot where the Mile High City reaches 5,280 feet above sea level (the exact location has been changed three times, with the current consensus placing it on the 13th step), the building offers some of the best 360-degree views of the city and surrounding mountains. The rotunda of the Colorado State CapitolĪfter a 10-minute walk along tree-lined Civic State Park, I arrive at the gold-domed Colorado State Capitol. As the class begins to file out of the gallery, I hear another girl whisper, “I was so confused.” I’m tempted to tell her that I think that’s the point. Another boy eagerly chimes in: “Hope.” Whoa. “Life and death,” one girl responds gravely. In one of the final, light-filled galleries, I encounter a middle school field trip and overhear the teacher asking the kids what they saw in Still’s work. Having so much space devoted to one artist feels like a luxury, and the way the museum arranges the pieces-gently guiding the viewer from gaunt, Depression-era realist works to the color-splashed abstractions Still filled with what he called “lifelines”-helps you catch recurring motifs. Still did, however, know how to secure his legacy: In his will, he stipulated that his estate must go to a city willing to establish a museum devoted entirely to his work. Inside, the museum traces the life and artistic evolution of Still, a postwar Abstract Expressionist who didn’t quite manage the level of fame of his peers, Jackson Pollock and Mark Rothko. Satiated, I catch a cab 10 minutes south to the Clyfford Still Museum, a dense concrete building dwarfed by the sharp silver prow of the Denver Art Museum hovering just behind it. While “farm-to-table” has come to feel like a menu cliché, Seidel actually owns the 10-acre farm that supplies Mercantile with its yogurts and cheeses-including the crème fraîche on my smoky citrus-cured salmon toast. But I’m not here to play games I want to eat-specifically at Mercantile Dining & Provision, a market and café from Alex Seidel, this year’s winner of the James Beard Best Chef: Southwest award. There are even two millennial-approved shuffleboard tables. Denverites gather over coffee on tufted leather couches and tap away at laptops on long wooden workstations straight out of a university library. Instead, commuters have their pick of three restaurants from two James Beard Award–winning chefs a mezzanine cocktail bar, The Cooper Lounge, where drinks are literally served on a silver platter and The Crawford, a boutique hotel named for local preservationist Dana Crawford where each floor is designed to reflect a different era in the station’s history.Īs I walk through the Great Hall, aglow with morning light streaming through the massive arched windows, I notice that this is a transit hub where people want to spend time. Since being restored to its Beaux-Arts glory in 2014, it has become one of the best places in town to eat, drink, and sleep. If the railroad made the Mile High City, it’s only fitting I start my first day gawking at the pristine beauty of Union Station. Day 1 America’s most beautiful train station, Abstract Expressionist masterpieces, and the original pearl-snap shirt
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |