John P.

One Mans Blog

Specialization is for Insects.

Architecture of the AbsurdSeveral months ago I was pleased to be contacted by Dr. John Silber’s assistant about a photo featured in my article about a Weekend in Denver. Dr. Silber, who spent 25 years as President of Boston University, was completing a new book entitled Architecture of the Absurd: How “Genius” Disfigured a Practical Art, and was interested in using my photo of the new Denver Museum of Art as the inside cover for the book.

I was quite pleased to provide the original images for Dr. Silber’s book, and even more pleased when he generously sent me an autographed copy! Thanks Dr. Sliber!
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Weekend in Denver - Part 2

This post is a short part 2 of my Weekend in Denver, albeit a bit late…

A few things visitors should know about visiting Denver:

  • Due to the high altitude (the city is located a mile above sea level) there is 25% less protection from the sun’s rays so make sure and use plenty of sunscreen. I got burned twice as fast as usual.
  • Also, since your heart works a little faster at high altitude, and the air is both thinner and dryer, it’s important to drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. This took me a bit of getting used to. Just drink about 50% more than normal and you’ll be great.
  • Alcohol is also going to have a greater affect at this altitude because it enters the bloodstream quicker. So take it easy on the beer factory tours. Sorry, but I didn’t drink enough to report on how well this actually works…

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Red RocksColorado’s first capital, Golden, is surrounded by mountains and high rock buttes. Main street is lined with shops and restaurants, and the world’s largest single brewing site, Coors Brewery, was founded here in 1873. It is a beautiful little town, surrounded by some of the most stunningly rugged scenery I’ve ever visited.
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Weekend in Denver - Part 1

Denver Mountains
It’s easy to see why Denver and the surrounding areas keep getting voted among the “Best Places to Live”.

The area is surrounded by the eastern edge of the Rockie mountains - the very view that inspired the words to America the Beautiful (”…for purple mountains majesty…”).

And with a healthy respect for nature as well as a thriving economy, Denver is simply a great place to live or visit. In fact, in the 1990’s Denver grew by 30 percent - the equivalent of a thousand new residents a week, every week, for 10 years!
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Hilton Garden Inn DenverThis is where I stayed during my Weekend Trip to Denver.

Overall, I would stay at this hotel again. The only bad news is that if you are a Hilton Gold member, this hotel doesn’t have any premium rooms to bump you up to. All they can do is put you on the top floor. But it’s a new, clean, friendly hotel with free wireless internet access. What more do you need from a place to bed down for the night?
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Four Points SheratonI stayed at the Four Points Sheraton for one night (redeeming my Starwood points) and overall, I would stay here again. The hotel was in a good location for branching out into different parts of the Denver area and it was reasonably priced (without points redemption), clean and quite.
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Boulder Colorado

IMG_2448.JPGIf I could only use one word to sum up Boulder, Colorado it would be “wow”! This is one of the most naturally pretty places I’ve ever been.

Normally, I think of beautiful cities as places with some natural beauty which has been improved by man. For example, San Francisco. But then there are places like Boulder which simply need no improvement.
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Review: Sheraton Colorado Springs Hotel

Sheraton Colorado SpringsThis will be the first in a series of ongoing hotel reviews to accompany the places I Blog about when I travel. The reviews are, same as everything on OneMansBlog.com, purely subjective and as such are not open to contestation. I am the king, dictator, and master of this domain. However, if you have something to add, feel free to leave a comment. Now, on with it!

The Sheraton Colorado Springs is billed as a high class hotel which has recently undergone a $multi-million renovation. That may be the case but, given the fact that this is a large property, the money didn’t go that far.
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Colorado Springs and Pike’s Peak

John on Pikes Peak
No trip to the Denver area would be complete without a visit to Pike’s Peak, so I headed on down about 70 miles south to Colorado Springs.

There are quite a few things that anyone visiting Colorado Springs needs to know… unfortunately no one bothered to share this info before I went.
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