Downtown Arvada and A Craft Fair

 Arvada, CO

It's Fall!

Downtown Arvada for Brunch

This morning we drove to Arvada and picked up our friend Gene and headed to Downtown Arvada for brunch.  We could have taken the train from Downtown Denver to Downtown Arvada easily but we had some other stops to make so we drove.  We hope to do a train ride and visit a bar or two soon.  There is even pinball in Downtown Arvada.

Go Skating!

We put our name in at Bread Winners and then took a walk.

This bar looked pretty cool.  They were setting up for the CU game today.

Dinosaurs outside the toy shop.

As you get closer to the center (or centre for my Canadian readers) of Downtown, the streets are closed to traffic and painted colorfully (or colourfully for my Canadian readers) to invite you to walk out in "the street". 

More signs of fall

We had to make sure the pastry shop wasn't a better choice than Bread Winners.  It's wasn't in our opinion.

We ate on the covered enclosed patio so dogs were allowed.  This little guy wanted a hand out.

Brunch was good.  After brunch we headed back to the car for our next 2 stops.

Getting Crafty

Our first stop was The Craft Box.  I didn't take any photos because it was small.  Donna and Gene both found some yarn they needed and then we headed to the craft fair.

The Craft Fair was in the parking lot of a college.

There were lots of venders selling their work.

Donna bought a nice pin from this artist.

Send it!

We spent the rest of the day back at the Airbnb hanging out with Francis.  If you missed The Colorado Pinball Pub, check it out.  We played pinball in Littleton, CO.

Old School Roller Skating

 Arvada, CO

Get funky y'all!  

Skate City

Today we went to "Adult Skate and Workout" at Skate City in Arvada, CO. We arrived at 10:15am and paid our $5 to get in and were given rental skates.  It was my first time on traditional roller skates in about 20 years.  After getting my skates on, I skated over to the doughnut table and grabbed a "free" doughnut.  At 10:30 the skating started.  All in all, there were about 25 skaters that attended and there was 1 fantastic "skating leader".  She knew most people's names, including ours, and skated with us (she is in the upper left of the photo above, while keeping the music requests playing.

Mmmmmm, doughnuts!

Old School skates!

After the first half hour Kelly, our skate leader, blocked off part of the rink and passed out squares of carpet just like in kindergarten.  We weren't entering "Nap Time" tough, we were entering "Workout and Stretching Time".  I thought it was going to be casual but Kelly was a drill sergeant.  Have you ever done leg lifts, crunches, squats, and planks with skates on?  I have.  

After exercising, the cones came out and people practiced their sweet moves.

And then the skate dancing started to old school hip hop songs.

It was super fun and we will probably do it every Wednesday until we leave.  I fell twice but that was because my confidence was coming back faster than my skills.  By the end of the session my confidence and skills were high but my legs were tired so I chose to take it easy.  Next week I will push myself again and hopefully I will get back to where I was in Jr. High minus the flexibility for "Shoot the Duck" and "Limbo".

That's it for today.  If you missed Confluence Park, check it out.  We are staying right near the point where Cherry Creek flows into The South Platt River.

Old Town Arvada

 Arvada, CO

You can see this sign from the train as you enter Arvada

The G Line to Arvada

This morning we got up and made sure we were at Union Station in time to catch our 11am train to Arvada.  Gene and Brandon are picking us up at the Arvada Gold Strike Station and we were heading to brunch and then a day in Old Town Arvada.  

Union Station

Our train arrived about 10 minutes before it was scheduled to leave

We were allowed to get on and explore a bit before we left the station

The seats were comfy

Transit selfie!

The thee wide bench seating was a little odd to us.

The map is clear and gives you all of the info you need.  We are on the Gold Line

The stations are above ground and they kept it simple.

There was a cool 3D mural on the back wall that I tried to get a photo of.

We arrived at our station right on time

I guess some of the trains don't stop at this station some of the time?

There was plenty of shade where it was needed which was nice

All of the lines are overhead electric

This is the track crossing to allow riders to access both platforms.

This station had art all along it called "Gold Pour"

Welcome Aboard RTD (Regional Transportation District)

Brunch!

Brandon and Gene took us to their favorite brunch place, Rupert's at the Edge. Their menu has great brunch items and they are packed on the weekends so Brandon and Gene wanted to go on a Friday. 

We got a seat right away

Brunch was great.  Donna and I ordered different things and then shared so we got to try 2 plates. After brunch we went to SomePlace Else Brewery. They had a few pinball machines I had never played and their theme is SciFi so Brandon and Gene were excited to show it to us.  It was a great space and the pinball machines were in good condition.

We stayed off the grain

Chewy was looking down at us

They had Black Night, Black Night 2000, and Black Night Swords of Rage all together

I have never seen this machine.  It was fun

They sold SciFi inspired art

I boldly went

Old Town Arvada was really cool too.  There were a lot of food places and shops and the train station we used to return home was right in the center.  We spent the rest of the day trying appetizers from different places and we went to a speakeasy called The Stockroom in the back of a liquor store. 

School House was a converted school and they had great poutine

There were things leftover from the buildings school house days decorating the bar and restaurant 

They have an extensive whiskey collection

Old Rulers lining the window sills

The door to the speakeasy in back of the liquor store

The speakeasy was really cool

The bartender went over the menu with us

Their logo on the menu

The Avalanche were playing for the Stanley Cup and there were no TVs so the place was pretty empty

We went to Rad-ish for vegan appetizers 

It was a colorful place with an 80s vibe

There was a cool lighting effect in the hall to the bathrooms

And the bathrooms were all mirrored

80s

On the way back to the train I took photos of Old Town at night

We had a few minutes to kill in the candy store

They had candy bars I hadn't seen in years

I didn't take any photos on the train home because it was really dark.  The regional transit was great and I recommend checking it out when you are in Denver.

You can find yesterday's adventure here.