Thursday 26 May

Plane was late arriving. Loading was slow and the plane was absolutely full and we were late leaving. The flight was OK but the last bit very bumpy as predicted by the captain - it’s because we fly in over the mountains. Denver airport very smart, but it was slow going as we had to take a shuttle train to the main building. Got our luggage easily and a shuttle bus to the Alamo pickup.

Disappointed with the choice of cars on offer. A couple of Jeep Compasses. Tried one, but the driving position was too low for Anne. We took the Jeep Wrangler, but found we couldn’t adjust the wing mirrors. Decided that was preferable to a poor driving position. Ian & Sheila’s satnav was great and took us straight to the hotel. Unfortunately we then found that the key fob didn’t work. Grrrrrrrr!

Hotel very smart, and staff very good. Unpacked and went down to bar. Had meal (omelettes) and drink sat at bar, talking to young couple from Kentucky who were up for a family wedding. She was born and grew up in SF, and was interested in what we’d done. Came back to room around 9.30.

Friday 27 May

Slept pretty well, but still awake by 7am. Had coffee and fruit in restaurant and came back to room to contact Alamo. Eventually they said that the wing mirror is manual adjustment, and the key fob battery is probably flat. We should buy a new one and give them the receipt when we get back, but avoid Chrysler dealers as they would be expensive (Cheek!).

Talked to Concierge who said driving and parking Downtown would be OK. However their shuttle arrived back as we were leaving so we took that. A good idea as the driver took us through some nice upmarket suburbs so we could see the smart houses.

Started off at the Capitol, where we did a guided tour (less the first few minutes). Amazing building - similar architecture, but very much more ornate than the SF City Hall - all rose onyx walls, marble floors and granite exterior. Gold (real) dome and lots and lots of brass inside. A quick coffee in the basement, and then on to Molly Brown’s house.

Margaret Brown was an amazing woman, and the musical (The Unsinkable Molly Brown) was a bit of a travesty. From a poor (Irish immigrant) background she was unusually well educated and married a mining engineer, who became very, very rich. She learned several languages and was involved in  numerous humanitarian and feminist causes, before becoming famous as a survivor of The Titanic.

After leaving the museum we walked down to 16th Street Mall (approx 1 mile of shops and restaurants) and caught the free shuttle bus. These run seemingly at intervals of less than a minute. Spotted food court so jumped off bus and had lunch. Had Chinese - Anne had stir fried flounder with steamed rice and veggies. Les had a pork dish with fried rice - both $5.50. Walked the length of the Mall (almost) and went into the Magic Mushroom for a beer. Then jumped on bus back to start. Walked to the Mint to find it only opens in the morning and we found later that you have to pre-book a tour.

Walked to the Denver Art Museum which is in two buildings - one built like a fort and the other resembling a Titanium crystal (which we immediately recognised!) Spent a couple of hours looking round before phoning for the hotel shuttle to collect us (this is in fact a huge 7-seat, 4-wheel drive). Les had trouble climbing up into it. On the trip back the driver told us that we were visiting Yellowstone at exactly the right time of year - thanks to Graham, Ian, etc for all the advice. The driver also told us that it’s possible to travel from San Francisco to Denver by rail - apparently it’s part of a popular journey that goes to Chicago. We might’ve done better to try this rather than fly.