16th Street Mall

 The following day we had to go it alone as our amazing tour guides had to return to work until the following weekend. So we planned to explore the 16th Street Mall. We had the train schedule,(more to come on the train later in the week!) a few directions, digital guidance from afar thanks to one of our tech guru tour guides, comfy shoes and a spirit of adventure. So off we went!

Upon our arrival, it was a little bit overwhelming. Memphis is big but Denver is HUGE, or so it felt. Upon exiting the station we looked around for a few blocks and ended up going left. After walking a few more blocks it became necessary to find a bathroom. Interesting note about Downtown Denver, there are no easily accessible public bathrooms. You have to be a customer and have a code in the malls and be a paying customer in other places. Heck, the Target doesn't even have a public one. So the search began.

Now we feel the need to mention that Ahnah is a coffee addict. Might not want to engage her in serious conversation until after a cup of God's gift to mankind. Or two. At this point she hadn't had any...at all...and so whipping out her phone she decided to Google the nearest coffee shop. Great idea, except that having no familiarity at all with the area, we were led further away from where we wanted to go. The closest one was a few blocks down and as we made our way there we did pass one site of interest. Coors Field, now neither of us are baseball fans but it was still a very cool stadium to behold. Knowing now what we didn't know then would have made us realize that we were heading in the wrong direction. Oops.

Shortly after we passed the stadium we found the coffee shop, with the Hallelujah chorus ringing in our heads we went to walk up the stairs just to discover......it wasn't open yet!!!! 😭

Nearing panic mode at this point, we ventured on to the next spot on the map with prayers in our hearts that it was open. Thankfully it was! 

Snooze's A.M. Eatery was our lifesaver!! Taking care of the call of nature and seating ourselves at the bar, the barista/bartender assisted us in ordering our drinks. At that point in time, Ahnah was in zombie mode and ordered a mocha espresso, while a custom made chai tea latte was what Brad was after. Ahnah loved her drink, almost ordering another to go-but decided it was in her best interest to not have her heart explode. Brad was highly impressed with his beverage, actually saying it was one of the best of he's ever had. Which he does not say lightly. So that being said:

Snooze's A.M. Eatery= ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Our only regret was that we weren't hungry enough to eat just yet. Their menu looks scrumptious. With a few extra directions from the barista/bartender we headed back out. And finally found our destination! 

The 16th Street Mall was in complete chaos and disarray with all the construction going on, but we aren't going to hold it against them. While our minds were thinking mall, and there actually is a brick and mortar mall, it has the feel of a strip mall with all the little stores along the way. We actually found signs of relics of days gone by:

(Referring to the sign, not the tourists.) We were so worn out by this point that we decided to look at few places and make a plan to come back with final choices on purchases the next day. While we did see the mall and a few of the stores, we didn't make any stops in there that day. The tourists shops were EVERYWHERE!! Stopping at a few of them, we decided that Where The Buffalo Roam was probably our top choice. (Might or might not be because it reminded us of Hunter S. Thompson, if you are familiar with him, you will get the reference.) 

Where The Buffalo Roam was a very cool little shop with something new to see in almost every square inch of space they have available. With everything to t-shirts, and all the usual touristy stuff to localized fossils, it is definitely worth looking at if you are touring the  mall. Most of the other gift shops felt very "cookie cutter" but this one stood out. Only real downfall was it seemed over-crowded with stuff and was very hot!

Where The Buffalo Roam = ⭐⭐⭐⭐

We then stopped at the Target because Ahnah had to see with her own eyes that a 3-Story Target actually existed in this world. Very cool to see but had a very poor selection compared to the local targets. 

We then stopped for lunch at a cool little place for lunch...but that deserves a post all of it's own. After lunch we decided it was time to return to "home" with a much better plan for the next day. Most important lesson of the day: When coming out of the Union Station in downtown Denver....turn RIGHT instead of left and you'll be just fine. Till next time....stay weird.