A Crafter's Life

Light Rail Adventures

tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

We are getting settled into our new home and yesterday we decided to go and explore our new easy access to Denver’s light rail – Regional Transportation District (RTD). Previously we lived deep in “suburbia”, far away from public transportation.

So on Tuesday we headed to the RTD light rail station park and ride just a couple miles from our house (we could have taken the bus to the light rail station if we wanted to be purely public transportation):

We had around a 25 minute train ride and we were in downtown Denver!!! By car it would have taken us 30 – 45 minutes in traffic (or longer in rush hour) and then $10 to $20 for parking!

We arrived at Union Station in downtown Denver and we were greeted with a bookstore immediately when we got off the train!

After browsing in the little bookstore connected to the train station, we wandered around the historical interior of Union Station (built in 1881) and then around the lovely surrounding area.

We spent the afternoon exploring downtown Denver by foot visiting the Dairy Block area:

And Larimer Square:

We stopped for an adult beverage at GarageSale Vintage which is a bar and vintage/thrift shop in Larimer Square!

We ate a delicious taco lunch at a food truck parked in front a downtown office building and sat with office workers from the surrounding skyscrapers having lunch.

We also wandered around the 16th Street Mall (outdoor shopping street mall) area and wandered into this cool private feeling courtyard area in a residential section and had a nice break there:

Then it was time to head back to Union Station and take the train home.

But first we stopped at MilkBox Creamery in Union Station, got some delicious ice cream and sat outside on the 80 degree day to enjoy!

On the train ride back to the Park and Ride I did get a little hexie rosette sewing (I packed crafts of course for the train ride…which I thought would be longer…):

We returned to the Park and Ride very satisfied with our fun day of playing tourist in our town!

John and I came to the realization that we can actually go out to dinner now in downtown Denver (which has a fabulous culinary scene) via the light rail – the fare is very low, we don’t have to pay for parking; and we save time and money by taking public transportation!

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Published by tierneycreates: a fusion of textiles and smiles

Quilter, crafter, obsessive tea drinker and lover of all furry creatures (especially dogs and cats) - join me on my tierneycreates blog as I share stories from "A Crafter's Life".

21 thoughts on “Light Rail Adventures”

  2. this sounds very win win and like you made the right move for many reasons – also, I never heard of thrift store and bar combined – oretty cool idea.
    and I have photos from the tattered cover book store – when my step daughter was young, she liked going there.

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      1. yeah – it might be ownded by Amazon and I am okay with that – lol – I know some folks feel like they are too big or a bit of a monopoly – but I love that their books are great prices – they have most books I look for – and as an author – they have given me a place….
        anyhow, appreciated this post so much – a huge splash of denver

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  4. I know that area well…we performed regularly at the Wynkoop across the street when I was in the Denver Mandolin Orchestra. An investor in the development of Union Station & environs (this was the late 1990s early 2000s) was a member and we got some prime gigs at the time! Also, Dad did ‘easy’ gigs on Larimer for years (along with The Pec – oops wrong neighborhood!) Even though our family was Boulder County rooted, we proved that musicians know no boundaries!!!!!HA! (your hubby no doubt remembers the Denver/Boulder divide!) BTW: youngest kiddo lives on Pearl street and swears by picking up the rail at Union Station for to&from DIA. Now **you’re** able to access that perk more easily, too! Win Win!

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  7. FYI: I commented a few hours ago and I noticed it’s not appeared…perhaps it’s a WP thing and I’m just in the spam file. I don’t think there was anything worth tagging as objectionable.
    Bottom line without the details or repeat content: I know this area on a musician’s level, and it’s fun to explore. But the best thing for you to know is that the light rail from Union Station is the quickest, handiest means of getting to DIA and back – so now you’re closer to a light rail station, you’ll have the choice to use it or not!

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