Travel Dates: September 13 & 14, 2025
When we woke up on September 13 we were done with the Road Scholar tour but we were not done with Colorado. We have heard about the Red Rocks Amphitheater for years; so when we originally booked our tour we checked to see if anyone was playing before or after. Greensky Bluegrass was scheduled for the 13th; we’d never heard of them but figured what the heck. Let’s give them a try. The Denver airport hotel we stayed at on the 12th was on the far east side of Denver and the amphitheater is on the far west side; part of the foothills of the Front Range. We went back to the airport to rent a car and headed west to Golden Colorado – home of Coors beer.
It was a bit cold and rainy and the amphitheater is an outside venue so we had to work out what gear to wear. We opted for some cheap clear plastic ponchos – our second poncho-wearing event of the trip. When we arrived we realized we were up against more than some iffy weather. The venue is tucked up in the mountains and the parking is not close. Here is a map grab.
We parked inn the upper north lot which is the flat area in the top center of the map above. The venue is in the middle of the picture with the green flag. We hiked uphill to the base, entered at the bottom and looked up. The arena holds almost 10,000 people and our seats were about halfway up. It was built in the 1940s (I think) before ADA regulations. That meant to hand rails and slightly uneven steps up. And there were SO. MANY. STEPS – at that elevation it can take a toll. But we are an intrepid group.
Eventually we found our seats. In our proof-of-particiaption selfie I once again looked like I might be suffering a small stroke. (After looking at all the pictures of myself on this trip I am working on my picture smile).
The bands were so-so; but that view! The rain abated and we were treated to a rainbow.
The sunset provided a beautiful backdrop.
If you look closely (click on the picture above) you can see Denver way out in the distance – just to the right of that left brick tower. In the lower left you can see the woman opening the show. I forget her name, sorry.
We were definitely unprepared for the evening in more ways that one. We are used to being restricted to a small clear plastic packs for entry. Not here; people in the know brought large canvas bags blankets, food and drinks. And more. The smell of marijuana surrounded up; I think everyone other than us was smoking. During the break between shows the large videos at the sides of the stage had a printed announcement reminding everyone that selling, buying, or using marijuana in public is illegal. Um, that did not stop anyone. It took me back to the 60s and 70s. Fun times.
About halfway into the headliner’s act we decided we had experienced what we needed. I’m a fan of bluegrass music but – for us – the quality wasn’t enough to keep us in our seats through the whole concert. We shuffled over to the stage left aisle on the far side and were told “nope, you need to go over to the other side to exit and you can only go across the row of seats”. Did I mention the venue was built in the 1940s? There is no center aisle just two side aisles of more than 100 seats to navigate to get to the other side. That was an adventure. It was dark, peoples’ blankets and picnics were strewn across the walkway and everyone was stoned. And then down so many steps with no handrails. At 70+ in the dark requires a bit of care.
Okay; that sounds more negative than I meant. It is a beautiful venue with nice acoustics. I have listened to recording of many concerts recorded there. It’s definitely worth the effort.
We went back to our hotel; hung out in the lobby and ate some ice cream and talked; maybe we had the munchies from the second hand smoke.
Our flight didn’t leave until late the next day – September 14 – so we had plenty of time to site see. This has been a tour of trains so our first stop was the Colorado Railroad Museum on the outskirts of Golden. As a rail fan, I’m used to showing up to train museums and not having much company. But the parking lot was packed. We made our way to the gate only to find the museum was closed for a special event: Thomas the Train! No wonder there were so many kids. No ticket? No entry. We wondered around the outside for a bit and saw on an old cog wheel train from Manitou and Pike’s Peak Railway. You can read about that day of our adventure here.
Undeterred on our search for tourist spots we found the North Dinosaur Park just a few miles south of the train museum. We signed up for a bus tour and were delighted with the evidence of the dinosaurs that ruled this area millions of years ago. Here you see fossilized food prints of the beasts. Those tracks have been highlighted for better viewing.
People (well not all; but some) are jerks. Here we are in a protected area and a guy is walking down the road with a big rock on his shoulder. Our driver stops; opens the door; and asks what he has there. “Oh! I’m not allowed to take away a fossil?” “No”. “Okay” and instead of placing it down he just heaves it down the road where it breaks into pieces.
Stegosaurs were one of the main dinosaurs roaming this area back in the day. Here is a picture from an earlier part of our trip,
If you recall the spikes on the tail are called Thagomizers thanks to the Gary Larson 1982 cartoon.
The museum has a casting from one of the back plates.
We then had lunch in Golden and headed back to the airport. Pro tip if you are returning a rental car to the Denver International Airport thinking you can refill the tank near the airport: no you can’t. The airport is out in the middle of nowhere. Our GPS targeted a gas station but there was nothing but desert. Missing that, we had about another 5 minute drive to get back on the freeway and back to the airport. So, fill up outside of Denver.
What a great vacation. I love trains so of course I would love it; but the others had just as good a time (if that is even possible).
Fall is travel time for us. At the end September we took the train (of course) to go up to Seattle to watch my World Champion Los Angeles Dodgers conclude the regular season with a series against the Mariners. In October we went to New Orleans! More on that in my next post.
You can find a gallery of the images from the trip on my Adobe site.
