Rocking in the Rockies: Day 23 Baseball in Denver

[CrispyA]

Wednesday 17 August - back to Denver and Coors Field

We got up and packed, then just grabbed a bit of breakfast as we had decided to visit a Denny's on our way back to Denver. We were sad to say goodbye to the Lodge - it had been such a great place to stay and I can thoroughly recommend it if anyone is visiting Boulder.

We then headed to Denver for our last full day. The drive was fine and it wasn't that long before we arrived at the Denny's in Thornton. We had decided to have breakfast out as we were off to Coors Field to watch the baseball and as it was an afternoon game, it would save us having to get lunch.

It turned out to be an error of judgement. The server was very lovely but we got there just after a huge party and their order delayed everyone else's food. We must have waited about 40 minutes and every time we were about to cancel and leave, the waitress would apologise and reassure us that the food was on its way. When it arrived, it was only okay, not great, and we felt horribly rushed. Of course, the huge party had massively over-ordered and left plates of food, so that was even more annoying.

(As an aside, one of Paul's super-powers is knowing just the right amount of food to order for a group of people. Family members have even considered calling him to discuss a takeaway order!)

We got back in the car to head for our hotel, the Fairfield Inn & Suites at Cherry Creek on the South side of Denver. We landed at about 11.30 and I went to the desk to get directions to the light rail, not expecting to be able to check in.

The receptionist was lovely and said we could check in there and then, which was great. She gave us maps and directions to get to Coors Field and told me to help myself to complementary bottles of water to take to the game.

We got checked in and sun-creamed up, before heading out for the short walk to the light rail station. It was a direct route to Union Station and much easier than driving in and trying to park. More and more Rockies fans got on at each stop and I had an entertaining journey eavesdropping on a woman moaning to her friend about her free-loading brother-in-law. Brian is living with them, has no job and is showing no sign of trying to get one, he expects them to pay for everything and never even cooks. She is trying to build up to telling him he has to leave - by the end of the journey, I was so fed up of Brian that I was going to offer to call him and give him his marching orders myself!

It wasn't a long walk from the station to Coors Field and it was nice to be back in a city that looked familiar after so many new places to get our bearings in. It was a good thing we'd put cream on, as they were confiscating sun sprays at the gates.

We had a mooch around the stadium, hoping for some sale items in the Rockies store. Alas we were disappointed and wished we'd got something in Target or Walmart instead. We didn't even get ball caps as they were ridiculously expensive.

We took our seats not long before the game began.

The Colorado Rockies were playing the Washington Nationals and it was a great game. There were 7 runs in the first innings, so lots of action, and the Rockies eventually won 12 - 10. The sun was roasting, so we kept moving to keep in the shade, as did everyone around us.

As an added bonus, we got coupons for $1 hotdogs, which were great and meant that we didn't mind so much paying $7 for a veggie dog for Hannah! We didn't make it onto the dance cam but the guys at the front of the stand put in a solid effort!

It's funny having a stadium right in the middle of the city (just like the Houston Astros) and Coors Field is a really nice baseball ground. We really enjoy going to baseball when we visit the states and it was good to be able to fit in a game while we were there.

After the game finished, we went for a brief walk to say "goodbye" to Denver and to work up an appetite. Paul had been looking forward to going back to the Wynkoop so we wound up there for our tea.

Evan had been hopeful of playing pool as they have tables upstairs but there was a private event on, so he couldn't. Like a typical teenager, there was a fair amount of moping about this, which we got pretty fed up with pretty soon, so ignored him until he sorted his "smacked bum" face out.

We had another lovely meal, with bowls of veggie chilli, salads and burgers. We suspected Evan might just have been hangry again, as the demolition of the burger coincided with a vastly improved mood. He even polished off Paul's chilli which made the waitress smile - she said she had brothers so was used to the appetites of teenage boys!

After a great meal, we walked to the station and caught the train back to the hotel. There was a stressful hour where I kept trying to check in online for our flight the next day but couldn't get onto the BA website. I was also having difficulty in finding out our BA flight locator reference as we had booked through American Airlines and hadn't been given it. I tried phoning BA who were really unhelpful and after a while told me that the problem was because we had never formally accepted a flight time change and that they were going to have to cancel and rebook our ticket.

I really didn't want them to do this and asked the woman not to but she ignored me and did it anyway. Then she told me I would have to call American Airlines to sort it out. :angry: I rang American and they were really helpful and reassuring, sorting out the tickets while I tried not to get stressed. We still couldn't check in online though and they told us to do it at the airport. When I checked my emails later, we had never been asked to formally accept a flight time change - American had notified us of couple of small changes, but those were accepted automatically by them, so I think BA were talking cobblers!

(it later turned out that the hotel's ISP was redirecting to an old version of the BA site which is why we couldn't get on it. Very annoying, as we could sorted that out if we'd known)

Eventually, I was able to feel that we had done as much as we could but it was a frustrating end to the evening. Top tip for the future - clarify locator references etc well in advance of the trip!

[Melbatb]

Denny's can be so hit and miss! Ladt Christmas I ordered a veggie burger - when it came it looked suspiciously like a meat burger - it was. As was the next one! I gave up after that!

Baseball can be so much fun!

Ahh to BA - they change flight times so often it is frustrating!

[katiebaz]

Glad the baseball was fun and result in the dollar hotdogs! Very frustrating about the BA check in and that stuff can be so frustrating

[CrispyA]

Originally Posted by katiebaz

Glad the baseball was fun and result in the dollar hotdogs! Very frustrating about the BA check in and that stuff can be so frustrating

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Baseball was great - sorry your game didn't happen for you.

[WileyCoyote]

Oh, that checkin nonsense isn't boding well.
Great day though, lol at the conversation about Brian, these teeny snippets of other people's lives ...
Baseball looked great and $1 hotdogs a bargain, I think they were something mad like $17 at the New York game. It's such a good atmosphere and great you didn't have a mega trek back at the end of it.

Sad face. It's the end. Nooooooo.

[toffeeman0]

Baseball in the states is fantastic. I think we have done around 8 stadiums. My favourite city stadium is Pittsburgh the views of downtown are tremendous.

[CrispyA]

Originally Posted by toffeeman0

Baseball in the states is fantastic. I think we have done around 8 stadiums. My favourite city stadium is Pittsburgh the views of downtown are tremendous.

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Never been to that one - we’ll have to add it to the list