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11 20 24 Denver-Based Travel Blogger Sherry Ott Shares Denver Travel Tips
But there's only one feeling like knowing your banker personally, like growing up with a bank you can count on, like being sure what you've earned is safe, secure, and local. There's only one feeling like knowing you're supporting your community. You deserve more from a bank. You deserve an institution that stood strong for generations. Think of Colorado, there's only one member FDIC. Travel tips on Denver from worldwide travel expert was based here in Denver. Her website is called Offsworld. Her name Sherry Ott. And she joins us now in the KOA Common Spirit Health Hotline Sherry. Good morning. We have been talking a lot about travel and getting around of late. And of course, many folks travel and traverse through DIA. What are some things you recommend you do if you have to be at the airport or you're stuck at the airport trying to catch a flight or waiting for your flight? Well, the good news is they have a lot of really great things going on at the airport. But the first thing is if you can make reservations to beat the crowd, and there are a lot of things that you can make reservations for that you might not know about. Of course, I'm an RTD person, so I go to the airport using RTD, typically. But if you're not, you can reserve your car sharing, you can reserve your parking. And that's really good to do early. Actually, you can also park at some of the nearby hotels that offer free shuttle service, and you can reserve those spots, too, and they're much cheaper. Other things you can reserve is a TSA spot, so that's also pretty cool, and it helps you eat the lines or at least plan ahead. And there are even a few lounges, I think the Capital One lounge lets you reserve special rooms and stuff like that. So that's probably my best advice is plan ahead if you can to make it a little bit less stressful. I also think, speaking of lounges, if you've ever spent time in any of the lounges in Denver, they're normally really full for the most part, and especially this holiday travel weekends and so on. So I'd say just go early and introvert when the best runs. And then they also, DAA, just opened up what they call a Santa's layover lounge, which is like a pop-up cocktail lounge in concourse B, which could be kind of fun. Yeah, those are some of the things I recommend for airplane travel, for sure. I was going to say, Sherry, don't give away my secret of booking a spot at the Capital One lounge, man, because that is the greatest travel hack when it comes to DIA, for sure. Okay, so we're at DIA, we've conquered that so far. You take RTD into Union Station, which is also super helpful. Now you're downtown Denver. What are some of the recommendations you would say if you have family coming in for the Thanksgiving holiday, first time downtown, looking for some sites and things to do? Well, of course, the Mile High Tree and the Chris Kindle Market, which is in Civic Center Park. And those are free events, obviously, so that's really nice. And of course, there's a new drone show that's going to be at 7 p.m. every night. So I think that'll be really fun and different. I would also say, if you have kids, there's a museum called the Museum of Illusion. It's not far from Union Station. In fact, it would be very fun for kids or teenagers because it's kind of an Instagram-worthy spot, but it also really makes you think, it's kind of educational, too. So that's a really fun one, and right downtown, so you can do a whole bunch of walking downtown. Let's see. I would also say, thinking of the Denver drone show, you might want to kind of amp it up a little bit, and why not go to one of the rooftop bars and watch it and make kind of a night out of it? So I think Lay Meridian, the 5430 rooftop bar, you can see it from there, and you should also be able to see it from the populace, which is a new hotel, but just opened up by Civic Center Park at this stellar J rooftop bar and restaurant. So those would be some kind of fun ways to view it in a different way, maybe away from the crowds. Those are some of the things that I would recommend, and of course, Union Station is just beautiful to walk around and see the tree and get some food or cocktails. Hey, Sherry, I know since you have an expertise in this, some of the things you shared probably cost a little money, but not everything we have to do when we go experience some fun during the holidays cost money, and I know a lot of people probably struggle and can't afford certain things, but there's a lot of activities people can do fairly cheaply or free. Yes, and it's always good to kind of look around the surrounding areas. So Loveland, which is only an hour drive from Denver, has a free winter wonderlight show every night. It starts November 23rd, like a 30-minute show that you can walk through. They have some live nights where they have stage shows and live reindeer and beer gardens and food trucks, and so that's all really easy in our drive-away. Another even closer would be Arvada. So Arvada has a whole tree lighting ceremony going to be November 30th. They have a maker's market, and Arvada Old Town is a great place to walk around. They have a number of really unique top-up bars that lots of people don't know about, so sometimes it's fun to get out of the city a little bit and experience the smaller atmosphere. Sherry, and wrapping up with you, I know you've led a nomadic lifestyle. You even say it here, I'm reading your blog and your profile, but you decided to come to Denver in 2017. Why is that? Oh gosh, because I wanted to live by the mountains, really. I had never lived in this part of the country, and it was a reason to go out and explore everything Colorado had to offer. Good answer. I think that's what mine would be as well. Worldwide travel expert based here in Denver, her website, you can find atsworld.com, O-T-T-S, atsworld.com. Sherry, thank you so much for your expertise on this. We appreciate it. Yeah, thanks for having me. There's only one feeling like knowing your banker personally, like growing up with a bank you can count on, like being sure what you've earned is safe, secure, and local. There's only one feeling like knowing you're supporting your community. You deserve more from a bank. You deserve an institution that stood strong for generations. Bank of Colorado, there's only one member FDIC. How do you feel when you switch to Geico and save on your car insurance? It's like going to work on one Thursday morning and thinking to yourself just one more day until Friday. 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