It’s been a tumultuous month in our household, with my 19yo daughter A- heading off on a three month “gap year” program in the South Pacific, a month that included her and my ex spending a few weeks in Hawaii, then, on the one weekend between Hawaii and the South Pacific, heading off to Vermont on another trip. Leaving her 12yo sister K- behind with Dad.
My concern was for my younger daughter, already anxious about her big sister leaving for months: how would she react when she found out that not only couldn’t she go to Hawaii but she also couldn’t go to Vermont because it would involve missing too much school (over a week of class).
To alleviate that, I decided we needed a “staycation”, needed to do something fun and different without having to leave town, something easily accomplished over an already busy weekend.
So I reached out to the Visit Denver organization and the Embassy Suites in Downtown Denver generously offered to sponsor our overnight stay at their beautiful facility across the street from the Denver Convention Center. And a suite, how perfect is that? In fact, look at the photo of the exterior and you can even see the famous blue bear peeking into the convention center!
We planned to get to Denver early afternoon on the Saturday, have a festive dinner somewhere walking distance from the hotel (and there are at least 100 restaurants within six blocks of the convention center), then head back to the room for some games, decadent room service dessert, possibly a movie, and a late night.
The next morning we’d hit the breakfast buffet and head back to our home in Boulder in time for our Sunday afternoon activities.
Then Friday night at her YMCA Basketball League game, we got the bombshell: the end-of-season gala banquet was the following night and somehow the email hadn’t made it to me. Well, heck! Rather than skip the banquet, however, we regrouped and decided that we’d have dinner with the team and head directly to downtown after the festivities.
We arrived at the Embassy Suites in Downtown Denver at about 7.30pm, which was great timing because we had plenty of time to set up and play a new favorite game, Cosmic Run, while waiting for room service to arrive with our dessert and beverages. And what a dessert it was!
I had the Upside Down Peach Cake (“Peaches Caramelized in Brown Sugar Baked in a light Cake Batter, Topped with Caramel Sauce, Surrounded with Fresh Berries and a side of Vanilla Ice Cream”, shown in the photo above) and my daughter had the Chocolate Flourless Tart (“Deep and Rich, Glazed with Ganache served over Raspberry Sauce, a Dollop of Chantilly Whip Cream and Fresh Raspberries”).
Sweet bliss indeed. I couldn’t even stop K- from having a bite while I was trying to take a photo:
As you can see, we were both quite impressed with the desserts and they were a perfect accompaniment to our attempts to colonize planets in the far galaxy before meteor strikes destroyed them. For the record, I won, but just by a few points! 🙂
We contemplated a visit to the fourth-floor pool, but were feeling too lazy post-dessert so instead sprawled on the two beds and watched The Food Network, a favorite channel, until it was time for lights out.
K- had already staked out her bed by having a pile of stuffies and her suitcase on my bed in addition to turning down the bed she wanted. Not sure how that works, but I can sleep anywhere, so I was fine with her having first dibs on beds!
The following morning we headed downstairs from our 12th floor room to one of the best and most varied breakfast buffets I’ve ever seen at a hotel. My breakfast was a spinach and mushroom omelet with salsa, some fresh fruit and a few strips of bacon. Because, well, bacon.
We went back to the room and hung out until checkout time, a leisurely noon, then headed home rather begrudgingly. Our cats were exceedingly happy to see us and we skipped lunch entirely after our enormous breakfasts at the Embassy Suites, which was handy!
All in all, with a little help from the hotel, I turned what could have been a very sad, disappointing weekend into a great father/daughter mini-vacation, and even when the basketball banquet suddenly intruded, we figured out a way to make everything work. Instead of remembering the weekend she couldn’t go to Vermont with her sister, my daughter now has fond memories of our weekend adventure in downtown Denver.
Mission accomplished!
This is so great Dave. I was such a daddy’s girl, but never got to do a mini-vacation with him when I was growing up! K is a lucky kid.
We’ve stayed at the Convention Center across the street (I think it’s a Hyatt), but it’s good to know there’s another great option in that area.
Great article Dave. I too stayed at a Denver Embassy Suites years ago. My wife was ill and said take our two daughters on your business trip to Denver, so I picked them up after school on a Thursday afternoon. We arrived at 11:30 pm and stayed there for two nights. They had so much fun, and still talk about it years later. The whole staff at the hotel were so kind, and made them feel so safe. They served them non-alcoholic Shirley Temples. They loved the breakfast. It was excellent too.
Oh, the good memories we can choose to make in order to turn a bad thing into a great thing. Way to go!
(Sorry I missed you in SLC last year.)