Denver’s Union Station is fabulous!  Built back in the day when trains were the main form of travel, the station has changed somewhat over the years.  The locals know it as “Denver’s Lounge Room” – rather than rows of boring seats for people to sit while waiting to catch the train, it’s decked out with lounge chairs, old desk-like tables and chairs, bars and restaurants and even a hotel.

People actually come and hang out there.

There is even a booth for  an “Emotional Baggage Drop”… not sure what happens in there though.

We made our way to our gorgeous B&B – the Capitol Hill Mansion and I think we got very lucky in our choice of area and accommodation.  The house is gorgeous and has been lovingly restored over the past 20 years by the owner, Carl and his daughter, Bailey.

The gardens are lovely and breakfast was served under lots of umbrellas on the garden patio.

We were up on the third floor in two lovely rooms the Snowlover and The Pasqueflower.

This is my bathroom – located at the top of the turret.

And this is Jodie’s room, complete with woodland mural.

All the rooms have these gorgeous old phones.

We dropped our bags off to Carl as we were way too early for check in, we went for a walk around the Capitol Hill area looking at the gorgeous mansion homes.  We made it all the way up to the Denver Botanic Gardens and thought that this would be a lovely place to pass the time until our rooms were ready.

On entry we were greeted by a very enthusiastic volunteer named Jeff.  He directed us to the ticket line and then grabbed us again once we’d made our purchase to go through the map with us.  He gave us a good route to take so we didn’t miss anything adn he even circled some “must sees” that weren’t marked on the map.

They were setting up for a sold out Violent Femmes concert there that night.  What a great space for a concert!

The Gardens were lovely with lots of little paths and places to sit and take it all in.

There was also an exhibition of “pixellated Design” with different shaped statues like this dotted around the gardens.  I’m not sure they did much enhance it though…. this is a duck.

I didn’t think that Denver was part of the Tornado Alley, but they are all set up just in case one comes their way…

There was an Asian section, an American section and a Bonsai section…  I love Bonsai trees and for a while I would buy friends one for their birthday… that is until somebody returned the favour and I realised just how much work is involved in keeping one alive. That put an end to my Bonsai gift giving ways…. and to those who received a Bonsai birthday gift – I apologise.

I think that all lawns should have a little bit of this little flower on it somewhere – don’t you think that would look pretty?  I love the pink and green colour combo.

This lovely pond was beautiful to sit and stare at. #reflections

There was a mamma duck and her babies doing laps around the edges…

One little baby took a wrong turn around some reeds, then turned around and realised he was alone.  He panicked a little and did a bit of chirping as he raced to a lily pad.  He was obviously told by his mum – “if you get lost, go to a lily pad and wait for me.”

All the people watching them on the side of the pond were giving him encouragement, pointing to where his mum was, then he finally spotted her and swam off, pretending like nothing had happened.

There are areas of the garden that you can hire out for private events – like this one.

There was also a lovely rose garden…  as there should be!