Attractions: During your stay enjoy the easy access to over 415 stores and spas at the Wetfield Shopping Center just steps from the Hilton. Browse the famous anchor store Nordstrom for the perfect outfit to wear to dinner. Buy a new handbag at Coach. Enjoy a deep-tissue massage, or a relaxing facial at Burke Williams Day Spa. Whatever your taste, whatever your need this exceptional San Francisco Westfield shopping mall can see to your satisfaction with a sampling of stores, including:

• Nordstrom
• Bloomingdales
• Burke Williams Day Spa
• Coach
• Banana Republic
• Abercrombie & Fitch
• Tommy Bahama
• American Eagle Outfitters
• Benetton

Attractions: When you arrive in Denver – mile high, framed by the even higher Rockies, and with its “beautiful spacious skies,” you instinctively understand what inspired "America the Beautiful” which was written on nearby Pike’s Peak. Denver’s rich history can be traced through silver & gold mines, cog-railroads, and beautiful Victorian homes including that of the “unsinkable” Molly Brown. Just steps from our hotel are the U.S. Mint, the State Capitol, Art & History Museums, and the mile-long pedestrian mall – with great shopping, parks & flowers. Nearby are the “Garden of the Gods”, Red Rocks Park, Lookout Mountain, Continental Divide, Butterfly Pavilion, Buffalo Bill’s Gravesite and Museum, Coors Brewery, Rocky Mountain National Park, Breckenridge, Boulder, & the Colorado Rockies playing at Coors Field. The kids are out of school. Bring them along & stay for the 4th - there is nothing like mile-high fireworks.

• Spectacular, must-see Denver Art Museum addition by renowned architect Daniel Libeskind. Completed Fall of 2006. Read about it in
the New Yorker, Aug 8, 2006 issue. Just blocks from our Conference hotel."The Denver Art Museum has the largest and most comprehensive collection of world art between Kansas City and the West Coast, with over 55,000 works of art. Its American Indian art collection is internationally renowned, and its pre-Columbian and Spanish Colonial art collections are outstanding." Read more...

• Denver Visitors Bureau - video and climate info: http://www.denver.org/VisitingDenver.aspx
• Dever link "for Convention Attendees": http://www.visitdenver.org
• Denver Visitors Bureau Attractions: http://www.denver.org/Listings.aspx?SID=6
• Museums: http://www.denver.org/Listings.aspx?SID=6&CID=34
• Activities Page (fly fishing, horseback riding, etc) : http://www.milehighcity.com/activities.html
• Tours: http://www.denver.org/Listings.aspx?SID=6&CID=432

• Here is a first-person report from Katherine Robredo, director of the Rocky Mt Famly Academy and a frequent Smart Marriages conference presenter. She would like to encourage you to bring your family along to the conference and enjoy a Colorado Vacation - an extended stay to take advantage of the great weather in this mile-high city - the "gateway to the Rockies". She does not work for the Colorado tourism industry, she just lives in the area, has kids, and knows her stuff. Katherine welcomes corrections, updates or additional ideas. - diane sollee

DENVER:
Within walking distance of the Adams Mark Hotel (I've been out there and promise you that this alone can keep you busy for a week. By walking distance, she means this area is adjacant to the hotel - all within a few blocks. -diane)

• The16th Street Mall full of outdoor cafes, shops, fountains and so on.
• The State Capitol, Civic Center Park with fountains, ponds, gardens, the Greek amphitheater and the Colorado History Museum with wonderful exhibits on the movement west and the Western Indian tribes.
• The Denver Mint with tours to show you where our money is made.
• The Denver Art Museum, with one of the world’s best collections of Native American art. See above about spectacular new building
  

Fun places to go in Denver:
o Elitch-Six Flags, especially if you love scary roller-coasters. This is a great amusement park with a new "Loony toons" section and roaming characters that little kids enjoy. Elitch has expanded since the last Smart Marriage conference and now has the most state of the art thrill rides such as the “Superman” and the new roller coaster called the “Mindblower” and believe me, it is just that especially when it goes backwards!!! Elitch has also added it own waterpark, included in the entry fee. If you get there early enough you can set up in the poolside area and use that as your base for the day. There are several water rides fun for older kids and adults, and a small kids area with wading pools, fountains, pirate ship and lots of fun stuff. Elitch also has several indoor shows for various ages. The cost for a season pass is only about $10.00 more than a day pass, so you may consider that if you plan to go more than once. Open until 10:00pm. And your season pass will be honored at all six flags amusement parks in America!

o Water World is one of the nation's largest water parks and I especially like the section dedicated to little kids that do not yet swim. 30 different waterslides, lots of fun and on the smaller side, is an old amusement park on a lake called Lakeside Amusement Park, nice for younger kids.

o A new aquarium just opened, Ocean Adventure, very nice and state of the art, great place if you love fish.

o If you like dinosaurs, don't miss the Natural History Museum, very nice collection of these creatures (remember, Colorado was the dinosaur capitol of North America), also has an IMAX theatre and a planetarium with a great show of the galaxy featuring photographs from the Hubbel telescope! Astronomy fans do not want to miss this!

o Next to the museum is a big park and the Denver Zoo, a real nice city zoo with newborn baby polar bears.

o Another fun place for Dino fans is Dinosaur Ridge and the Morrison Natural History Museum where you can hike along the ridge and follow fossilized dino tracks, also see embedded dino bones along the walk!

o Another don't miss is the Children's Museum, lots of activities and kids can actually learn to ski and snowboard on artificial snow. Rollerblade lessons also available. Ski lessons are for ages 4 and up and ski boarding for ages 8 and up.

o A fun place for little kids is Club Disney near the Park Meadows mall, lots of Disney characters and game/activities as well as a "Fashion Show" where kids get to dress up like their favorite characters and join the show.

o Other fun places if you have kids are Tiny Town, built in 1915, it is a miniature, kid sized town with a fire station, ice cream store and so on, my kids loved it when they were little (perfect for those 4- 6).

o Also fun, is Heritage Square, a replica of a 1870's Colorado town with a live theatre, music hall and chuckwagon dinners and a western show, pretty touristy, but hey, this is (was) the wild west!

o Locals also love the Butterfly Pavilion, nice gardens with thousands of butterflies. Also nice are the Denver Botanical Gardens, very lovely and serene with Japanese gardens and so on.

o If you loved the movie Titanic, visit the Molly Brown’s Victorian home and museum and learn all about her life in Colorado before Titanic.

o If you like shopping malls, Cherry Creek and Park Meadows Malls are nice. Nordstroms, good food court and nice giant leather animals for kids to play on.

Festivals around the time of the conference:
o Denver Greek Festival (June 22-25), lots of Greek food and music and dancing, lots of fun!
o The Cherry Creek Arts Festival over 4th of July weekend, over 200 juried artists, a food fair of Denver's best restaurants and lots of music and entertainment. This is supposedly one of the best art shows in the nation, always great but crowded!
o The Renaissance Faire is about 30 minutes off I-25 south of Denver but well worth the trip. This medieval fair has rides, great food, great shows and great artists. Weekends only.

Fun places to eat in Denver with kids:
- Casa Bonita, a Mexican restaurant that is like a Disney ride! Live entertainment in the cave/grotto atmosphere includes cliff divers, gun fights, sword-swallowers, fire jugglers, and so on. Warning: Food is mediocre at best but the kids don’t care!
- The White Fence Restaurant has a playground, petting zoo and carriage rides and good family-style food.
- The Trail Dust has great food, big slide and music and western dancing.
- If you love Indian food, do not miss Ghandi's at the Denver Tech center- great daily lunch buffet and Rubio's Baja Grill for some great fish tacos and lobster burritos.

If you rent a car - or take a bus - there are lots of great Day Trips:
o Music lovers will love Red Rocks Amphitheatre about 15 miles west of Denver. It is a natural amphitheatre created inside an amazing stone formation surrounded by giant red rocks and mountains scenery. Great concerts are held there in the summer so check out their website and see who may be in town during your visit.

o You don’t want to miss Boulder Colorado! Just 30 minutes outside Denver. Easy to take a bus to get there. Home of the University of Colorado, has a great "Walking Street" called the Pearl Street mall with great shops, galleries and restaurants. Lots of flowers, outdoor cafes and street performers and where I do most of my Christmas shopping. Very laid back place. Beautiful hiking and biking trails throughout Chautauqua Park and surrounding areas. Don't miss the tour of the Celestial Seasonings tea company. For some reason, kids under 5 are not allowed but other than that a fun place to go, worth the smell of the Mint Tea room alone! The Colorado Shakespeare festival at the University.and classical music concerts at the Chatauqua auditorium are held throughout the summer. Also in Boulder is the Leaning Tree greeting card factory. They have a great collection of western art. Plus, you get tremendous discount deals on all Leaning Tree cards and boxed sets, really worth going to. It is right near Celestial Seasonings so you can combine the two, then spend the rest of the day walking around Pearl Street. If you are a teahouse lover, don’t miss the teahouse that was made in Tibet and sent piece-by-piece to Boulder as a gift and constructed there. Great food and nice tea ritual, a perfect afternoon break!

o About an hour south of Denver, is Colorado Springs. Fun things there are the Air Force Academy, Seven Falls and Cheyenne Canyon, and the U. S. Olympic Training Center and Visitors Center. Don’t miss a stroll or hike and drive through the Garden of the Gods, a large park of giant red sand-stone rocks, lots of deer and an occasional mountain goat herd. The visitors center is nice and the trading post has incredible southwest art available in the back room, past all the cheap souvenir stuff.

o Old Colorado City is the original town with lots of great shops and galleries. And the Pioneer museum is real nice if you are interested in history. A great place to eat in Colorado Springs is the Broadmoor Hotel, nice Sunday brunch and good food anytime and be sure to take a walk around the lake. About 15 minutes west of Colorado Springs is the road to Pikes Peak, drive up there if you are brave enough, extremely steep, curvy dirt road but worth the view if you get up there early enough. Usually by afternoon it is cloudy and often raining. A better way to go is the take the cog railroad from Manitou Springs, a lovely trip up the side of the mountain to an elevation of about 12.000 feet. Manitou is a fun place to shop and eat and tour the local castle, it is just outside of old Colorado City. A great place to eat in Manitou is the Briarhurst Manor, an old Victorian mansion with incredible food. On the road to Pikes Peak is Santa's Workshop, and old style amusement park with a Christmas theme, nice for little kids. On the Fourth of July, an all day festival is held at Memorial Park and in the evening the Colorado Springs symphony plays and closes with the 1812 overture along with canons exploding and fireworks, very nice!

- Downtown Denver and our hotel location is a great place for the sports fan! Some great sports bars, and home to all of our great teams. There is the Pepsi Center, home of the Denver Nuggets and Colorado Avalanche. There are always concerts and shows there, especially in the summer so check out the Pepsi center website to see what is going on while you are in town. At the base of “Lo Do” (you can walk or take trolley from hotel) is Invesco Field home of our beloved Broncos and Coors field. Summer evenings are a great time to catch a Rockies baseball game, enjoy the Coors brewery and relax.

- For “Haunting” buffs, Denver is supposedly one of the most haunted cities in America. There are many walking ghost tours or explore on your own if you dare! Haunted places close to the hotel include The Brown Palace hotel, the Oxford Hotel, Molly Brown house, state capitol building, Denver public Library and Cheesman Park.

- If you love handcrafted Beer, Colorado is the place for you! Be sure to check out the microbrew pubs in the Denver area. Great brewpubs in Denver include the Breckenridge brewery, Broadway pub, Bull and bush pub, Denver chop house, rock bottom brewery, Wynkoop brewery and the sandlot brewery at Coors field. Also, not to be missed if you can get there are the original Breckenridge brewery in Breckenridge, the Tommyknocker brewery in Idaho Springs and the Fort Collins brewery in Fort Collins. Colorado Springs is also home to several breweries so don’t miss Judge Baldwin’s, Phantom Canyon, the rockbottom brewery and the Bristol Brewing company.

Going west from Denver:
My favorite places are Georgetown, about 30 minutes from Denver, a nice old Victorian mining town with a summer train that does the Georgetown-Silver Plume loop. Very Beautiful ride! And the old historic district of the town is nice with lots of old Victorian homes and buildings. Idaho Springs is another old town built in the 1850's, it's fun to walk around the old buildings and you must eat at BeauJoe's, home of the Colorado Pizza called "Prairie Pies". Very delicious and in a great old building. Stop at the Indian Springs resort for a mud bath, mineral spring soak and massage; also has vapor caves and a mineral bath pool! An evening at the spa is a great way to rejuvenate from the information overload at the conference.

o My other favorite summer spot is Winter Park, about an hour west of Denver. Great for bike riding along the Frasier River or take a bike to the top of the ski lift and ride over 200 miles of mountain trails, an incredible thing to do! Since this is a marriage conference, how about a romantic ride on a bicycle built for two along the river? Also, can ride the chairlift to the top and hike around, just watch out for the bikes! Also has an amazing and scary Alpine Slide and lots of other stuff to do at the ski resort.

o And one of the most beautiful places in the world has got to be Rocky Mountain National Park, lots of nice hikes and the drive through the park on Trail Ridge Road is beautiful, surrounded by 14,000 foot peaks. Hike around Bear Lake and horseback riding is available and I highly recommend it! It is so amazing to ride around in the park. In July the Alpine meadow flowers are at the peak of their brief life and is not something you want to miss. The nearby town of Estes Park has lots of hotels, restaurants and shops. Or you can stay at the other side of the park in a little town called Grand Lake. You will be overwhelmed by the beauty and majesty of Rocky Mountain National Park!

o About an hour or so west of Denver is Breckenridge, another great place to hike and mountain bike and lots of great shops and the famous Breckenridge Brewery. At the base of Peak eight (where I am lucky enough to own my own condo!) is an amazing summer play area for kids. It has a maze, three alpine slides, and trampolines with a twist, zip lines, miniature golf and so many other things. Also rides up the chairlift for people and bikes. Vail is about and hour or so west, too upscale for me, but lots of people like it. Vail is about and hour or so west, too upscale for me, but lots of people like it.

- About 2.5 or 3 hours west of Denver is Glenwood Springs, another of my favorite spots. The drive through the red rock canyon is amazing and the hot springs are incredible, large pools surrounded by the most beautiful mountains. The Hotel Colorado is a great, old Victorian place to stay. Right next to the hot Springs is the Yampa Vapor Caves, great caves to sit in and good massages. If you like to walk uphill (a half mile) do not miss the old graveyard from the 1800's, Glenwood Springs is the old Tuberculosis town where people went to get cured and lots died there including Doc Holliday who is buried there. You can rent bikes in Glenwood Springs and ride along the Colorado River through the canyon, very nice! A fun trip to is take the Amtrak train from the Denver station and go directly to Glenwood Springs, amazing rocky mountain scenery and it drops you off right at the train station across the street from the Hotel Colorado and hot springs. If you like to hike, don’t miss the hike up to “Hanging Lake”, a short hike but uphill to a lake that it just literally hanging there!!!

o Another nice day trip is Mount Princeton Hot-Springs, about 2 hours west of Colorado Springs. Real nice hot Springs pools along the Arkansas River, good places to hike and horseback ride and lots of river trips through Brown's Canyon. The Mt. Princeton Hot Springs Resort is a good place to stay.

o People really need to think about renting a car, and staying a few extra days to see all that Colorado has to offer. For those with more time, I recommend a river-running day and renting a mountain bike. Also, a trip to Durango and Mesa Verde national park as well as the Black Canyon of the Gunnison and a trip to Ouray, the "Swiss Alps" of the Rockies, an incredible valley with hot springs and amazing 4-wheel drive trips through Yankee Boy Basin, Jeeps are available for rent in Ouray. Santa Fe, New Mexico is about a 5-6 hour easy drive from Denver and well worth a long weekend.

Please be aware that there is a reason Denver is called the “mile high city”, you will be at about 6000 feet above sea level and trips to the mountain towns and Pikes peak can easily take you to elevations of 11,000 to 14,000 feet. Many tourists suffer altitude sickness and it can take a few days to acclimate. Be sure to start taking some iron supplements about two weeks before you come, (increases red blood cells which you need at higher altitudes) and drink lots and lots of water the whole time you are here!

To find out more about our beautiful state, order your own official state visitors guide at http://www.Colorado.com.
It is a great free magazine listing all things Colorado with several suggested itineraries. As long as you are coming to one of the most beautiful places on the planet (and I have lived in or traveled to every continent except Antarctica) you might as well add on an amazing vacation. A lifetime of Colorado memories and a Smart Marriage conference? what could be better!.

Katherine Robredo, LCSW

Additional Suggestions:

From Dick Cronk:
> 1. For those of us who like James Dobson, there is a tour of Focus On The
> Family Headquarters at http://www.family.org/
> 2. The Royal Gorge & Park - the world's highest suspension bridge is in
> Canon City, CO