Denver 2017

During a recent road trip to Los Angeles, I decided to stop and stay overnight in Denver, Colorado, which was my half-way point. After checking into the Westin hotel downtown, I decided to take a short walk around the area to capture what I could in the short time I have. I took a walk over to the 16th Street Mall, which is right behind the hotel. My first stop was The Daniels and Fisher Tower, which is a distinctive historic landmark located right at the mall. It was the tallest building between the Mississippi River and the state of California at the time of construction in 1910. The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in December 1969. From there, I stop at Skyline Park where I photograph Robert Pietruszewski's "Connections" sculpture. Also in the park is Cat Fountain, designed by Lawrence Halprin. Some very interesting sculptures I saw were these artsy looking chess boards that I thought were pretty cool. Some of them already had the chess pieces there to begin play. I later found out that they were the brain child of Doug Eichelberger. Right behind those sculptures is The Money Museum at The Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City Denver Branch. The museum was closed at the time I was there, so I couldn't go in and check it out. I walked a block over and saw construction crews working on the new 1144 Fifteenth office tower. On my way back to the hotel, I pass by the Xcel Energy building, Chase Tower and The Old Spaghetti Factory. But before heading in, I drive over to Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies baseball team to get some photos of the stadium.

After a much needed looooong nap, and before the sun went down, I headed over to Sports Authority Field at Mile High, home of the Denver Broncos football team. Catching the sun setting on the football stadium made for awesome photos as the sun gave the stadium a nice gold tone. The most awesome statue or sculpture I have ever seen at a sports stadium goes to the Denver Broncos. Their statues of a herd of broncos racing up the steps of Sports Authority Field is awesome as ever! I was so awestruck, I stayed around the stadium until it got dark. And in doing that, I was able to see the bronco statues light up. Adding to the excitement at Sports Authority Field is "Ring of Fame Plaza", which was created in 1984 by team owner Pat Bowlen to honor former players and administrators who played significant roles in the franchise's history. A life-sized statue of Pat Bowlen stands proud in the Plaza. Also in the Plaza are busts of the former players and coaches inducted in the Broncos' Ring of Fame. The statue of Pat Bowlen and the players and coaches busts were sculpted by Brian Hanlon. The statues of "The Broncos" were done by Sergio Benvenuti.