Denver Botanic Gardens and New Belgium Brewery

J and I have had an exciting four days off which are not quite over yet! First, my mom was in town, then we took Tuesday to view the Denver Botanic Gardens on a free day, and yesterday we took our friend Justin up to Fort Collins for the New Belgium Brewery tour before he leaves Denver for China later this month.

The Botanic Gardens definitely took us a few hours, powering through. I didn't take many pictures as I was trying to just experience it. Public gardens are one of my favorite places to explore (see Selby and Morton Arboretum). I had never been to the Denver Botanic Gardens before and I can't wait to visit in other seasons.

New Belgium is always a fantastic tour! Twirly slides, hoola hoops, free beer, the most informative beer tour there is in Colorado (I think) and free beer! (Did I mention that already?) They were booked out about a month and a half for their tour, which is also free, and so J and I were a little bummed that Justin wouldn't be able to see it. We showed up anyway and waited "standby" and made the first tour at 11AM!

Poppies in the welcome garden.

There were butterflies the size of small birds all over the grounds.

There were some fun water plants I'd not seen before...like this one. And a water three leaf clover, and a water lilly that looked like a fuzzy snowflake.

J in Marnie's Pavilion. Orchids, bromeliads, water.
Humidity.

Not a great picture, but look towards the background. This was called Monet's Pond and it was full of bright reflection and lots of different waterlilies.

Like this one.

A personal favorite.

J and I left with this little bugger and a pretty cream ceramic pot. I've been wanting to do a small succulent dish garden for a while, so this guy is going to start me off. I went to Lowes today and bought 4 other succulents. Post to come soon!

Pre-tour beer.

The room where they make the sour beer. Yum!!! (My personal fave of the beer tour,)

All employees receive fat tire bikes on their one year anniversary, and each year's model has a different look.

The fall seasonal! These had come off the line while we were at the start of our tour. Super fresh! We were also the first group to sample this year's seasonal, so we were super lucky, too. P.S. It is really tasty.

Hmmm...