Best Place to Get Pooped On 2004 | African Grey | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Place to Get Pooped On

African Grey

African Grey is similar to the Denver Zoo's Bird World -- only you can take the store's feathered friends home with you. In addition to its namesake parrot, the shop also sells cockatoos, cockatiels, parakeets and finches. Though it's hard not to go a little bird-brained from all the squawking in the place, the exotic animals make the racket endurable. Just be sure to watch your head. Like the birds at the zoo, some of the winged things are allowed outside their cages.

Best Showers -- Near

20th Street Recreation Center

So your house is under construction, your slumlord won't fix the bathroom leak -- whatever. You just need a hot shower, but at a certain point, you have to stop bumming showers off your friends. For a mere five bucks a day, the 20th Street Recreation Center -- or any of the other 28 Denver Parks and Recreation gyms -- will be there in your time of need. Don't expect the Ritz -- hell, don't expect a Motel 6 -- but the facilities are clean, and admission includes access to the workout facilities. Women even get private shower stalls (sorry, boys). Just don't forget your shower shoes.

Best Showers -- Far

Flying J Truck Stop

For a slightly more luxurious showering experience, splurge on the Flying J. It can be a little intimidating walking through the truckers -- who are laid over in front of the big-screen TV, IM-ing and eBay-ing on the WiFi stations, or simply chain-smoking in the common areas -- but the lot-lizard feeling will pass, especially once you enter your private shower chamber. Just $6.50 buys as much time as you need in the bathroom, along with clean towels. Shower shoes are optional, but your own shampoo and conditioner are a must. Luckily, grooming supplies and a host of other things you didn't know you needed -- including a quick shave or haircut -- can be had just beyond the shower doors. All hail the modern truck stop.

Best Place to Get Steamy

Lake Steam Baths

It takes guts to enter the Lake Steam Baths. The 77-year-old Denver institution seems a little, uh, sketchy, squatting on a corner of West Colfax. But the experience is well worth the leap of faith. Ladies come Mondays and Thursdays to steam -- both in a dry hot-rock and eucalyptus sauna -- and whirlpool their tensions away; boys get the rest of the week. After a dip, try a full-body massage, a steal at just $28 an hour, or a mani/pedi. Just be sure to book in advance. And, yes, you've got to get naked.

Best Cut-Rate Plumbing Supplies

Do-It-Ur-Self Plumbing and Heating Supply

When it comes to plumbing mishaps, don't bust a pipe: Fix it yourself and save a bundle. Whether you're redoing the loo or merely replacing a rusted shower head, the stuff you need is sure to be cheaper at Do-It-Ur-Self, which offers used and surplus plumbing and heating supplies at ridiculously low prices. Oh, they have new stuff, too, but where's the fun in that? Wander the aisles and you'll find the kinds of antique fittings they just don't make anymore -- or sell at Home Depot. At Do-It-Ur-Self, you'll never have to wash your money down the drain again.

Best Multimedia Hair Salon

Hairspray

Not too many clip joints have their own art gallery, but Cue Perez's Hairspray is outfitted with large-scale work by local artists in various media, including photography, prints, oil and acrylic. The exhibits change every couple of months and complement the hip, industrial feel of the salon. A cut above, Hairspray elevates the art of beauty.

Best Thrift Store

Mile High Thrift

Clean, well-organized and spacious, Mile High is a bargain hunter's dream. How about a cashmere turtleneck for $1.99? Or maybe that immaculate leather jacket for six bucks? If you're feeling flush, splurge on a Dooney & Bourke handbag for $14.95. There's even a decent selection of books and crockery. Bring cash and your size chart: There are no fitting rooms, and Mile High doesn't take checks or credit cards. But there is an ATM on the premises, and with prices this low, your bank's service charge may be the most expensive transaction of the day.

Best Thrift Store for the Really, Really Thrifty

Goodwill Industries

The conversion of Goodwill Industries' north Denver store to a 99-cent emporium has been a hit with cash-strapped families, seniors and anyone else trying to stretch a buck. Clothes and housewares that may have been passed over at other stores get renewed attention here. With every item beckoning at the bargain price of $.99, it just makes cents.

Best Consignment Store

Twice as Haute

The deals are hot at Twice as Haute, where ladies can pick up stylin' black Banana Republic leather pants for $60, a red DKNY cocktail dress for $68 and a full-length white mink coat for $998 -- plus the Kenneth Cole heels, Gucci purse, velvet fedora and gemstone jewelry to go with them. Located in an old house on 6th Avenue, the store carries labels like Burberry, BCBG Max Azria, Miss Sixty and Kate Spade for a smidgen of the original retail price. Be sure to check the tags closely: Items hanging for more than thirty days are automatically reduced another 20 percent. And if your closet deserves an "enter at your own risk" sign, Twice as Haute will take designer goods off your hands on consignment, as long as they are less than two years old and still in fabulous shape. Get ready to turn into a haute mama.

Best Place to Buy Armani on the Cheap

Buffalo Exchange

It's a misnomer to call the Buffalo Exchange a vintage-clothing or thrift store. Nearly a fourth of its eclectic inventory is brand-new, cherry-picked from debut lines of contemporary streetwear that escape the notice of larger, more corporate, mall-based fashion chains (Denver's Capitol Hill location is one of 24 nationwide). If a new indie line's catching a buzz at the MAGIC fashion trade show in Las Vegas one week, it's headed for the racks at the Exchange the next. The store's bread and butter, though, is "recycled fashions," and its heavily pierced in-store buyers excel at mining the garbage bags and laundry baskets trade customers bring in. Prices are generally lower than those at consignment shops offering similarly high-caliber brands and rare finds. We've walked out of Buffalo Exchange with a classic KISS tour shirt ($100 on eBay), a mint-condition Armani pullover ($180 new) and a pair of barely used leather Skechers ($80 new), all for less than sixty bucks. The store's soundtrack is also suitably fashionable: No canned Top 40 here; just the best in edgy indie rock and electronic ambient. Herdy up.

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