I’ve never had much luck with scenic family drives. I’m a Denver transplant, and my family comes in from the Midwest every so often to see me and the mountains. Inevitably, the six of us pile into my car (which seats five uncomfortably). In good weather, my mom points out…

Jimmy Carter was president before I was born. I’ve known him only as an elderly philanthropist — traveling the world with wife Rosalynn, building houses for Habitat for Humanity — and, more recently, as a man who caught a lot of heat over a controversial book about Palestine. That was…

It’s hard to miss the City and County Building this time of year. The Downtown Denver Partnership touts it as one of the largest holiday lighting displays in the world, with floodlights and nearly a million smaller lights. It’s a colorful, chaotic sight to behold — and an official nightmare…

With a French name, it’s only fitting that Denver’s Amélie advertising company would have a fondness for food. So when charged with planning a five-year anniversary celebration, Anita Ashfield-Salter thought cupcakes. She wanted to pull together Denver’s best pastry chefs to generate the same kind of trendy cupcake buzz happening…

Anyone who dreads the mall and suffers panic attacks over hard-to-shop-for friends and relatives could benefit from a stroll down Old South Pearl Street this time of year. The strip may be best known for its restaurants, but it’s also a 100-year-old shopping district lined with unique gift finds: clothes,…

I know there are people who would vehemently disagree, but I think dogs in costumes are pretty darn cute. I’m not talking about winter jackets or an everyday wardrobe; that’s disturbing. But when the occasion calls for costumes, why not? The Jingle Bell Run for Arthritis calls for costumes of…

As a purchaser of a pricey Vail Resorts ski pass, making sure I get the biggest bang for my buck is a constant winter worry. There’s a running tally in my head of the weekends I can make it up to the mountains, right next to the list of the…

When Jessica Carsten had to come up with a project for a leadership course she was taking, the assistant manager of the Boulder Planned Parenthood clinic naturally decided on a fundraiser for her employer. “I thought about what I would want to do, and my wildest dream would be a…

Thanks to another year of early openings, the ski and ride season is officially here. If you’ve been dreaming about floating in powder or trying out telemark skis, now’s the time to get in line. The trend all over Colorado is steep and deep, with sky-scraping backcountry and extremes. Resorts…

In 2005, Jim Schwartzkopff went to Bulgaria with Planina — a Colorado-based group of Eastern European folk musicians — to live in a village and learn the music that sounds so foreign to Western ears. Few members of the group have Eastern European heritage, so they wanted to immerse themselves…

Already got your board and boots waiting by the front door? Take a break from watching snow reports to view something that’s sure to make you even more frantic for the season’s start: the Denver premiere of Enjoy, the newest ski film from Rage Productions, which takes place tonight at…

Daniel Levitin had always had an innate curiosity — a “why” kicking around in his head. But one moment in the studio as a record producer stands out. “It was sort of a typical day in the office,” he says. “We all showed up for work, bleary-eyed, at the crack…

“Glendale considers itself a city that’s different from the rest,” says Chris Thonis, business-development manager at Denver-based FitBeats. “We really wanted something that would be fun and different from other races.” That’s why the company chose Glendale’s new Infinity Park — the country’s first municipally owned rugby stadium — as…

Yarrr! Colorado’s pirate reenactors, as it turns out, don’t just put on their eye patches and peg legs for the Renaissance Festival. The Colorado Rogues’ 115 members will don their ruffled blouses any chance they get. “You’ve heard of Civil War reenactors? We’re reenacting what it’s like to live and…

Before there was Harry Potter, there was Discworld. Created by another internationally best-selling British author, Terry Pratchett, the fantasy series, which debuted in 1983, was set on a flat world balanced on the backs of four elephants standing on a giant turtle. In the tradition of The Lord of the…

Whether you ride a pimped-out Harley or drive a 1983 rusted Dodge, you’re invited to partake in Dogs, Hogs & Rods. It’s the second annual poker run/rally/car show to benefit Table Mountain Animal Center, and this year, organizers are throwing in a dog walk, too. During a traditional poker run,…

Twenty years ago, Verne Carlson was driving back to Colorado from South Dakota when he happened upon a tornado. He’d been driving beside what he thought was a “regular thunderstorm” when he saw the funnel cloud. “They’re just amazing to see,” he says. “When you’re up close to one, it’s…