Best Handcrafted Signs 2014 | Kevin Hennessy | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Handcrafted Signs

Kevin Hennessy

You might not know his name, but you've seen Kevin Hennessy's hand-painted work both inside and outside of City, O' City, Nooch Vegan Market and Cafe Europa. In fact, his high-style handwriting is everywhere, proving that commerce-oriented art doesn't have to be a graphic-designed mess. From the simple restroom signage at Adrift Tiki Bar to the vertical announcement of Ironwood's presence on burgeoning South Broadway, Hennessy's expressive calligraphy is subtle but comforting, a throwback to a time before computer-generated banners and pixelated signs.

Best Way to Score a Ride in a Famous Car

Colorado Movie Cars

Wanna take a spin in the Ghostbusters Ecto-1? How about Scooby-Doo's Mystery Machine? When Colorado Movie Cars hosts its annual haunted-house tour/fundraiser, you and your friends get a VIP ride and extra-special treatment at four of the area's scariest haunts, followed by a cruise around the city that will having strangers snapping pictures on every street corner. And while you can't climb inside during the rest of the year, the various Colorado Movie Cars can be rented as outdoor centerpieces for events and parties, so if Herbie or KITT are closer to your ideal wheels, this fleet of film fanatics has got you covered.

Best Family-Friendly Parties

Kalina Ross Productions

Named one of Westword's 100 Colorado Creatives, Kalina Ross is a superstar at making everyone a part of her parties. A former partner in Urban Cipher, a group supporting entrepreneurial activities through events featuring local small businesses, Ross branched out on her own for the holiday season with the Night Fair Before Christmas, an all-ages music-, art- and merchant-oriented winter gathering and craft fair. During the summer, she's been known to open up her back yard on select Sundays for the Love Buzz Patio Cafe, a micro-eatery she runs out of her kitchen and staffs with her two daughters and mother. A cornerstone of Ross's work is the idea that children are the future, and she includes the little ones in every event, brunch and party she throws.

Best Place to Take Kids on a Rainy Day

ROCK'n & JAM'n

It's never cold and rainy at ROCK'n & JAM'n, which means that parents and kiddos can enjoy the indoor climbing gyms virtually anytime. For those ages five to eighteen, programs range from parent-child bonding classes to competitive climbing courses. Whatever you choose, it's all about technique — something that helps youngsters develop fine and gross motor skills while building confidence. Both gyms also offer introductory classes for adults, and there are auto belays for families with limited climbing knowledge.

Best Toddler Class for Hipsters

Rocky Mountain Aardvarks

Janet Casson, a New York expat, has brought her unique, Brooklyn-bred music classes to Denver. Instead of just teaching kids how to play music, she focuses her Rocky Mountain Aardvarks classes on showing them how to love it. In the process, youngsters — and their parents — learn new ways to express themselves.

Best Playground

Adventure Playground at Sandstone Ranch

Designed by landscape architect Kerry White, this custom adventure playground delivers one of the most unique and eclectic diversions around. The theme is grounded in nature; even manufactured equipment is wholly designed with the goal of giving children control over their play experience via fun features like a boulder labyrinth, a climbing wall leading to a whimsical treehouse, and a sand play area complete with water pump.

Best Cup of Coffee for Do-Gooders

Global Goods and Coffee Shop

Give a little, get a lot: That's the thinking behind Arvada's Global Goods and Coffee Shop, where the coffee is fair-trade and merchandise sales benefit the nonprofit Global Refuge International, an organization providing aid to victims of war, disease and disaster in undeveloped nations. Along with the java, Global Goods offers an ever-changing selection of Burmese and Ugandan craft goods, including baskets, paper-bead jewelry, handbags, beaded cards and more, alongside a selection of donated items for resale, from gently used home accessories to vintage goodies. We love that the business spins goodwill in so many ways — supporting charity, recycling used goods, supporting global microbusinesses and, last but not least, providing patrons with the caffeine buzz they need to get through the day.

Best Fair-Trade Imports

incaZteca

Housed in an old South Broadway Denver Square, incaZteca develops business relationships with artisans in Mexico, Guatemala and Peru to bring beautiful handwoven items, tooled leather accessories, alpaca rugs, embroidered bags, carved gourds, beaded jewelry and folk art galore to its shelves. The woven alpaca hats and scarves are reason enough to visit the shop, but anyone who wants a little color and cultural authenticity in their lives will stick around a while longer to check out the toys, ornaments and whimsical novelties.

Best Oddball Collectibles

Aurora's Family Pharmacy

Going to the neighborhood drugstore is already practically a thing of the past; even rarer is the experience you'll find at the Family Pharmacy, where you can buy a bottled soda from an old-fashioned red-enamel Coca-Cola cooler and stock up on Beanie Babies, Precious Moments figurines and whatever other high shlock your heart desires. The shop is a working pharmacy, as well, but its stature as an unintended socio-anthropological museum makes it a guilty pleasure for anyone's incorrigible inner hoarder.

Best High-Hipster Gallery and Gift Shop

Super Ordinary Gallery + Retail Space

In every venture they've taken on, it seems that Tran and Josh Wills have tried to combine their many interests — fashion, design, art and lifestyle — into a well-displayed gestalt of what's ultimately cool in modern times. But this new incarnation of Super Ordinary, located in hipster marketplace the Source, is that model's most sophisticated manifestation. Partnering with Bryan Cavanagh and Pedro Barrios, the Willses now have a space with an interlocking but split personality: Monthly art shows go up and down in the gallery, while patrons of the Source's eateries and artisan food shops can stroll through a design-savvy, curated selection of home goods, gifts and books in the retail space. If this is Super Ordinary, the everyday never looked so good.

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