Best Place to Celebrate Independence/Veterans Day Every Day 2002 | VFW John S. Stewart Post No. 1 | Best of Denver® | Best Restaurants, Bars, Clubs, Music and Stores in Denver | Westword
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Best Place to Celebrate Independence/Veterans Day Every Day

VFW John S. Stewart Post No. 1

Founded in 1899, VFW John S. Stuart Post No. 1 was the first VFW post in the nation, and all 103 years of its history can be felt inside. But while the post's (dwindling) membership is limited to veterans of foreign wars, the restaurant and bar are open to anyone in the mood for a great burger, some good old-fashioned French fries and a couple of cold beers (the sevice may be a little slow, but it's service for your country). Sit yourself down amid flags, photographs of servicemen, military mementos and actual hardened veterans themselves, and soak up the atmosphere of a bygone era. Sidle up to the guys who served in Vietnam and Korea, or challenge a grizzled gadfly from WWII to a rousing game of billiards, and you'll know why this is the place to be when you're feeling warm, fuzzy thoughts about the U.S. of A. on holidays or any old day of the week.

Best Place to Celebrate Independence/Veterans Day Every Day

VFW John S. Stewart Post No. 1

Founded in 1899, VFW John S. Stuart Post No. 1 was the first VFW post in the nation, and all 103 years of its history can be felt inside. But while the post's (dwindling) membership is limited to veterans of foreign wars, the restaurant and bar are open to anyone in the mood for a great burger, some good old-fashioned French fries and a couple of cold beers (the sevice may be a little slow, but it's service for your country). Sit yourself down amid flags, photographs of servicemen, military mementos and actual hardened veterans themselves, and soak up the atmosphere of a bygone era. Sidle up to the guys who served in Vietnam and Korea, or challenge a grizzled gadfly from WWII to a rousing game of billiards, and you'll know why this is the place to be when you're feeling warm, fuzzy thoughts about the U.S. of A. on holidays or any old day of the week.

Best Place to Sing "America the Beautiful"

Pikes Peak

Maybe it was the cold. Maybe it was the lack of oxygen at 14,110 feet. Maybe it was the stunning view from the top of Colorado's most famous mountain. Whatever it was, something clicked in Katharine Lee Bates's brain on July 22, 1893. As she stood at the summit of Pikes Peak, and as a carriage carried her back to the bottom, she scribbled down the first lines of what would eventually become "America the Beautiful." Although not as well known as the national anthem, of course, the rousing song has made a major comeback since September 11; it's been sung since then at nearly every professional sporting event (in addition to the "Star-Spangled Banner") and other events of all kinds. But the best place to belt out the lyrics -- "O beautiful for spacious skies/For amber waves of grain/For purple mountain majesties/Above the fruited plain!/America! America!/God shed his grace on thee/And crown thy good with brotherhood/From sea to shining sea!" -- is amid the majesty of Pikes Peak itself, on the very spot that inspired those words.

Best Osama bin Laden Game and Puzzle Book

Where's Osama?

In an attempt to bring some humor to the topic of capturing the mother of all terrorists, Colorado entrepreneurs Mark Simmons and Dan Frazier have created Where's Osama?, a game in which players look for Osama bin Laden by traveling through the caves of Afghanistan as U.S or Afghani military personnel or as a "Geraldo-like" reporter. Available on the Internet, the game also features picture spreads in which you can try to find Osama in a crowd, and outfits -- a tutu, cowboy costume or burka -- that you can dress him in. Play, and make Osama pay.

Best Osama bin Laden Game and Puzzle Book

Where's Osama?

In an attempt to bring some humor to the topic of capturing the mother of all terrorists, Colorado entrepreneurs Mark Simmons and Dan Frazier have created Where's Osama?, a game in which players look for Osama bin Laden by traveling through the caves of Afghanistan as U.S or Afghani military personnel or as a "Geraldo-like" reporter. Available on the Internet, the game also features picture spreads in which you can try to find Osama in a crowd, and outfits -- a tutu, cowboy costume or burka -- that you can dress him in. Play, and make Osama pay.

Best Place to Buy a Flag

Flagworld

Big flags, small flags, car flags, tall flags. If you still need a flag -- and by now, you may have already picked up a couple -- Flagworld is the place to pledge your allegiance. "We have flags of all sizes, and everything related to flags, jackets, T-shirts, clocks, stickers, key chains," says Imad Ardah, who has been part owner of the store -- which also sells sports memorabilia and is located on the third level of the Tabor Center -- for nine years. There are even different kinds of fabrics for the finicky flag owner to choose from: Cotton gives an old-fashioned look, nylon is the cheapest, polyester is strong, and "super-poly" is the most durable. The biggest United States flag they have is twelve feet by eighteen feet, large enough for even the bulkiest blowhards in the state legislature to wrap themselves in.

Best Place to Buy a Flag

Flagworld

Big flags, small flags, car flags, tall flags. If you still need a flag -- and by now, you may have already picked up a couple -- Flagworld is the place to pledge your allegiance. "We have flags of all sizes, and everything related to flags, jackets, T-shirts, clocks, stickers, key chains," says Imad Ardah, who has been part owner of the store -- which also sells sports memorabilia and is located on the third level of the Tabor Center -- for nine years. There are even different kinds of fabrics for the finicky flag owner to choose from: Cotton gives an old-fashioned look, nylon is the cheapest, polyester is strong, and "super-poly" is the most durable. The biggest United States flag they have is twelve feet by eighteen feet, large enough for even the bulkiest blowhards in the state legislature to wrap themselves in.

Best Place to Have Your Flag Cleaned

Carousel Cleaners

It feels great to put on a fresh, clean pair of pants and a shirt, and according to Mike Miller, it feels even better to hang a fresh, clean United States flag from your home or car. That's the way Miller has felt ever since he bought Carousel Cleaners 32 years ago and began offering flag cleaning for free. "We've always done it, but not too many people took us up on it until September 11," says Miller, who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. "But after September 11, we've cleaned hundreds. I don't think we did it with the idea of profit. We did it with the idea that America is America. I'm a patriot and I love my country. After September 11, everybody wanted to do something, but what can you do? You can't bring those people back, but if you can bring nationalism back, then why not?" Miller says his employees will even press, hang or fold your star-spangled banner if you want them to. Old Glory may be old, but at least it will be clean.

Best Place to Have Your Flag Cleaned

Carousel Cleaners

It feels great to put on a fresh, clean pair of pants and a shirt, and according to Mike Miller, it feels even better to hang a fresh, clean United States flag from your home or car. That's the way Miller has felt ever since he bought Carousel Cleaners 32 years ago and began offering flag cleaning for free. "We've always done it, but not too many people took us up on it until September 11," says Miller, who served in the Air Force during the Vietnam War. "But after September 11, we've cleaned hundreds. I don't think we did it with the idea of profit. We did it with the idea that America is America. I'm a patriot and I love my country. After September 11, everybody wanted to do something, but what can you do? You can't bring those people back, but if you can bring nationalism back, then why not?" Miller says his employees will even press, hang or fold your star-spangled banner if you want them to. Old Glory may be old, but at least it will be clean.

Best Parade

Martin Luther King Jr. "Marade"

This past January, 30,000 people marched from City Park to Civic Center Park in Denver's Martin Luther King Jr. "Marade" (a word that combines the civil-rights leader's name with 'parade') to remember one of the greatest men in American history. The annual event -- one of the biggest MLK celebrations in the country -- is also just plain fun. For one day, differences between people seem to melt away, as black grandfathers march with Hispanic teenagers and white mothers pushing strollers, politicians rub shoulders with labor leaders and teachers march with students. The whole thing makes Colfax Avenue seem like the friendliest place on earth.

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