Livin' it Up in Denver

I have loved the Irish singing group, Celtic Woman, pretty much since the first time I saw them on a PBS Special. I love their clear voices, I'm a fan of the traditional music they sing, and any lady that can run around playing the violin in a corset and high heels has my instant respect. I bought their first CD shortly after that initial viewing. Since then, I've bought two more CD's and become quite a fan of their music. Our whole family has become fans in fact; Maisie and Dany both try hard to sing along with all the songs, even the Gaelic ones, singing what they think the words are. It's probably the most listened to group in our house.

So when I found out that Celtic Woman was coming to Salt Lake, and that it would be right near my birthday even, I was stoked. How fortuitous! Shortly after I found out, I hopped online to check out ticket prices. Imagine my shock when I discovered tickets were over $200 for seats that weren't even that great, and at the E-Center! Not exactly a stellar venue. But thanks to my ingenious husband, we found out that for some reason, tickets were much cheaper in Denver. And being that my husband is a pilot and has access to an airplane, it didn't take long to come up with a plan to go see my favorite group at the Red Rocks Amphitheater.

We flew out early on July 2nd, dodging a few thunderstorms as we soared over the Rockies. As such, we found ourselves with several hours to fill before the concert and thought we'd check out what Denver had to offer.

Not much apparently. The rental car guy, and the hotel concierge both recommended we check out the 16th Street Mall. By then it was lunch time, so we decided to check out the Rio Grande restaurant, to see if it was as good as it's counterpart in Salt Lake. This is Teag, being not impressed with the food:
After that, we walked up and down the streets of the outdoor mall, waiting to be wowed by this highly recommended tourist spot. The entire thing seemed to be filled with restaurants and chain stores, stores we have plenty of in Salt Lake. I don't need to go to Denver to visit an Office Depot, or Famous Footwear, thank you. So anyway, after walking forever in shoes that were starting to give me blisters, we decided to bag the mall, and navigate our way to the Buffalo Bill Cody Museum.

Can't really say that either of us had a burning desire to know more about Buffalo Bill Cody, but we figured we'd soak up what culture we could while we were there. After winding around the never-ending road to Lookout Mountain (signs people, put up some freaking signs!), we finally made it to the top. The museum was only open for about 45 more minutes, so we quickly made our way to the video room, and watched a short presentation, and then spent the rest of the time checking out paraphernalia from his life, as well as some other cool period stuff. I think Teag made a new friend.
I'm pretty sure these are actually for the kids benefit, but we had to take advantage of the photo op:

After that, we walked up the short trail to see Buffalo Bill and his wife's graves. Apparently there was quite the controversy as to where he should be buried, but Lookout Mountain was his requested place of final rest.
By that time, we needed to head back to Denver to get changed for the concert. Unfortunately, due to our unfamiliarity with the locale and with local traffic, we realized that we were very close to the amphitheater already, but we still had to fight our way through Denver's rush hour traffic back into the city, so we could change and get our jackets. Poor planning on our part. It took us three times as long to get back, and it made it so we had no time to get dinner. After hurrying to get to the amphitheater on time, we had to settle for Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches from the concessions booth. Rain was also forecast that evening, and we were a bit worried that we might get dumped on during the concert. We'd been rained on at least twice during the day, and there were some pretty dark clouds on the horizon.

Precisely at eight the show began, and Teag and I were wowed throughout the entire thing. It was ABSOLUTELY AMAZING. Red Rocks itself is spectacular with these huge, monolithic rocks framing the stage on either side, and another one creating a beautiful backdrop behind the set. The girls voices were clear and powerful, the lighting, sound, and backup singers fabulous, and the orchestra was fantastic. The two hours passed amazingly fast, and I found myself wishing they'd keep singing; I could have listened to them for at least another hour. Unfortunately, they didn't allow any cameras in the amphitheater, so we couldn't get any pictures.
Both Teag and I left that concert feeling like we'd just seen one seriously amazing show, both vowing we'd like to see them again, and bring our girls :) Literally right as the house lights came on, we felt the first drops of rain start to fall. It was as if heaven decided to smile down on us for the length of the concert, and then opened up as soon as it was over. After the days early, somewhat comical mishaps, the concert made the whole adventure absolutely worth it. Thank you Celtic Woman, for such a fabulous evening!