Book Store Travels

On a recent visit to Denver, I was lucky enough to be staying in the hip area called LODO (Lower Downtown). On a tip from BGB I decided to make a trip to the Tattered Cover Book Store with my daughter and her friend.

When I asked various Denverites about this store, everyone knew all about it and said it was their bookstore “du choix”. Tattered Cover has three locations: the historical LODO neighborhood, Highlands Ranch and Colfax Avenue in the historic Lowenstein Theater.

Upon entering, my daughter said “it smells.” I had to explain that yes, it ‘smells’ – like an old building with creaky wooden floors and lots and lots of books. I told her to inhale deeply since she doesn’t get a lot of opportunities to experience this great “book” scent. I didn’t have much time to linger through the store but I could have spent hours there. My two six year old girls and I spent all of our time in the Children’s Section. Thank goodness these girls are starting to read chapter books because we never could have chosen a single book from the fabulous selection of children’s books. I could have even sat down in the comfortable chairs of this section for hours reading the picture books.

The beginning chapter books consisted of “only” four shelves but still took quite a bit of time. I can only imagine that the Young Adult Section would have been impossible for these girls.

Since I can never leave a bookstore without a bag in my hand – each girl chose a book and we even bought some for a couple of friends. After our purchase, we visited the coffee shop, grabbed some water and cookies and strolled back to our homebase (a truly fantastic 4,000 square foot remodeled warehouse/loft).

As we walked on this beautiful Fall day, we all remarked that this is a really ‘cool’ neighborhood. We smelled some delicious Thai food coming from one of the many restaurants along the way, sat on some very colorful benches and tested out the bikes they have for rent.

If you make it to Denver – the LODO is the place to go and don’t forget The Tattered Cover.