Brought your Lunch in LoDo?

You’re trying to save money by not eating out every day, so you brought left-overs to the office.  It’s a beautiful day and the idea of sitting at your desk surfing the web while you eat your left-overs isn’t appealing?  Big surprise.  Move your butt outside.

But, where do you go?  Denver is not Paris.  Unfortunately there are no public parks with tables and benches.  There are a few green areas, but sitting under a pine tree in your work clothes is not your idea of a nice lunch.  Mine either.

A:
Market Street Station:  If you don’t mind the friendly homeless guys starting up  random conversations with you and then going on ad-naseum, this is a nice place to eat lunch, read a book and people watch.  The benches are clean, there are trash cans and best of all, large shade trees.

B:
Writer’s Square on 16th Street:  There are several benches under shade trees.  Get here early as this is a popular lunch spot.  Tourists and office-workers abound so the people watching is interesting, especially in the summer.

C:
The Park:  There is a new kid’s park right across the street from the Pepsi Center on Speer. I love this park for a couple of reasons:  1.  There are never any kids playing here.  Don’t get me wrong, I love kids, but these days if you’re a man sitting alone at a kid’s park people look at you funny.  2.  It’s shaded.  3.  There is a lot to see.  If you face west you can watch the kids playing (when the nanny brings them by).  If you’re not creepy looking, the kids and the nanny will ignore you. It can be enlightening to watch kids just play.  It’s nice to see them using their imaginations, running around, climbing, exploring; being kids.  If you sit facing east you can watch the construction on yet another loft-style building going up in LoDo on Spear.  You can also watch people  jogging, skating, walking and riding along the Cherry Creek bike path.

D (Not on Map):
The hidden gem.  Elephant Coral:  This is in LoDo but I’m going to leave the location a secret.  This little oasis has two shaded picnic tables overlooking a large fountain.  The sound from the fountain drowns out traffic on the street.  If you try really hard you can imagine you’re in some international city eating your lunch, enjoying your book ignoring the work waiting for you back at the office.