Josh Berendes’ Colorado Favorites: Two adventure-centered experience recommendations
Oct. 3, 2024
Note: Direct quotes were edited for typos, to observe AP style guidelines and to fit the listicle structure.
Since moving to Colorado, Josh Berendes, a documentary filmmaker and director of photography based in Denver, has taken a chance on the statewide activities that many Coloradans pass on.
Berendes suggested two of his favorite experiences that he said are often viewed with indifference yet well known throughout Colorado.
1. Two Bears Tap and Grill
Heading west of Denver and Golden via I-70 eventually leads to Idaho Springs, where travelers can find Two Bears Tap and Grill. Berendes said that people often recognize the restaurant in passing but never eat there, and he likes to take his friends there when they come to town and go on outdoor trips together in that area.
“There's, like, this little bar and grill that has really good food that everyone always drives by. Everyone's always like ‘I've never actually been here, like, I've driven past this for years.’ They've never actually stopped. Anytime I take friends there, they're always so stoked to be actually stopped there, and then they're always like, ‘I'm going to start bringing friends here too because I know everyone else knows about this stop, and no one stops.’”
2. Tube to Work Day
What started as a joke has become an annual event for Boulder commuters. Happening every July, Tube to Work Day encourages people to inner tube on Boulder Creek in costumes and business attire. Participants also get to enjoy breakfast, games, a parade, live music and an afterparty, according to the event’s website.
Berendes said he participated in this event for the first time this year and called it a “classic Colorado” activity everyone should experience.
“You go tubing down the river in Boulder, and a lot of people tube right into downtown Boulder and go to work from there. And there's a DJ, and there's a lot of different stuff going on. But I think it's one of those situations where you tell people about that and they're like, ‘that would only happen in Colorado,’ but only in Colorado would adults dressed up in silly costumes or business suits go tubing down the river and then go to work that day.”
