Live Like a Local TEN WAYS TO SUMMER LIKE A DENVER NATIVE. BY SKYLER MCKINLEY Whether you’ve lived here all your life or just moved to the metro area, there’s nothing people in Denver love more than claiming to be a bona fi de “local.” Here are a few summertime activities that’ll get you started. See the Silver Screen Under the Night Sky 88 Drive-In Theatre 8780 Rosemary Street, Commerce City 88drivein.net While pop-up drive-in theaters had a bit of a moment during the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, there’s nothing like the real thing — complete with a historic snack bar. With fi fty years in business and 46 seasons under the same family’s ownership, the 88 Drive-In is the real deal, and it’s the last drive-in theater serving the Denver area. Amid rising prices on just about everything right now, it’s still cheap to catch a fl ick at the 88 Drive-In — just ten bucks per person for two movies apiece (children under twelve get in free). Long- time locals know not to pack their own popcorn, though: Snack bar prices are reasonable, especially given what you saved on tickets, so make sure to grab a churro, pizza, popcorn or cotton candy — since those sales are what keep the theater in business. Cool Off in a Public Pool Denver Parks and Recreation denvergov.org Now that every hulking, gleaming, generic new apartment building in Denver comes standard with a luxury rooftop pool, is it any wonder that rents are on the rise? But aquatic fun isn’t just for the moneyed few, because Denver Parks and Recreation boasts sixteen outdoor swimming pools across the city, each offering admission for adults for $3.50, $2 pricing for seniors, and a buck for kids. Swim lessons are available for folks of all ages at $26 a pop. While the La Alma pool will be closed for mainte- You can pedal or paddle out on Ferril Lake at City Park. nance this year, the newly renovated pool at Congress Park is coming back to life — giving Denverites fi fteen facilities where they can connect with neighbors they might never run into otherwise. Forget your cloistered condo pool; community is what being a local is all about. Live Out Third-Date Clichés Ferril Lake City Park wheelfunrentals.com/co/denver/ city-park-colorado History-minded locals will tell you that the lake at City Park has a proper name: Ferril Lake. It’s named after Colorado Poet Laureate Thomas Hornsby Ferril, whose verses ring the rotunda murals at the Colorado Capitol. Ferril wasn’t much for love poems, but his 57-year marriage to Helen might serve as an inspiration as you and date pedal a swan boat around the lake on a sunny summer afternoon. If you’re feeling especially romantic, con- sider taking out a light-up one at nightfall: Through July 31, you can rent one as late as 9 p.m. Just friends? Rent everything from paddleboards to kayaks to tented surrey bikes. Going stag? Write some lines on a solo stroll, as Ferril often did around the lake that would come to bear his name. 8 WESTWORD Summer Guide 2022 westword.com Make a Splash Water World 8801 Pecos Street, Federal Heights waterworldcolorado.com If you grew up anywhere in Colorado in the past 43 years, Adams County’s Water World probably possessed some sort of mythic status in your head. There’s a good reason for that: The water park has been repeatedly named one of the best in the country, and it calls itself America’s largest (as do some of its competitors, frankly). But you won’t be quibbling about square feet as you’re plummeting down water slides named for Colorado’s Longs, Blanca and Pikes peaks, or dodging dinosaurs on a Voyage to the Center of the Earth. And if all that sounds like a bit much, there’s always the Lazy River. Go Totally Tubular Clear Creek White Water Park cityofgolden.net One reason that tubing Clear Creek has been a rite of passage for high-schoolers from Idaho Springs to Arapahoe County is the price: It’s free, as long as you’ve got your own tube. Still, you’ll want to invest in a durable one: This is whitewater tubing, not lazy river drifting, so odds are decent that you’ll continued on page 12 SKYLER MCKINLEY
