Tea Time at the Brown Palace Hotel

I did not see the National Western Stock Show this year. Usually, it is my chance to go totally Western and get in touch with my inner cowgirl. When things go right, I catch the mule and draft horse classes. Last year, I got up close and personal with yaks. However, I had some stock show fun right smack in the middle of Denver’s most beautiful historic hotel lobby, at the Brown Palace. We were in the vicinity while the Grand Champion Steer was on display in the lobby tea room. This tradition has taken place each year at stock show time since 1945. The steer, a black angus named Chavez, was paired up with a partner named Rolex to keep him calm in his pen. A crowd of folks took advantage of a chance to get up close and personal and for a photo with the champ and his buddy, both splendidly groomed, their coats fluffy and gleaming for the occasion.You’ve got to love the West, where folks don’t take themselves too seriously. Rather than deny Cow Town roots, Denver flaunts them. Where else can you have high tea in a historic hotel while gazing across the room at a Black Angus steer.