Sunday, July 5. The county made it through its fireworks-free Fourth: the parade rolled in Highlands Ranch, the F-16s buzzed the Rock at 10:40, Sophia Scott closed Lone Tree, and the sky stayed dark and unburned, which was the whole point (what happened, if you missed it). That leaves Sunday, and Sunday is the best-kept part of this weekend. Sunny again, upper 80s. Three moves.
1. This morning: the farmers market, then the canyon
The Festival Park Farmers Market runs from 9 a.m. in downtown Castle Rock, about 40 vendors deep, and pairs correctly with a slow morning and a cortado. If you want to move first, Castlewood Canyon before 9:30 a.m. is the only correct hiking window in this heat; the canyon floor runs 10 degrees cooler than everything else in the county. Stage 2 note still applies: no fires anywhere, developed campgrounds included. Gas stoves are fine.
2. Today is the Renaissance Festival day we promised you
All weekend we said skip Saturday, go Sunday, and here we are. It is Military Appreciation and Children's Weekend in Larkspur: kids 12 and under free with a paying adult, buy-one-get-one for active military and veterans at the box office. Gates at 10 a.m., and the holiday crowd is home nursing its sunburn, so you get the jousting and the shaded artisan lanes at half the density. King Soopers tickets still save you $3 over the gate.
3. The quiet-Sunday backup: air conditioning as a destination
If the heat wins by early afternoon, Sandbox VR and The Escape Game in Lone Tree remain the best three indoor hours in the county; Sandbox books out on weekend evenings, so reserve before you commit. Or do nothing at all. It was a big week. The county will still be here Monday, and so will we, with the first edition of our new openings-and-closings tracker.
And one we still wouldn't do
Leftover fireworks. The ban did not expire with the holiday: Stage 2 restrictions run until further notice, every consumer firework remains illegal countywide, and the Sheriff's hotline (303-814-7118) is staffed through tonight. The drought does not know what day it is.
We'll see you out there. If we missed something that belongs in next week's drop, the address is on the About page.