Roadside Attractions: Little Man and Big Dog in Denver

Denver's Highlands was one of those Edward Hopper neighborhoods until not so long ago, a place defined by corner stores, brick bungalows and the sleeping hulks of old warehouses. One of those places where it stayed 1940 for half a century, valued mostly for its old Italian restaurants and cheap rents for starving artists.  In recent years it's become hip, but stayed eccentric.  Little Man Ice Cream, around the corner from a restaurant called Linger which occupies the old Olinger Mortuary building (they saved on signage by turning off one neon letter…but that's a story we'll save for later), is a pilgrimage site for sweet tooths in the Highlands.  Actually, it's in Lower Highlands, otherwise known as LoHi.  Confused?  Perhaps a chocolatey, frosty dose of butterfat will help…

The shop opened in 2008 and specializes in small-batch blends with local ingredients (we mentioned butterfat, right?) and a changing menu of flavors.  Sorbet, malts and shakes as well as vegan ice cream are available, but I chose to sample the ice cream, which is dense and smooth… Little Man claims their process results in trapping less air in the mix.  Their ice cream may be on the dense side, but their building, a 28 foot tall metal cream can, is a lightweight at only 14,000 pounds.  Buckminster Fuller would be proud.  He, too, would likely have chosen the butterfat option over vegan.  Little Man is at 2620 Sixteenth Street, Denver, CO 80211 and is open year-round except for Christmas Day.

Fortified with artisan ice cream, you may decide it's time to adopt a dog.  A visit to Denver Animal Shelter at 1241 West Bayaud Avenue is in order; traveling south from the Highlands on I-25, you may glimpse a glittering sequinned pooch in the distance.    

As you get closer your sense of scale kicks in, and you realize that this dog is about 20 feet tall...

…and that those sequins are really dog tags, over 90,000 of them.  The big pup named Sun Spot was designed by artists Laura Haddad and Tom Drugan, and fabricated by Demiurge Design.  In the lobby of the shelter, a huge dog collar sized for Sun Spot hangs from the ceiling, with a growing collection of dog tags commemorating adopted pets new and old.  If you do happen to adopt a dog and decide to return to Little Man to celebrate, you'll want to stick to vanilla or butter pecan, as chocolate is bad for dogs.

Photo credits:

Little Man Ice Cream:  the author

Sun Spot:  Ben Lochridge