Our friends Susan and David from Florida are spending the summer just south of Denver, and they met us yesterday for some exploring, which we decided was best done at indoor attractions. But we stopped first at the nearby Red Rock Amphitheater and Park, a performing arts center carved out of the red rock formations, which was amazing. We were disappointed that only hard rock bands.......not our cup of tea........are performing here right now, or we would have attended a show. The visitor center showed an amazing array of performers dating back to 1901, the names of whom are legendary. The area also serves as a great spot for locals to get fit, running up and down the stairs, doing pushups on the flat areas, and sit ups in the seats, and there were tons of folks doing just that! Definitely worth a visit just to see this venue, even if you don't attend a concert.
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| Amelia Earhart's car |
Our next stop was Denver, and the Forney Transportation Museum, which turned out to be even better than we had hoped. A big draw for Clem was a gigantic train, the largest ever in fact, called the Big Boy, and it was amazing. David was amazed at the size of the wheels.....Clem explained to us that it is in fact the number of wheels that makes it so incredible. Far more than your average gigantic steam engine! Cars from Model T's era, Amelia Earhart's car, a really long old car with double rear axle that I can only describe as a stretch limo but from the 20's, an amphibian, cars from the 60's with the fins......all too cool! Plus bicycles and motorcycles, including something like 50 Indian Motorcycles. We all had fun viewing, as well as getting into the ones where we were encouraged to do so. The train dining car was especially neat, and we all decided we would splurge and have the expensive steak dinner complete with all the trimmings and dessert for $3.50!
After the museum we went to the 16th Street Mall to experience that area, and have a bite before heading to the Capital Building. Made of native Gunnison granite and sporting a beautiful 24 K gold leaf dome, it dominates the skyline. The inside was stunning, with wainscoting made of Rose Onyx found nearby, whose coloration has never been found anyplace else in the world. Marble floors came from Marble, CO, even though shipping it from Italy would have been less expensive. There was gleaming brass, bronze and stained glass everywhere. You can see the houses, and visit all the floors and marvel at the workmanship in every detail, but of special interest was the attic, where you could see into the dome, and learn of the process of applying the gold leaf which is burnished on with cotton balls! I cannot imagine! Especially if they have to work in this heat, which many are doing right now, as the building is under a two year renovation! Gorgeous building , very interesting, and well worth the visit.
this is so fun ~ clearly i pushed too many buttons because some of that looks giberish, however, that could just be the way I talk :) so glad you got to see red rocks ~ very neat place ~ never know who will be playing however, attended a concert there in the late 70's ~ pretty sure I had a good time ~ but you know what they say about the 70's. Aunt Carol ~ I sure hope you don't regret blogging me because this is pretty fun ~ I am my Mothers daughter after all :) Love you so much !! Praying for rain because, yes it has been unbearably hot and the fires in my beloved mountains could sure use a little help from mother nature !! Safe Travels !
ReplyDeleteSo glad you are enjoying the blog! If you have not yet figured it out, you can go to bottom and click on older posts to go back. Not sure why the gibberish shows, but it does for everyone now and then.
ReplyDeleteIt is so much fun having you on here and commenting! I love it!
Hope the cooler air this morning brought you some much needed rain and they get the fires under control.