Mini Road Trip #2 - Day 1 - The Ride to Cripple Creek

June 24, 2011
Colorado, USA

Mini Road Trip #2 - The Ride to Cripple Creek

Day 1 of 3. Friday. Donkey Days here we come! Ha!

Yeah we rolled out of our drive this morning just before 8 am, Tim without sleeves, me in a denim jacket. The sky was blue, the winds were light and the day was warming fast. Cripple Creek is a favorite spot for us in Colorado. It's a leisurely day trip. We have been visiting the historic little town since the 1980s. So, when something came through my email about a festival called Donkey Days, we decided to ride on up and check it out over a long weekend.

First stop was at Fatso's Diner a few miles and one town south of here where we had our usual $2.99 biscuits and gravy and coffee on the front patio. We like the B&G plus it is inexpensive and quickly served. A great way to start a day of riding.

We had all day to get to Cripple Creek. I had a little luck finding a nice B&B for the two nights we planned to stay. More on that later... I'll post a brief description now of the day's activities and fill in the details later...

Our ride took us the lazy way (off the interstates) to the northwest side of Denver. We traveled through Boulder to Golden on Hwy 93 and around C470 to Morrison, riding on through this time in Bear Creek Canyon to Evergreen and out Hwy 285 to Pine Junction where we swung south on the road to Deckers, eventually rolling into Woodland Park. We made our usual stop at the Long Scraggy Peak overlook before riding on to Deckers Corner where we stopped for Ice Cream. We did not stop in Woodland Park, but turned west for the short trip toward Divide Colorado where we finally began the last leg of our riding journey - the 18 mile scenic ride to Cripple Creek.

We stopped briefly at the Cripple Creek overlook (it is worth the stop) before riding on down into town. We arrived a bit earlier than check in for our B&B so we did a ride-by, then meandered our way up and down the streets (all the streets in Cripple Creek are either uphill or downhill), looking at 1800s architecture, refreshing our memory about the layout of the town and finally wound our way up to Mount Pisgah Cemetery and the Veterans War Memorial which includes a static display of a Huey helicopter (Bell UH-1C-BF Iroquois #9541 circa 1965 (c/n 1441) and a howitzer. The cemetery was established in the 1890s and it is full of interesting historical characters. We plan to return in September for the Cemetery tour.

Last Dollar Inn B&B - Cripple Creek, CO

When we arrived about an hour early at the Last Dollar Inn B&B on Carr Street we were greeted by Kathy, one of our hosts who was out watering the lawn and fussing over the flowers. She invited us in for an afternoon cup of coffee, complete with home-baked cookies and a short chat before showing us to our room. Our host Kathy is warm and friendly. The Last Dollar Inn is a lovely Victorian Brownstone with quite a history (details later). We are staying in the Womack room, cozy and bright, with a full bed, and private bath with shower. We are delighted!

As soon as we tucked our belongings away, freshened up and secured The Ride, we were off on foot to walk the streets of town. Many vendors were already set up on the streets for the festival tomorrow. As we strolled, we checked out the menus posted on the doors and windows outside the casinos which had restaurants.

We settled on supper at Dynamite Dicks Dining Emporium located on the second level of the Midnight Rose Casino. It was a good choice. We ordered a couple of beers, an order of beer-battered onion rings and a couple of Guacamole Bacon burgers. YUM!

We finished supper in time to walk back up to the B&B (I did mention all the streets in Cripple creek are up or down) before walking down to the Butte Opera House where we had tickets to see the opening night performance of the musical, Calamity Jane. What a great place to see a wonderful musical! The Thin Air Theater Company offered a great cast with beautiful voices. We loved it. We met the director of the play earlier this afternoon as she is staying in the same B&B.

Rebecca Myers aka Katie Brown in Calamity Jane

Alan Wales aka Wild Bill and Hannah Duncan aka Calamity Jane

The Butte Theater is an 1890's theater refurbished for modern use. Owned by the City of Cripple Creek, the Butte decor includes Victorian-era wallpaper, and period chandeliers. A 1,350-square foot stage spans the main room, with seating for 199 guests including some tables. There's also a bar and a snack bar in the theater.

We should have been ready to call it a day after the theater but as we walked the almost deserted streets now we thought we might gamble a few of Tim's hard-earned dollars away at The Brass Ass Casino. The Brass Ass is the oldest casino in Cripple Creek. We picked the Brass Ass mostly out of nostalgia. We remember The Brass Ass as an awesome tourist attraction, long before Cripple Creek became a gambling town. I still have a shot glass, salt shaker and gold plated swizzle sticks from the Brass Ass (a gift from the Folks from the first time they visited Cripple Creek). We poked a few bills in the penny slots, won some, lost some, won a few more and since we equate most dollars spent with a tank of gas for The Ride, we agreed to call it a night and walked up the street (I did mention all streets are either up or down in Cripple Creek, didn't I?) again to the B&B.

We are in our cozy room, reading literature left on the bedside tables for our pleasure and enlightenment. We are looking forward to a day on foot tomorrow... stay tuned for details promised, reviews and tomorrow's activities.

This is a slide show of the day's ride, a few stops, Cripple Creek, the Veteran's Memorial, the B&B and other activities = 127 photos.