Mini Road Trip #2 - Day 2 - Donkey Days - Cripple Creek

June 25, 2011
Colorado, USA

Day 2 of 3 - Saturday - Donkey Days!

Cripple Creek, CO -- After a restful night in our cozy room (The Womack Room) at this wonderful B&B, we were ready to enjoy a day on foot in Cripple Creek, CO. I know, we do not usually stay off The Ride that long during a road trip... but, Donkey Days sounded like fun and there was a whole day of festivities of which to partake. We moseyed down the stairs shortly after 8 am, helped ourselves to a cup of rich, dark coffee and found a comfy seat in the front parlor, admiring the stained glass windows and Victorian era furnishings. Our host had mentioned breakfast would be served at 8:30 am. We would be dining with four other guests including the director of the musical, Calamity Jane we enjoyed last night, a young Denver couple, and a woman from Oklahoma engaged in setting up a new casino. Before long, we engaged in easy conversation among ourselves while we lingered over breakfast and coffee. Oh my goodness! The breakfast was outstanding! A generous helping of a wonderful quiche (Kathy calls it an egg bake), strawberries and cream cheese waffle and a fresh fruit cup. Absolutely scrumptious! I did not take a pic - what was I thinking? Ha! I believe the thought in my head was dig in! YUM! Needless to say, we started our stroll through the streets of Cripple Creek with a pleasantly plump smile on our faces.

The Last Dollar Inn B&B (26 photos):

Here are a few details about Cripple Creek and the Last Dollar Inn B&B:
On October 20, 1890, Robert Miller "Bob" Womack discovered gold in a creek bed near his family's ranch in what came to be known as Poverty Gulch. If you stop at the overlook before entering town, this is the area just below it. He called his find the El Paso Lode. It is alleged he sold his claim for $500 and a bottle of booze. About five million dollars worth of gold was extracted from the vein he discovered. Sadly, Womack died penniless in 1909. With that find, Cripple Creek became home to the last Colorado gold rush.

In 1896 several fires destroyed the business district and a few homes. The city rebuilt in brick and today most of the structures along the main streets are remnants of that post fire reconstruction. The Last Dollar Inn is a brownstone constructed in 1898 by a New Yorker who modeled it after the brownstones of his hometown. The house has a colorful history. It was home and office to the bookkeeper of the Rittenhouse Mine for a while. It became a Parlour House for Sporting Women at one point in time. Later it was owned by Leland Feitz, local historian and museum curator for several years. Feitz sold the home (I believe in the 70s) to Linda Goodman (famous astrologer, mystic and poet). Our host Kathy, seemed surprised when I said I knew about Linda Goodman. A couple of Linda Goodman's books still have a place in my library today. Actually, I have a book on Myers Ave (Cripple Creek's red light district) written by Leland Feitz in my library as well. The front upstairs bedroom of the house is allegedly the same as when Goodman lived there until the early 1990s. Goodman is responsible for the gorgeous Saint Francis of Assisi window in the front parlor, the image of Alice (of Wonderland fame) in the front door and many of the crystals embedded in windows and doors throughout the rest of the house. The house was renovated and converted to a B&B in 1996 shortly after Goodman's death in 1995. Goodman was not living in the house on Carr Street at that time, but rather in another home on the edge of town. The current owners (Chip and Kathy Gregg) purchased the B&B in 2007. They are the best!

Linda Goodman's bedroom at the Last Dollar Inn B&B.

Donkey Derby Days (now in its 80th or so year) dates back to the 1930s when a group of local business men decided a festival in Cripple Creek would help attract summer visitors. They built a race track and arranged for the first Donkey Derby Days festival. Today's celebration (and Donkey Race right down Main Street) is inspired by the town’s resident donkey herd, distant relatives of the original donkeys from the town’s Gold Rush days. The donkeys freely roam the area.

[An amusing excerpt from Roadside America, One more thing Cripple Creek has that is a bit unique -- a wandering herd of donkeys. These animals are purported to be the descendants of the donkeys that worked in the gold mines (500 mines) before electricity got here. The donkey herd wanders where they want and eat what they want, whether its your lawn, your flowers or your trash. Tourists often make the mistake of rolling down car windows and offering some sort of "goodie" to the donkeys. The next thing the poor tourists know, there are 6 donkey heads inside the car waiting for the food. Up here (9,494 feet) we call this the Cripple Creek tourist trap. (Have you ever tried to get a donkey's head out of your car after you've just fed it?) While distressing for the tourists, it's extremely entertaining for the locals. By: Steph Hilliard, 11/20/1999]

Anyway... we strolled down into town after breakfast, under warm, blue skies, shopping the street vendors, wandering in and out of little "gotcha" stores, people watching, petted donkeys and peered at wolves, goats and other critters in the petting zoos. Soon, we were lined up on the street awaiting the parade. We chatted with a man who seemed strangely familiar to me. After a few minutes conversing it dawned on me this was Bob, a man we met in Gunnison, CO two years ago on our first 4th of July ride. He was surprised I remembered him. Small world, said he. Agreed. We enjoyed the parade with the usual lineup of classic cars carrying assorted dignitaries and vehicles advertising businesses in or near the town, children and their pets, a large contingent of Shriners and horse back riders. Also, the colorful heritage groups put in an impressive appearance including people dressed in gold rush era and Victorian clothing, a couple of Indians, mountain men and a few gunfighters, saloon girls, sporting women and their escorts, even a man on stilts.

We would see Mountain Man periodically throughout the day, from the first thing in the morning, to the parade, to the street dance where he wore out a few young girls, trying to keep up with him... ha!

After the parade, we people watched some more, sitting at a little table outside a cafe where we found ice cream. We took in the donkey call contest which was hilarious. The donkey race was fun. They line the contestants at the west end of Main Street/Bennett Ave. The object is to race to the east end of the street. The donkeys are not ridden, rather they are led, complete with packs through a series of obstacles. It's very entertaining, considering as soon as the shot rang out to start the race, the donkeys went in every direction except the one they were intended and some were not happy with being led at all. Crowds were cautioned, runaway donkeys were likely - and sure nuff, one of them slipped his tether right in front of us. Ha!

As the afternoon progressed, we sought respite from the heat (don't laugh Texas) in a nice little bar and grill called The Creek where we sat at the 100 year old bar and sipped a couple of cold brews while admiring a juke box signed by Rod Stewart, not to mention the food that went by. We will visit The Creek again when we are hungry.

Scenes from our Donkey Days adventure (116 photos):

Before long, we were back to the B&B to freshen up before heading over to the far end of town for a steak dinner at the Wildwood Casino. I purchased the tickets in advance thinking the size of the crowds competing for restaurant seating would be larger than it was. Hmmmm...

First of all, when we arrived at the tent set up in the parking lot, shortly before 4 pm no one was there to take our tickets, and no one was cooking. So we picked a spot at a table like several other people and sat down to enjoy the music offered by a band out of Colorado Springs called 6035. Great classic rock cover group! Second, we watched as several casino employees desperately tried to get a beer without six inches of foam out of the keg that apparently had been rolled none-too-gently across the parking lot. Duh! Then, we decided to purchase a couple of Bloody Mary's which liked a bit being cold enough. I managed to get them down. Tim wrinkled his nose at them. Finally, someone arrived with bottle beer that liked a whole lot being cold enough. Good grief! You'd think this was the casino's first prom. Third, the steaks finally got to the grill - first time I've ever seen 50 or 100 or so steaks grilled in a single double-sided rack and flipped all at one time. The other food finally arrived. When the first batch of steaks were ready, there was confusion about the line. People who had just arrived, beat the early arrivals to the line. Part of the line wound through the tent and blocked seating. Someone who thought they were in charge addressed the line under the tent saying they needed to move outside the tent (meaning get in line behind the johnny-come-lately-group). Nobody budged. Ha! Fourth and finally, maybe it was the double whammy of lukewarm Bloody Mary but, by the time we got within sniffing distance of a steak, the whole thing just seemed ridiculously funny. I heard the people in front of me say things like I'll take mine WELL. I'll take mine RARE. I'll take mine this or that. I'm looking at those steaks thinking you'll take MEDIUM WELL aka MOSTLY RARE and call it whatever you like. Donkey snort! Worse! The cutlery was so thin, it wouldn't cut the steaks so men (including Tim) were popping out pocket knives just to carve them into bite size pieces. The prongs of the forks would barely pierce the meat. Some people just resorted to eating their steak cave-man style. The steaks passed muster as edible. The sides (beans, potato salad, water melon) were nothing special. Let's call it HO-HUM. Don't get me wrong, the group (Lions Club or Elks or something like that) cooking the steaks worked hard and did the best they could and we do not regret donating whatever portion of our tab went to them. On the other hand, we didn't see much evidence of support or concern from the casino. Hence, we won't bother to patronize the Wildwood in the future. The best thing about the steak dinner was the music of 6035!

After enjoying a couple more luke warm beers and a few more songs by 6035, we found ourselves taking a stroll back to downtown Cripple Creek. As we rounded the corner onto Bennett Avenue we heard the band performing at the Street Dance fire up. Arch Hooks (a good ol' geographically-challenged Texas boy, now from Colorado Springs) rocked the streets of Cripple Creek for the rest of the evening. It took a few songs, but yeah pretty soon people were dancing in the streets. During a break, we wandered back up to The Creek for a couple more beers. After the street dance, we strolled slowly up the street, reluctant to call it a day but not really all that interested in the casinos. We quietly let ourselves into the B&B... tomorrow, we ride.

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Sources:
The City of Cripple Creek, Colorado
About: Robert Bob Womack of Colorado
6035 Rocks!
Arch Hooks - Wow!