Today (12/11/20), on our wonderful 3-week long Road Trip from WV to Colorado and back, was Gold Mine Day, and we drove to the historic (since 1875!) and operational Phoenix Gold Mine: https://www.phoenixgoldmine.com/, where we got a tour of the mine from Dave, the mine’s owner and operator, and I learned enough about panning for gold to be really dangerous! LOL Dan had panned for gold before, which was obvious the second he picked up his pan full of silt and began to shake and sift it in and out of the water like a pro (check out the video below of Gold Panning Dan!), but I wasn’t bold enough with the shaking and the sifting, and had trouble getting the hang of it! We kept at it for quite a while, however, until Dan was finally able to pan me enough gold dust for Dave to pipette into a teeny-tiny bottle of water, a lovely souvenir of a unique, Colorado experience!
After panning for gold, we drove down the snow-covered mountain to the highway, driving thru Idaho Springs, were we stopped at the Heritage Museum, so we could learn a bit about the history of the area from the outdoor signage:
We were heading for Colorado Springs, so as to go to the Garden of the Gods the next day. Around lunch time I began calling wineries on our route that popped up in my GPS, and when the man at Blanchard Family Winery told me they were open, doing wine tastings, and serving lunch on their heated outdoor patio, which was in the middle of a cute market of shops, we headed straight for it- realizing only too late that it was in Denver. Uh, oh… We arrived at the winery in the snow, as icy sleet covered the outdoor tables. Walking inside, we were immediately told to have a seat outside- in the freezing sleet, at a snow-covered table- as if this were normal. I asked about the “heat” I had been told about on the phone, and he pointed up at the sky and said “that’s all we have”- as if that made some kind of sense. Obviously we were not going to eat in the sleet, and so we left, and tried, in vain, to find another place to eat in the little market, which was empty of all people, save 6 frozen masochists sitting at tables outside in the sleet. We sadly got back in our truck, turned on the heat, and headed for the highway, where we found a Wendy’s offering take-out we could eat in our car. Joy. Like I said in my post “Disappointment in Denver”: Don’t go to Denver unless you absolutely must.
The next day, 12/12, was “Garden of the Gods Day”, and after stopping at the Garden of the Gods Visitor Center https://www.gardenofgods.com/ to see their exhibits (including one on their newly discovered dinosaur, and a handy “Scat Chart”), and get a map (and buy some yummy chocolate-covered graham crackers for road trip munchies), we drove the 6 mile driving tour loop through the Park, stopping at many of the very beautiful places to see and photograph the incredible red rock formations, all of which have names, many of them fun, such as “Kissing Camels” and “Balanced Rock”! Had the weather been a tad warmer it would have been fun to hike some of the many trails… There were many people hiking, however, even in the snow, and we saw a wedding, as well! We also saw a group on horseback, something I would have LOVED to do, and had I known that Academy Riding Stables offered that, I would have booked it for us for sure!
I learned that the park was originally private land, and was only deeded to the City of Colorado Springs to be a park in 1909. As my grandfather probably painted there earlier than that, he may have viewed it from what is now known as “Old Town”- where we later went to have dinner.
We had a lunch of Buffalo Burgers and wine at the Balanced Rock Cafe in the Garden of the Gods’ historic (and humongous) Trading Post: http://www.gardenofthegodstradingpost.com/ which is technically in Manitou Springs, and dates from 1929: http://www.gardenofthegodstradingpost.com/history And although we had to eat our lunch in their enclosed, outdoor patio, at least it was enclosed, and at least it had heaters…
After leaving the park we drove by the “Ghost Town Museum”: https://www.ghosttownmuseum.com/, which I had seen a rack card for at the hotel, and we decided to stop- and it turned out to be a GREAT, interactive, “living” museum! The Ghost Town Museum was created in 1954 to preserve a piece of Colorado’s rapidly disappearing Wild West heritage; the “town” is an indoor collection of structures that were left to decay around the Pikes Peak region, all looking much as they would have 100 years ago: the general store, barber shop, saloon, a newspaper printer where you can have a poster printed, apothecary, etc. A truly fantastic collection of everyday artifacts is displayed in each building, as well as vehicles, which line the “street”. The museum is housed inside a historic, 1899 stone structure constructed by the Colorado Midland Railroad as a maintenance facility for the steam locomotives that hauled gold ore to the Golden Cycle Mill, once located across the street from the museum. The Ghost Town Museum and Roundhouse next door (now a brewery), are all that remain of Golden Cycle Company operations, which closed in 1949. In addition to seeing all the exhibits, we enjoyed a number of “hands on” activities, including shooting targets at a “shooting gallery”, listening to gossips on the phones, and operating coin-operated player pianos, antique photo flip movies, and arcade amusements! They have a neat gift shop, too, with a lot of good books on the Wild West. This is a real “hidden gem” and HIGHLY recommended if you get to Colorado Springs!
That evening we had drinks and a really good dinner at Thunder & Buttons https://thunderandbuttons.com/ in Colorado Springs’ Old Town: Stranahan’s Colorado Bourbon accompanying a dish of tortellini with lobster and shrimp in a citrus cream sauce for me, and elk chili with a G&T for Dan, served by genuinely NICE staff who truly made us welcome! The fun story behind Thunder & Buttons: In 1888 a rowdy, Colorado City resident named Prairie Dog O’Byrne (so named because of the prairie dog running in a wheel on the back of his wagon) purchased two bull elk and hitched them to his carriage. He named the elk Thunder and Buttons. O’Byrne and Laura Bell, another infamous West Side character from the red light district, would race the elk drawn carriage up and down Colorado Avenue and down into the heart of Colorado Springs- causing an upset to the gentry. O’Byrne spent most of his time carousing in the 21 saloons lining Colorado Avenue in what is now “Old Colorado City”. In 1978, a local historian told this story to a young entrepreneur who purchased one of the old saloons on Colorado Avenue. He decided to name his new “saloon and eatery” after the two elk- and thus, Thunder and Buttons was born! A fire closed the doors to the original restaurant and bar in 1989; Thunder and Buttons II was established in 2004. Again: HIGHLY recommended if you get to Colorado Springs!
Colorado Booze at Thunder & Buttons! 
Thunder & Buttons
We stayed for two nights at the Embassy Suites in Colorado Springs: https://www.hilton.com/en/hotels/coscces-embassy-suites-colorado-springs/ using our Hilton Honors Points, and fortunately they had an electric plug-in for our freezer, as well as the ability to order food from their kitchen, such as pizza, for dinner, and enjoy drinks from their bar until 10pm, as well as a scaled down version of the Embassy Suite’s famous “Happy Hours”- two free house drinks per person from 6 to 7:30pm- in their Atrium. Breakfast was also a dramatically scaled down version of the famed Embassy Suites full, hot breakfast with made-to-order omelets, and had to be eaten in the Atrium, as well, as their dining room was closed due to COVID; why the Dining Room is “dangerous” but the Atrium isn’t is a good question that I will leave for someone else to answer… Most amenities had been removed from our guest room, as well, as we found at every Hilton and IHG hotel we stayed at on this trip, as everyone knows *sarcasm* that you can die from a pen and a notepad or getting fresh towels every day, but not from miniature shampoo bottles or little soaps… LOL I am sure there are people who need to see their room has been sealed with a sticker to “prove” it’s been “sanitized”, but they are not us… But all things considered it was a nice stay, with pleasant and professional staff, and a lush and comfortable bed and cushy pillows that gave us two good nights of sleep, and as it was free, thanks to our HH points, it was truly a great deal, and I’d be an idiot to complain…
Next: Planes & Trains!
The National Museum of WWII Aviation, & the Royal Gorge Route Railroad Excursion!
