The next day (12/13/20) of our 3-week Road Trip from West Virginia to Colorado and back, we went to the National Museum of WWII Aviation: https://www.worldwariiaviation.org/ in Colorado Springs, which I only learned about thanks to a hotel rack card, and took a tour of their aircraft restoration facility, as well, which included a demonstration of the Link Trainer, a variation of which (for helicopters) Dan had used in the Army! In addition to the extensive collection of artifacts documenting WWII Aviation, all 28 aircraft at the museum are privately owned and kept fully operational, flying at airshows when not on display! The museum also has operational vehicles, and, interestingly, several Vietnam-era aircraft on display that Dan had flown in and worked on, and I took photos of him with all of them! They had a Tiger as well, the WWII fighter trainer that Dan and I both piloted in Florida!
We then headed south to Cañon City, stopping for a wine tasting at the Winery at Holy Cross Abbey: https://abbeywinery.com/, which has a very touching Vietnam War Soldiers Memorial outside… The Winery was founded by two Benedictine monks who came to Colorado from Pennsylvania in 1886 and established the Order of St. Benedict Monastery, opening first a boarding school, and then a winery! After the school closed in 1985, the Abbey’s remaining 20 monks returned to the idea of establishing a vineyard, and in 2000, they entrusted the production to a professional viticulturist who began producing wine the following year, opening the winery to the public in 2002. The current owner, Larry Oddo, bought the winery in 2005, and with the help of winemaker Jeff Stultz and tasting room manager Sally Davidson, transformed the monks’ winery into the 10,000-case-a-year establishment it is today! The tasting was very good, and the gal who served us very knowledgeable and nice, and although we had to do the tasting outside on their patio, they did have heat, and it was a fun experience! We bought several bottles to take home, both for ourselves and our BFF Inn-Sitter, who we knew would appreciate such special wines!
We checked in for our two nights at the Cañon City Hampton Inn, again on our Hilton Honors Points, after a Beer Sampler and yummy dinner at World’s End Brewing Company: http://worldsendbrewingco.com/index.html, Cañon City’s craft brewery. Dan had a properly rare sirloin steak with poblano corn, and I had their Tequila-Jalapeno-Lime Sauced Chicken Wings that were Truly “finger lickin’ good”! 🙂
Monday morning (12/14), we drove to the Cañon City Railroad Depot, and, after being photographed like when boarding a cruise (and yes, we bought the photo…), boarded the Royal Gorge Route Railroad: https://royalgorgeroute.com/ for our glorious, two hour train trip through the amazingly beautiful Royal Gorge, Colorado’s grandest canyon,1000 feet deep! There are several classes of service and cars at different price points; we booked a booth in the Vista Dome Car, so we could see as much of the amazing scenery as possible over our lunch (an appetizer of taco chips, salsa, and guac, and an entrée of Colorado Bison Burgers on brioche buns, served with chips), and we treated ourselves to drinks (the train has a full bar, featuring microbrews and Colorado wines!), starting with a “Reindeer Games” (Spiced Rum, Eggnog, and Nutmeg) and a “Nutcracker” (Irish cream, hazelnut liqueur, and coffee, topped with whipped cream), as we enjoyed the spectacular views. This is truly one of the most beautiful train excursions we have ever taken, and an absolute “must do” when in Colorado, as there is honestly no other way to see the views of the Arkansas River, the Gorge, and the mountains that you see from this train! Vista Dome guests also have access to the open-air cars, but, cozy and comfy in our booth with our cocktails in hand, we didn’t avail ourselves of that! Our only regret is that it was too short and over way too soon- we would have happily enjoyed an excursion twice as long, or even all day! I booked the reservation over the phone with the same woman who I had spoken with back in September when I first started planning this trip- she remembered my nasal, Queens, NY “The Nanny” voice, and was very happy that we got one of the last seats available! 🙂 The Royal Gorge Railroad is currently offering a number of different excursions, including a Santa Express Train, but as they are currently operating at only 25% capacity due to COVID, if you want a seat, book as far in advance as you can! Colorado has about 12 different train excursions, all of which sound wonderful, including a cog railroad that is to reopen this coming spring after restoration, but this was the only excursion running at this time, besides the Santa Train, and we feel SO fortunate we got to experience it. HIGHLY recommended!
After the train excursion, we walked and drove around the area a bit to see the train from other angels, and check out some interesting, historic places…
The morning of 12/15 we left Cañon City, heading for infamous Dodge City, Kansas, but not before stopping to see the life-size statue of famed tightrope walker, Bird Millman O’Day, perched high up on a post on Royal Gorge Blvd., her skirt doing a “Marilyn Monroe”! This is one of the cool things I found perusing the “Roadside America” website: https://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/61856 Born to aerialist parents in 1895 in Cañon City, Ms. Millman made her professional debut at the NYC Hippodrome in 1909, appeared on the Keith and Orpheum circuits with the Millman Trio, which became Bird Millman and Her Company in 1915, performed in the Barnum and Bailey Circus,1913–20, and appeared on Broadway in 1915’s Ziegfeld Midnight Frolics, and the Greenwich Village Follies of 1921. She died in Cañon City in 1940, and in 1961, she was inducted, posthumously, into Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Hall of Fame. Bird was quite a gal!
We found a very cute place for lunch: Christine’s Fine Dining, in an historic church in Rocky Forde, Colorado: https://www.christinesfinediningco.com/
Took in sites along the way:
And we had to at least take a peek at one of Colorado’s most famous entertainment venues…
Next: Rootin’, Tootin’ Dodge City, Kansas!
