Historic Manitou Springs

On August 23, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado7 Comments

As you head west out of Colorado Springs towards Pike’s Peak, you pass the popular tourist town of Manitou Springs. Despite the fact that it is where the cog railway is located and one of our favorite trails, Barr trail, that takes you to the top of Pike’s Peak, we haven’t given the quaint town a lot of thought until now. Perhaps the thought of leaving for several months has opened our eyes to more of what is around is us every day. This weekend we decided to head to Manitou Springs, wonder the streets, and window shop at some of the shops selling various collectables for the tourists.

The Pike’s Peak Marathon took place the day after our visit, which is where runners ascend Pike’s Peak using Barr trail to complete the 24 mile round trip. We hiked to the top of Pike’s Peak several years ago and it was one of the hardest things we have ever done, so we can only imagine running it, those athletes are in incredible shape. The town was extremely busy as it always is, but even more so with everyone in town for the annual event which draws runners from around the world.

We Were Exhausted When We Reached the Summit

There are plenty of restaurants and shops to choose from, especially if you want to take home some Colorado memorabilia. The buildings themselves are all historic buildings from the turn of the century and will definitely give you the feel of the old west. As we walked the streets, we passed by the Old Tyme Photography shop where we had our family photo taken about 10 years ago. There was plenty to be nostalgic about as we wandered through the town and went to the shops that we’ve visited many times in the past.

If you visit the Colorado Springs area, visiting Manitou Springs is definitely a worthwhile venture. There are also plenty of bed and breakfasts in town if you want to make it your home base while visiting. One of our favorite hotels and restaurants is the Cliff House, which was also the place that we stayed when we celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. It is very much a tourist location, but it has enough festivals and events to keep the interest of locals all year round.

Weekend in Denver

On August 15, 2016 By Isobar ExpeditionsIn Colorado15 Comments

Things have been more than just a little hectic for the two of us over the past couple of weeks as we try to get prepared for being out of the country for several months. Working two full-time jobs and packing up our house has caused us to be pretty stressed, so we decided to give ourselves a break and head to Denver for the weekend. It was a pretty hot weekend, but the weather was perfect for being outside and walking through Denver’s historic district. It is hard to believe that after all of the years that we’ve lived here, we hadn’t taken the time to walk the historic district of downtown Denver. It was worth the wait, however, as we really enjoyed seeing all of the buildings and statues.

The capital is under some major renovations at the moment, but its gold dome still dominates the skyline, shimmering in the afternoon sun. We walked over to the Molly Brown House and Museum, which is a wonderful representation of the turn of the century Victorian homes. As most people know, she became famous after surviving the sinking of the Titanic giving her the nickname of “The Unsinkable Molly Brown”. We also walked around Civic Center Park with its columns, statues, and flower beds. In a couple of weeks we hope to return there to partake in the Taste of Colorado, which is happening in the park over Labor Day weekend.

“Broncho Buster” Statue (that is spelled correctly)

By the time we made it back to the 16th Street Mall, which is a pedestrian street with lots of restaurants and shop, it was late in the afternoon. There are hop-on hop-off busses that will take you from one end of the street to the other, but we decided to have one of the bike taxis take us to the far western end of the street as we were hot and tired at this point. They aren’t cheap, but it is a fun way to travel on the mall as they are like an American version of a rickshaw. We’re back at work today and the pressure is mounting once again, but at least for a few hours over the weekend we were able to forget about all of our stress and enjoy a beautiful summer day in Denver.