Oct 15 - Colorado capitol and downtown Denver

We left early this morning headed to Denver to see the State Capitol. It was about a 50 mile drive but the work traffic had already gone in so it wasn’t difficult driving. We found the capitol easily (thank goodness for GPS) and got there in time to join a tour. It was interesting to learn that the original architect of the building was fired due to cost over-runs ($3 million actual vs. $1 planned.) The guide pointed out that most of the over-run was beyond the architect’s control since he was required to use materials from Colorado which were more expensive than imports. Also, the first floor is a beautiful material which looks like a dark pink marble with lots of design. This is actually a material only found in one area of Colorado and the construction of the capitol completely exhausted the supply. There was not enough available to complete the construction and other material had to be used. The second architect designed the grand staircase which is absolutely beautiful. This capitol is built on the same design as the U. S. Capitol and the staircase makes it different. The dome of the capitol is covered with GOLD that has to be replaced about every 30 years although a hail storm cut this to 10 years the last time it was replaced. The gold is paper thin and when it is time for it to be replaced, the gold is completely removed before the new layer is applied. James went into the dome (100 steps and no elevator) and made the picture of the Catholic Cathedral from the dome. I was impressed with the extent of recognition of women in the capitol. Not only were several stained glass windows devoted to recognizing women important in the government of Colorado, there was also a hand-made quilt which recognized the contribution of women to the state of Colorado. We also saw the room in which the original Colorado Supreme Court met and learned that several episodes of Perry Mason were filmed in that room. James and I both believe this is the most beautiful capitol we have seen. As we completed the tour, we went outside and made pictures on the step which is annotated as being one mile above sea level. We then moved across the street to the park that is between the capitol and the city/county government building. That building is impressive and the park is great. There is an amphitheater that is Greek style and the park has wonderful statues. In the next block is the Denver Art Museum. We left the park and walked downtown. They have an area called “16th Avenue Mall.” It is not a mall as we think of a mall. Rather, they have restricted traffic – there is a free mall ride bus service from one end of the mall to the other (about 10-12 blocks.) There are benches and tables outside where you can sit and rest or sit and eat. There are lots of shops and restaurants (from white table cloth to McDonalds.) We really enjoyed just walking, seeing the stores and watching the people. Once we left there we went to the U.S. Mint. We got there at 2:30 and the last tour was at 2:00. The gift shop was open and we saw a gold double eagle dollar with a price tag of $1,500. WE DID NOT BUY IT! From there we went to Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies professional baseball team (they recently lost out on post season play by losing to Philadelphia.) Again – we missed the last tour by about 30 minutes but we got some good pictures of the stadium. We headed by to Ft. Collins and stopped at STARBUCKS before walking through a REAL mall in Ft. Collins and then heading to the hotel for the night. After we got to our room we learned that Ft. Collins made national news today because it was believed that a 6 year old boy had accidently gotten into an experimental balloon that wound up 10,000 feet in the air. The issue had stopped the air traffic at Denver International airport for over 1 hour today but the boy was found hiding in the attic of the garage! We missed the excitement but had a great day.