In 22 years of Colorado living, I had never been to the Garden of the Gods, despite once living with a man whose idea of wit was answering the phone, “Garden of the Gods, God speaking.”
We had intended to spend a kid-free weekend in Colorado Springs burning off the summer’s calories by hiking, but the weather wouldn’t oblige. So we spent a weekend in Colorado Springs having a second glass of wine with dinner, reading the whole newspaper over breakfast and dawdling in stores full of breakable objects.
When it’s cold and drizzling, running feels like work, hiking doesn’t appeal and bicycling is unsafe. You can’t see well enough to play golf, it’s too cold to swim and too warm to ski. The birds have taken off for Cabo, and the fish just aren’t interested anymore. There’s nothing else to do but go shopping.
The place to spend such a weekend is on the formerly wild West Side, where gambling and drinking and messing around used to happen in the old days. Sedate Colorado Springs used to sneak off to Old Colorado City to let its hair down in the former territorial capital’s saloons and brothels. The Colorado Midland Railroad and the Golden Cycle smelter were major employers. By the middle of the last century, it was a fading blue-collar town. Manitou Springs was where the hippies used to be, and a steady stream of tourist traffic along U.S. 24 added the essential neon motel element.
The interesting thing is that the disreputable nature of Colorado Springs’ west side helped preserve it. Big swaths of downtown disappeared under the bulldozer in the name of postwar progress, but Old Colorado City kept intact its funky masonry buildings and frame houses because nobody cared to do anything new there. Named a historic district in 1977, Old Colorado City’s structures now house bed-and-breakfast inns, restaurants and shops.
It’s a pleasant neighborhood for rambling and browsing. Along with the usual tourist tchotchke assortment of porcelain, scented candles and costumed bears, we found style and intrigue as we followed our umbrellas up and down the brick sidewalks.
An oversized metal sign that announces “Be Nice or Leave” drew me into Elly Blue, where Patricia Stock sells “today’s softer side of the American West,” including European casual clothes, handmade jewelry and Frye boots.
Shabby-chic-headquarters Vintage Revival just moved from an old house on 18th Street to a pink-and-white storefront down the block from Elly Blue. Lisa Toland’s asymmetrical necklaces of bead chain and grosgrain flowers competed with $9 bottle-cap jewelry for our attention. Along with vintage furniture and lots of flowered linens, owner Lisa Haradon sells Kara-Line and Junk Gypsy apparel and jewelry from Baked Beads.
There are plenty of adorable little cowboy and cowgirl duds at Mountain Moppets and ranch finery and accoutrements at Western Winds, where the 2005 Best of Show scarecrow greeted us – a violin-playing jackalope with googly eyes.
The Taste of Old Colorado City festival continues today from 1 to 6 p.m., with restaurant samples, sidewalk sales, music, carriage rides and history tours. Store window scarecrows are on display until Oct. 7 and you can vote for your favorite. The Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off happens at noon that day.
Shopping, old logos
We were impressed by the mid-century artifacts at Barracuda Bazaar, including Melamine dinnerware and portable typewriters. The Barracuda babes have a flair for display: earrings and hair ornaments are attached to paint sample cards, while other merchandise is arrayed on vintage cooling fans and an ancient icebox.
Having tolerated my foo-foo shopping, Doug had every right to make me wait in the rain while he waxed nostalgic about the window display at Aviation Heritage Collectibles, full of logos you’ll never see again on full-sized planes: Eastern, Pan Am, Braniff, the original Frontier. Doug grew up plane-spotting under the flight path at Vance Air Force Base near Enid, Okla. “You see those? They’re Cessna T-37s,” he said, pointing to models of the small trainer jet. “Those were the planes that flew over my house every few seconds.”
By Sunday morning, the drizzle had abated and lines were forming for breakfast on the tree-shaded patio of Bon Ton’s Café, where little kids run around between the flowerpots and vine-covered fences, and coffee is served in random yard-sale mugs. Mine was from the Defense Mapping Agency, Doug’s from the Wright Eye Center. You can stoke up on a chile relleno-and-egg breakfast at Bon Ton’s, hearty enough to see you through a strenuous retail day.
We intended to check out the Old Colorado City Museum next to Bancroft Park, but got distracted by the open door at Cucuru Gallery Cafe, at the corner of Colorado Avenue and 24th. Owner Guillermo Alvarado is transforming the little house and patio into a sunny spot to admire paintings by Pat Musick, Mary Ellen Benning and Jeff Burgess, photos by David Hughes and jewelry by Tenley Young. He’ll also make you a sandwich, brew you an espresso or pour you a horchata and tell you a West Side story about the part of town where he grew up.
“I have no expectation of making any money selling art,” Alvarado said, so we exceeded his expectations and bought a photo print.
Then we wandered up to Garden of the Gods and spent the afternoon walking and talking in the red rocks. It was not an inappropriate way to spend a Sunday. Garden of the Gods, God speaking.
Lisa Everitt is a freelance writer who lives in Arvada. Contact her at lisaeveritt@comcast.net.
The details
Find out what events are coming up at shopoldcoloradocity.com.
U.S. 24 – Colorado Avenue near Garden of the Gods, Manitou Avenue farther west – is peppered with old motels. Some of them have been renovated into gems; others look downright scary. We enjoyed our stay at the Mecca Motel, 3518 W. Colorado Ave, 719-
475-9415 or 800-634-2442, themeccamotel.com, where a recently updated, quiet, clean king- bedded room set us back $75 a night.
Vintage Revival just moved to 2603 W. Colorado Ave., 719-635-
2077.
Elly Blue’s, 2607 W. Colorado Ave., 719-520-0556.
Western Winds, 2508 W. Colorado Ave., 719-475-8700.
Mountain Moppets, 2532 W. Colorado Ave., 719-633-3473
Barracuda Bazaar, 2502 W. Colorado Ave., 719-499-1046
Aviation Heritage Collectibles, 2513 W. Colorado Ave., 719-471-
9401.
Bon Ton’s Café, 2601 W. Colorado Ave., 719-634-1007. Open daily for breakfast and lunch, 6:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Cucuru Gallery Café, 2332 W. Colorado Ave., 719-520-9900.
