In a misty rain from three blocks away, the woman looks a bit like a ghost.
Adorned in white from head to toe — a frilly, full-length gown, a lacy-edged hat framing her jet-black hair, white parasol in one hand and teardrop-shaped white handbag in the other, with a white shawl draped over her shoulders to ward off the unseasonably cold temperatures — Melodie Bauer is a Victorian-era vision in what is arguably Colorado’s most charismatic modern-day gambling town.
“I’m out here for the people,” says Cripple Creek’s goodwill ambassador, a resident since 1992 who dresses in period costume several times a week with her husband, John Bauer, to answer questions from the tourists who descend upon the former gold mining mecca to try to get rich a different way — at one of the 13 casinos.
“I let them know where to find things, you know, like things to do or where to take kids to eat where they can find something they’ll like,” Melodie says. “When people get here, sometimes it just looks like casinos from one end to the other, but there’s so much more.”
Of course, many of the people who get here are in fact looking only for the casinos, and that number is likely to increase starting at 12:01 a.m. on Thursday. That’s when Amendment 50 goes into effect, raising the bet limit to $100, allowing the casinos to stay open 24 hours, and adding craps and roulette to the gaming options.
“Then again, there’s the increase in crime and noise and garbage and stuff,” Bauer says. “The worst thing that used to happen here is the cows used to get out and wander across your yard. But when you become a tourist town, you have to take the bad with the good.”
But like most tourist destinations, Cripple Creek has seen the number of tourists — and with them the revenues — falling with the economy, in a place that already was smarting after the January 2008 smoking ban, followed by the fall-off in visits that resulted from the dramatic rise in gasoline prices.
Raising the stakes
Now this city of fewer than 1,500 hopes to cash in on the amendment that voters approved last fall. The casinos have hired extra staff to keep things lively during the wee hours, bolstered their restaurant offerings or even, as in the case of the Colorado Grande on East Bennett Avenue, done major construction to attract high-stakes players.
“We’re the only casino in Cripple Creek that added a pit,” says Eric Rose, general manager of the Colorado Grande, which has built a 1,300-square-foot addition to the casino to accommodate blackjack, roulette and three-card poker.
“We also added 20 employees, about 30 percent of our workforce, hired 16 dealers, another three or four pit bosses, a couple of graveyard positions,” he says. “We didn’t have table games before, so this is going to add a whole new dimension for us.”
Rose says the Grande expects the new limits, games and hours to recoup the 20 to 25 percent in revenue losses from the past year and a half, most of which the local industry attributes to the smoking ban, the economy and the addition of Wildwood Casino, which opened in May 2008 during a time when half a dozen other casinos were going out of business.
“The smoking ban hurt more than anything,” Rose says. “But still, you can’t have a new place open in a down economic time and not expect everyone to feel that.”
But now everyone’s hopes are pinned on the gaming changes, and they’ve been spending the past couple of weeks practicing craps, hosting first-timers workshops and putting a spit-shine on a place that has struggled to maintain its reputation as a charming historic mining town with up-to-date amenities.
Since Cripple Creek legalized limited-stakes gambling — no bets exceeding $5 and only blackjack, poker and slot machines — along with Black Hawk and Central City in 1991, most locals credit it with saving the place from turning into a ghost town like so many others around the state.
“When the gambling started up, there were people here in droves,” Bauer says. “There were things for kids to do; it was a real family place for a while. We don’t know if this is what will save us again this time. Maybe we’re crazy to keep trying.”
It was a crazy Kentucky man, Bob Womack, who started it all. Womack moved his family to the area in 1876 and called it “Poverty Gulch”; the locals called him “Crazy Bob” because anyone who knew anything about mining had determined that Poverty Gulch was never going to yield any gold.
But Crazy Bob spent years trying, and when he finally succeeded, he turned out to be a bit nuts after all — one night at a bar, he sold his claim for $500 and a bottle of whiskey, and never wound up as one of the dozens who made millions.
By 1900, Cripple Creek was one of the richest gold-mining camps in the world, second only to South Africa, pulling in about $20 million worth of gold annually. The city was the state’s fourth largest, with more than 50,000 residents, and it sported the more than a hundred saloons and dozens of churches that a city of its size required to fortify itself before there were casinos.
If you walk up “The Hill” nowadays, a lung-testing trek that leads several blocks perpendicular from Bennett Avenue, where once the wealthy hosted socials and worshipped, you still can visit some of Cripple Creek’s original buildings, such as the Baptist church on North First Street with its 1898 inscription, and the elegant St. Peter’s Catholic Church, 318 N. Third St., with its elaborate stained-glass windows.
Rich in history
One block off Bennett Avenue, at 353 Myers Ave., sits the Old Homestead House brothel, whose museum offers artifacts from the days of the “soiled doves” and their lavish parties and well-to-do clientele from Denver.
At the end of town sits the 1894 depot, from which the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad will take you to the town of Victor 4 miles away for more mining history and a chance to sit back and watch the photogenic scenery go by.
Katherine Foley says she always rides the train when she visits. She’s on her fourth trip in as many years from Columbus, Ohio, via Colorado Springs for the day with a group of her “old lady friends,” she says. “We’re not going to be coming back for the 24-hour anything, I don’t think. But we have come up here these times just to enjoy the views and play a little. We don’t like to lose too much. But it’s so pretty up here. It’s less noisy than the other casino towns.”
Melodie Bauer says that’s one of the top questions she gets — where to go to escape the bells and whistles of the casinos. “I send families to eat at Maggie’s, at the Colorado Grande,” she says. “It’s below street level, so it’s nice and quiet down there.”
Steve Cradle is in the lower level of the Double Eagle Casino on Bennett Avenue playing slots. A recent transplant from North Carolina, he’s here with a buddy for the day from Fort Carson, where they’re both instructors.
Cradle is up a little, he says, and he’s enjoying the free drinks and the attentive service from the cocktail waitresses. It’s his first visit to Cripple Creek — as a former Easterner, he’s a repeat visitor to Atlantic City — and he says he didn’t know about the impending changes in gambling rules.
“I think it’s a good idea, though,” he says. “Now I could come up here and get a room, stay up late and hang out. I saw they had some nice places to stay here, and I haven’t even checked out the food yet. I think that’ll bring more younger people here, which will give it a cooler vibe. Everybody wins.”
Then he grins at the pun. “I didn’t even mean to say that,” he says. “Hope it turns out to be true.”
Kyle Wagner: 303-954-1599, travel@denverpost.com,
Cripple Creek Insider’s Guide
GET THERE
Cripple Creek is 67 miles from Denver via Interstate 25 south toward Colorado Springs. Take U.S. 24/Exit 141 west over Ute Pass and through Woodland Park until you reach the traffic light in Divide and Colorado 67. Go south on Colorado 67 until it turns into Bennett Avenue. There is free covered parking at the Colorado Grande and the Triple Crown on Bennett Avenue, and the Double Eagle offers free covered parking and free valet. Wildwood Casino on Colorado 67 also has free underground parking.
STAY
Several of the casinos have lodging, and there’s something to be said for spending the day at the slots and then simply walking upstairs to your room. But there also are a couple of unique properties worth mentioning.
Carr Manor (350 E. Carr Ave., 719-689-3709, ) is the old Cripple Creek High School, an imposing building up The Hill that is filled with gorgeous antiques, as well as the blackboards from the old schoolroom days that you can leave messages on. The Manor has a little fitness room and offers massages, and a filling breakfast with house-baked pastries — hope for the amazing cinnamon rolls — is included. Rates start at $100.
Whispering Pines Bed & Breakfast (127 Stratton Circle, 719-689-2316, whispering ) offers stunning views of the Sangre de Cristo and Sawatch ranges from its oversized windows at this newer property, which features a game room with a pool table and a huge porch that’s also a great spot for checking out the scene. The comfortable and spacious rooms are a mix of modern and Victorian- style furnishings. Huge breakfasts. Rates start at $99.
Gold King Mountain Inn (601 Galena Ave., 888-624-7711, ). The view from the hill is wonderful at this noncasino lodging, which has an indoor pool and hot tub to recommend it, as well as a very welcoming staff who will shuttle you down to the casinos (the closest one, Wildwood Casino, is about four blocks away). Rooms are nothing fancy but very spacious and feature whirlpool tubs and fireplaces. Rates start at $106 for two queen beds.
DINE
Down Under Steakhouse at the Midnight Rose Hotel & Casino (256 E. Bennett Ave., 800-635-5825, ) is the romantic choice and reasonably quiet at below street level, with white linen tablecloths and a decent wine list. The preparations can be a little heavy-handed (raspberry sea bass: no), but for the most part the kitchen executes things like penne shrimp and blackened ahi tuna with some finesse. Best to stick with the top-notch steaks.
Maggie’s Restaurant in the Colorado Grande Casino (300 E. Bennett Ave., 877-244-9469, ) is a good, downstairs (meaning quiet), all-around place for three meals a day, with decent food and a variety of choices for everyone. They do a good breakfast, especially if you’re hankering for biscuits and gravy, chicken-fried steak or ham and eggs, and they have a kids menu.
Maverick’s at the Wildwood Casino at Cripple Creek (119 Carbonate St., 877-945-3963, ) offers the quintessential casino buffet, although not quite at Vegas prices. For $14.95 on weekend nights you get a heck of a spread, though, and the food is actually better than at many joints on the Strip — well-cooked prime rib, shrimp and other seafood, a variety of salads and pastas, gooey mac-and-cheese, a good dessert selection.
ENJOY
Pikes Peak Heritage Center (9283 S. Colorado 67, 877-858-4653) is the city’s new pride and joy, an 11,600-square-foot visitors center along the highway that overlooks the town and is filled with historical information and interactive exhibits. Kids can crawl around in the mining camp, and adults can pick up brochures and maps on everything there is to do in the area. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.
Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad (Fifth Street and Bennett Avenue, 719-689-2640, ). From the 1894 depot, a 4-mile, 45-minute trek on a steam locomotive offers even more of a trip back in time as it makes its way back and forth between the two old mining towns, with the tour guide offering up interesting tidbits on the sites you pass, as well as your destination, the abandoned Anaconda camp. The train operates 10 a.m.-5 p.m. mid-May to mid-October and costs $12.25/adults, $7.75/kids 3-12.
Donkey Derby Days ends today, but it’s likely to happen again next year during the last weekend of June. Since 1931, the city has celebrated the distant relatives of the area’s original mining herd by bringing in trained donkey ringers to race for a mile (stopping along the way to bob for apples and kiss a cardboard prostitute). A parade, locally made barbecue, ice cream and kettle corn, a tobacco-spitting contest (for real) and other festivities make it feel like a good, old-fashioned small-town event. Proceeds go toward caring for those wild burros wandering the hills.
Old Homestead Parlour House Museum (353 Myers Ave., 719-689-2634, cripple-creek.org) gives visitors a glimpse of life in an 1890s brothel, as well as additional history of Cripple Creek. The stories are fascinating, as are the bits and pieces on display here.
The Butte Theater (139 E. Bennett Ave., 719-689-6402, ) sits in an 1890s building and provides a forum for the Thin Air Theater Company to present a year-round schedule of shows surrounded by period chandeliers and other Victorian decor. Visit the website for the schedule.
Mollie Kathleen Gold Mine (9388 Colorado 67, 719-689-2466, ) takes visitors 1,000 feet underground on a one-hour tour to see a demonstration of mining equipment, ride an air tram locomotive and look at the gold veins in the walls of the mine. Not for the claustrophobic. Admission $15 adults, $10 ages 3-12.Kyle Wagner
Cripple Creek casinos
The Brass Ass Casino (264 E. Bennett Ave., 719-689-2104, )
Bronco Billy’s (233 E. Bennett Ave. 719-689-2142, ) is three casinos in one — Bronco Billy’s, Buffalo Billy’s and Billy’s
Colorado Grande Casino (300 E. Bennett Ave., 719-689-3517, )
Double Eagle Hotel & Casino (422 E. Bennett Ave., 800-711-7234, )
Gold Rush Hotel & Casino (209 E. Bennett Ave., 800-235-8239, )
Imperial Casino Hotel (123 N. Third St. 800-235-2922, )
Johnny Nolon’s Saloon & Gambling Emporium (301 E. Bennett Ave., 719-689-2080, )
JP McGill’s Casino (232 E. Bennett Ave., 719-689-2104, triple )
Midnight Rose Hotel & Casino (256 E. Bennett Ave., 719-689-2865, )
Wildwood Casino at Cripple Creek (119 Carbonate St., 877-945-3963, )
Womacks Casino/Legends Saloon & Gaming Parlor (200-220 E. Bennett Ave., 888-966-2257, )
More good bets
For comprehensive coverage of Colorado’s casinos in Central City, Black Hawk and Cripple Creek, as well as gaming news, tips and more, visit , or check out The Deal insert in your Denver Post on the first and third Friday of every month.
