Saturday, July 28, 2018

Tuesday, July 24, 2018
9:41 p.m.

It took me far too long to get the reunion blog done, so I hope to do better with this one, which will focus on some of the great places we visited while in Trinidad, Colorado for the reunion weekend.

I'm not the sight-seer that I aspire to be, but I think we did okay with our walking tour of an older section of town. Here, the roads are still brick instead of asphalt, the storefronts are picturesque, and the area is rich with history. It's also home to some quirky shops, like The Bizarre Car Garage.



 


 

 



Admit it, this is some fun stuff right here. People come in to do projects, there are contests and parades, and materials are anything and everything you can think of, including old rubber from tires. Amazing!



This location has a great coal mining history. This memorial is a tribute to the miners who risked their lives to provide fuel for the surrounding area. It was dangerous work. My great-grandfather was one who lost his life in a mining accident, and his son, my grandfather worked in the mines for many years. You can see their names clearest in the top photo. 







The Miner's Museum is filled with memorabilia and photos that remind us that miners had a rough job, and suffered at the hands of greedy owners and managers. Fighting for unions and fair labor laws, safe conditions and a living wage were issues that kept miners struggling to feed their families, but those fights paved the way for workers all over the state. 


When in doubt, know this: if there's a music store, I'm going in! This one was pretty great. Check out the electric kitty-litter box guitar! Ha ha! It works!


It was hot, really hot. We had to have ice cream. So off we trotted--okay, sauntered--to Tutti Scoops.



I am guilty of not having taken pictures of storefronts. Whoever knows where we are, please let me know. What I do know is that someone made some fantastic fishing lures and flies. 


Cool, right? (Where are we? There was food in there...)


Amazing architecture. It's all over the older part of town, where Trinidadians care about maintaining that old-time flavor. 









We ended our walk at the Trinidad History Museum. It takes up a whole city block, and the offer tours of the historic Bloom Mansion and Baca House. 

Baca house is an adobe structure filled with old furniture in excellent condition. It has been restored to original plans, which means there is no plumbing or electricity. I am ashamed to admit that I did not get a picture of the widow's walk. Sorry!

Bloom mansion has suffered some structural damage due to--believe it or not--an earthquake.Much of the furniture has been removed and remodeling is in progress. We were surprised to learn that it is possible to rent the place for events. 

Hmm. 



The place has a wrap around porch, beautiful doors and windows, and a claw-foot tub. It may very well be my dream house. However, the third floor is very, very hot! That was where the servants lived, I'm told. They should have been paid extra for painful conditions. Ha ha.

After all the sun and heat, my brother was persuaded to run us to the nearby Sonic for a slushy. Ahh!

Next time, good places to eat.
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I have to apologize for the length of time between posts. This site has been freakishly slow uploading photos this week. I don't know if I should blame the laptop or the server in this area, because I don't think it is Blogspot. I have never had this issue before. 

For now, I shall bid you good night! 



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