Tuesday, May 24, 2011

A daytrip to where the West lives



About 25 minutes from Denver is the very charming and historic town of Golden.  What drew us to this town was a family event to celebrate opening day at the Clear Creek History Park. We were late (we were on the other side of town visiting the Alpacas) so we missed the events and contests they had, such as: sack race, ring toss, wood stove cooking and pioneer games.




But it was not a complete loss of time because we still had the opportunity to take a walk through the park and there we discovered a western ranch (well, a replica of it). The park recreates the look and feel of a late 1800s mountain ranch. I really felt like I had been transported back in time!




We saw a schoolhouse, a working blacksmith shop, a vegetable garden, and a chicken coop with chickens included.






 Beli saw the chickens and said, "Baki tiene koka." (a Spanish-Croatian phrase which translates to: Grandma has chickens). She remembers the chickens from her Great-Grandma's farm in Croatia!


After the self-guided tour of the park, we continued along the creek which lead us to the downtown area. 


We spent the rest of the afternoon strolling through the beautiful downtown area, admiring the many bronze sculptures, found a park for Beli, and treated ourselves to large scoops of sorbet/gelato/ice cream (your choice). I choose mango sorbet which was very good, especially after an afternoon of walking.











At the ice cream shop.

I love the architecture of this Inn.

 Hubby had a scoop of double vanilla ice cream and Beli chose strawberry sorbet.
Woody's , all you can eat wood fired pizza. Yum. will have to try it another time.

chocolate truffles





In Golden you will also find the world’s largest single site brewery – Coors! We didn't go because we had Beli with us, maybe another time we will come back and go on one of their free tours. (But to be honest, I would rather go to a wine tasting event!)

12 comments:

  1. I love historic towns/farms like that! That feeling of being transported in time never gets old.
    Also, I just had to say, you always look so pretty in every picture! So photogenic!

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  2. those are great photos- I think we need that slide in our back yard.

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  3. Your new home is quite the place, isn't it?!! Cowboy scenery, ballet, puppets, rivers, statues of music being played and of fish and bears! :-) WOW!! This is a wonderland for Beli!!! {Beautiful photos, by the way!}

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  4. Wow! Beautiful pics :)

    Looks like you all had a great time!

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  5. You remind me of my mom. I mean these trips you take. She was always looking through Washington Post and reading what could we go and see for the weekend. Planning our trips. Found some wonderful places around DC. There was no internet then. We use to drive for 2 hours to get to a park, and here we are just not accustomed to doing that.

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  6. Wow, you had a wonderful trip! I love the atmosphere you catched of the historic park. There seems to be a lot of beautiful nature around!

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  7. What a beautiful little town and I love taking trips like that. Looks like you all had a lovely day, sweetie. Happy day:) Muah

    Ps: I’m hosting a great sportswear GIVEAWAY later today! Perfect for morning yoga practice!

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  8. Great pictures, beautiful scenery!

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  9. How rustic and fun! I love little towns like this.

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  10. Elisa, I'm thrilled!! I love these old towns and I think it's such amazing thing what you do for your family (trips,have fun...)! :D

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  11. @Jen, awww thank you.

    @Poetess, and we haven't yet visited the animal sanctuary with tigers! and a crocodile farm. (of course these places are farther away so I'm hoping later this summer we have time).

    @Ren, the slide was a hit with Beli, initially she was hesitant about going alone, but after the first time she caught on and she loved it!

    @Hi Leeann, it was a wonderful afternoon!

    @Jelena, I will have to say that my parents taught me about the fun in traveling. We used to move alot during my school years. I remember when I entered 7th grade we started in Nevada, then moved to Illinois and ended up in Virginia. We always took road trips and I do have fond memories of our summers in our pickup as we visited the Grand Canyon and Yellowstone national park.

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  12. Dearest Elisa! So wonderful for you to stop by over at mine... and so fated... I will explain but too long to ramble here. Please email me via my blog as I can't find any email on yours! and I shall explain :-) (not very exciting, just explains my absence!)

    What an adventure you are on - again. Looks wonderful and I hope that you are healthy, happy and full of joy. I can see that Beli certainly is!

    Hugs xxxx

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Thank you for your comments!

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