Compound Living: Cripple Creek

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

Cripple Creek

Nana and Papa took a little anniversary overnighter to Cripple Creek, a mere hour-twenty from our house. We had a late breakfast on the way at our new favorite French spot, La Baguette. We got up in the world by the time we hit Cripple Creek, to 9400 feet or so. A few menu items here start with "2-mile high" (close enough). Upon arrival we went directly to the Cripple Creek & Victor Narrow Gauge Railroad for a 40-minute round trip out toward the gold mining areas and back. Live steam, coal fired! We're staying at the Hotel St. Nicholas, built in 1898 by the Catholic Sisters of Mercy as the first dedicated general hospital to serve Cripple Creek, Colorado, and the surrounding area at the height of the 1890's gold rush. We love these historic places! Next door to the railroad is the Cripple Creek District Museum, well worth the $8/ea. Three levels of interesting artifacts and three or four out buildings: assay office, miner's cabin, prostitute's cabin, etc. We blew $5 in the Double Eagle Casino as we wandered town, but I'm glad to say we spent over three times that amount on fudge. Lunch/Dinner was at Rudy's (as in Rudolph) in the Christmas Casino and Inn. The casino is small, comparatively, and Rudy's is tiny, 4 tables. But good burgers and dogs. We think there are a couple higher-end food places in town, but they're not open mid-week. We drove through the town's cemetery where the most notable occupant seems to be Dr. Susan Anderson, "Dr. Susie," who was a real-life Dr. Quinn Medicine Women. Definitely a gambling town with a smattering of museums, very few shops, and a train ride. There is the Butte Theatre, generally very active, but nothing we could see while here mid-week. There probably are hikes, tours, etc. out and about from town, but we didn't chase those down. Tomorrow morning is breakfast at the hotel, on to Victor, and work our way home. All the (cellphone) photos are here.