Things to do / Travel Guide
Here are some odds and ends in the eastern Colorado and Wyoming Rockies that you won't want to miss.
Tattered Cover Book Store in Denver, Colorado
Also in Denver is the Tattered Cover Book Store, reputed to be one of the largest independent bookstores in the country. The original Tattered Cover was in Cherry Creek, but it has since moved to the historic Lowenstein Theater on Colfax Avenue. Two other Tattered Covers exist; one is in LoDo, while the other is outside of Denver in Highlands Ranch, Colorado. All three together have an inventory of more than half a million books, including many that are out of print or hard to get.
Golda Meir House in Denver, Colorado
Golda Meir was Israel's prime minister from 1969-1974. She was the world's third female prime minister, and, prior to her term in high office she was instrumental in founding the nascent state. She was born in Kiev, in the Ukraine, and in 1906 at the age of 8 she emigrated with her family to the U.S., where she would live until moving to Israel in 1921. For one year, 1912, she lived with her sister in Denver, and as she once said, “It was in Denver that my real education began.” Her residence for that year is now a museum dedicated to her life and vision. It's located at 1606 Julian Street, north of West Colfax Avenue near the city's center.
Seven Falls in Colorado Springs, Colorado
Seven Falls, in the southwest corner of Colorado Springs, is one of the city's oldest natural tourist attractions. It's actually one long waterfall, belonging to the South Cheyenne Canyon, split up into seven distinct steps. From top to bottom it's 181 feet, which is 11 feet more than the drop at Niagara Falls. How do you get from bottom to top or top to bottom? You take the stairs, of course - all 224 of them. Or you can take the elevator, blasted 14 stories out of the solid granite. The elevator takes you to the falls' best lookout point, the Eagle's Nest platform; another excellent lookout point accessible by some trails is Inspiration Point. For holidays, the falls are illuminated and there's a minimal entrance fee; the rest of the year it's free. Open hours are from 8:30-9:00 until 4:15 in the winter, 10:30 in the summer.
Florissant Fossil Beds outside of Colorado Springs, Colorado
When a volcano millions of years ago covered a then-verdant valley, it froze all the life forever, and petrified the giant redwoods and sequoias. The fossil remains of that fateful day were discovered in the 19th century, and today you can inspect insects that have been dead nearly 35 million years, and take a walk in a petrified forest. Florissant is located on U.S. Highway 24, west out of Colorado Springs.
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