Last day in Colorado - a birthday and anniversary

Our last day in Colorado had come.  

We celebrated Mindy's birthday early.  Jill baked her a blueberry buckle.  This is a recipe we have used for many years.

Blueberry Buckle (p.96 Better Homes and Gardens cookbook from 1976)

1/2 c. shortening

3/4 c. sugar

Thoroughly cream.  Add:

1 egg.  Beat till light and fluffy.

Sift together:

2 c. flour

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

Add to creamed mixture alternately with 1/2 c. milk.

Spread in greased 11x7x1 1/2 " pan.  Top with 2 cups fresh blueberries.

Mix 1/2 c. sugar, 1/2 c. flour and 1/2 tsp cinnamon; cut in 1/4 c. butter till crumbly and sprinkle over berries.  350 degrees 45 minutes.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MINDY!

That evening, we told Mindy and Jason to go out and celebrate their 3rd wedding anniversary!  We would babysit!!

We took Tenley on a walk around the area.

A storm came rolling in and we hustled back before we got rained on.

Jason and Mindy went out for sushii and then they went to the place where they had their "surprise" wedding.  (We all thought they had "eloped" the day before, but then told us all at the reception that they had NOT gotten married, but wanted to do it in front of family and friends.)

We enjoyed our last hugs with Tenley.

The next day, our hostess had made pancakes in a pan for us!  Isn't that clever?  You just dish out your portion and add syrup.

Driving back to Kansas.

Allen had warned me not to run into Bigfoot while we adventured - and we actually did!

 

Evergreen

 Mindy planned an outing to Evergreen for us.  One can't go to Colorado and NOT go into the mountains!

I HAD to buy this shirt when I saw it!

We took a walking path around the lake.

"Mountain Man" replica by Frederic Remington

 

Stairs!  No other way to continue on the path.  Luckily, the girls are strong!

There was a wedding about to start.

What a beautiful spot for that!

After the walk, we were ready for a little coffee break.

Good-bye beautiful mountains!

High tea at the Brown Hotel

 Mindy and Jason treated us to high tea at the Brown Palace Hotel!  As we drove there, we happened to pass "Corona Presbyterian Church."  What a name to have these days!

Colorado State Capitol

This hotel opened in 1892.  No wood was used for the floors and walls, but from terra cotta, making it fire-proof.  Beginning with Theodore Roosevelt, every president but Coolidge, Obama and Trump has stayed here.

Room 321 is a huge tourist destination for Chinese visitors because the first president of China, Sun Yat-sen stayed here in 1912.  

There was a double murder at this hotel.  The Beatles have stayed here.  The Clintons held the G7 summit here in 1997.  Every major world leader and their staff was put up in this hotel.  

Dwight D. Eisenhower dubbed the Brown Palace "The Western White House."  There are suites named for Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Reagan in commemoration of their stays.

We were serenaded by an amazing piano player!

He could play anything without looking at sheet music.

He did a Wizard of Oz rendition, which I enjoyed!

We each ordered a choice of tea and received our own sterling silver teapot with that choice.  There were homemade scones with Devonshire cream shipped straight from England, preserves, pastries, and finger sandwiches (I love cucumber sandwiches!)

 

Tenley also enjoyed "high tea - urr, milk"!

What a delightful afternoon!

Thank you, Jason and Mindy, for this treat!!

Across the street is The Navarre.  I had to look it up.  It was built as a school for girls in 1880.  In 1886, it became a co-ed school.  After the owner died, it was sold to two notorious gamblers. who turned it into a gentleman's club.  They lost it in a gambling game to two other gambler's and they renamed it The Navarre, after King Henry Navarre, who loved decadence and high living.  They offered public dining and gambling and a place of ill repute on the top floors.  When the Brown Palace was built, a tunnel was built between the two buildings in order to share coal, but also to transport gentlemen discretely to the Navarre.  The tunnel was eventually sealed and filled in with masonry to keep the street above from collapsing in.  It is now a Western art museum.

Trinity United Methodist built in 1887

Later that evening, we three girls went out to eat some more!