Day Off in Denver – Vol. 1

The letter came as a complete surprise. The Denver Public Library system billed me $17 for a book that was never returned. I never… Oh, wait. Yeah, isn’t that in my computer bag. Damn.

The Denver Public Library. Love this place!

So a day off was the perfect time to make the 4 mile trek to the library to return that book. Fees for the overdue book: $3.00. Whew!

From the library, I drove seven blocks to Meininger’s, a phenomenal art store on Broadway. I got a converter for my fountain pen, so I can now add ink. It’s sort of an essential ingredient.

 

A world-class art supply store. A fun place to shop.

 

Darwin would disapprove. Sidewalk stamp on Broadway. This is hysterical!

As I left the store, I niticed the gold dome of the Colorado State Capitol towering over the nearby buildings. Wouldn’t it be a fine day for the free tour of the Capitol?

So these are photos from my adventure of the day in the Capitol Hill neighborhood.

 

The Colorado Capitol building, with it’s gold dome. Today, I finally took the tour.

 

The Grand Staircase. Trim is brass and rose onyx marble.

The brass railing on the lobby floor.

Our young, energetic, albino-ish tour guide.

This is Beulah Rose Onyx Marble, quarried near Marble, Colo. If you want some for your coffee table or counters, you’re out of luck. Colorado exhausted the quarry of this beautiful stone, and there is none like it in the world.

Gov. Hickenlooper’s office. The horse is Scout. There was no Hick-sighting on this day.

The presidential portrait gallery.

Stained glass portraits of Colorado’s founding fathers. Way up in the Dome.

The photo was taken by a man from Toronto, who thanked me for the Rockies sending them Tulo. Go Blue Jays!

The Burns Meteorite was found in 2003 by Gene Killinen (using a metal detector) at his family’s hunting cabin near the small town of Burns, in northwest Eagle County, Colorado. It was buried at a depth of about two and a half feet. The meteorite has been classified as a fine octahedrite (III AB). It was a gift to the Colorado School of Mines Geology Museum by Anne Black.

The State Capitol has its own rock collection.

PostScript: FaceBook informed me that it was one year ago today that I spent my last day employed at the Home Depot in North Melbourne, Fla. It hardly seems like a year, and I miss the many good people there.