A Capital Day

 Denver, CO

The golden dome and the golden caution tape

A Capitol Tour so nice we did it twice!

Today we took the bus to the Colorado State Capitol Building to take the guided tour.  We try to take the guided tour at all of the capitol buildings we visit.  We started out down the street picking up a doughnut for late breakfast and then headed to The Capitol to sign up for the tour.  The tour is first come first serve and they only allow 15 people for each one.  Once the tour stated a few others tried to join and the guide said it was full and they would have to wait.  Early in the tour Donna turned to me and said something like, "Are you sure we haven't done this tour before?"  I said no I wasn't sure and checked Facebook to see if I had posted from there before and sure enough, we had visited on our last trip in 2016.  We have done quite a few of these and they kind of all blur together.  It was still a good refresher and we were able to go into the dome this year.  I don't think we were able to go up there in 2016 and the guided tour is the only way to get up there so it was worth taking it a 2nd time and totally worth the $0 we spent on it.  Oh and many of these photos are taken with my new phone!

Our morning doughnuts.  They weren't very good.

A reserved Parking Spot with the Colorado Flag on it

A map of the grounds

There are many skylights because it was built in the 1890s and it was an efficient way to light the interior

This is what a skylight looks like when it is on your floor

This sewn piece features prominent women of Colorado

Our guide kicking it

One of the round rooms featured murals on all of the walls.

This dome isn't THE DOME it's only A DOME.

The building has many many brass features

The House Floor

Hat Racks made from Horse Shoes.  

The Senate Floor

A mandatory selfie

There was a photo shoot going on below us

Photos of each of the presidents.  Grover Cleveland is only on the wall once even though he was the 22nd and 24th President.  

The "Backstage" steps to The Dome

The backside of Chief Ouray

You could walk outside and around the dome.

The views were great

More views

They had a stained glass of Kit Carson in The Dome

Looking up at the dome from within the dome

The front side of Chief Ouray

Donna reading about the different stained glass windows

Now you know!

We had already been to the dome

Our selfie with Mr. James K. Polk our 11th President.  

While we were there they asked me to hold a press conference so I did my best

Foreshadowing of what was next 

We felt the guy in the beard to the lowerish right looked very modern

Which committee would you be on?

The Colorado State Seal using my optical 4x zoom

When Colorado became a state they allowed Black Men to vote and were the first state to enact women's suffrage by popular referendum. 

 

The Capitol from the front.

Food, Drink, and Public Transit

After the capitol tour we took a bus to Union Station. It is on my list of places to visit and not too far from the Capitol. We made reservations at Cooper Lounge in Union Station for 4pm.  We arrived about an hour early so we could explore the station and see the sights. It's a great example of what a restored transportation building can do for a community.  A place where people traveling can relax between segments of their trip or get a $700 hotel room and a place where locals and tourists can come together to spend money on food and drink.  

The new entrance.  The building was restored in 2014.

The escalator down to the bus tunnels and a photo of the California Zephyr as it would have appeared if you were standing in this place back in the day

Denver Union Station is a working transit hub with Greyhound Bus connections

as well as Local and Regional connections

You can get to many of the surrounding cities by express bus.

The Crawford Hotel opened with the 2014 renovation 

You can catch an Amtrak to California, Chicago, and New York.

They had cool photos of train engines above the seating area at Amtrak

Lots of food places to spend money

And bars

It's Pride Month and Denver has it going on!

We each had a beer at the Terminal Bar

I took a coaster as a souvenir 

Donna got my good side

My Bang Bang Double IPA from Station 26 Brewing

The seating area in the station

Regional Rail connecting at the station.  We get to take this Friday maybe

You order from a kiosk and then watch a screen to see when your order is ready to be picked up.

When your order is ready you pick it up at a numbered bay and then you point to it and say, "That's my bay!" and the lady working there laughs.

We took our sandwich back to Union Station and split it there while we waited for 4pm to arrive.

I took photos as we ate.

This way to Cooper Lounge!

You had to go to the 2nd floor

The view from "The 2nd Floor"

They had original blue prints on the wall

I took a closeup of the train lines

Cooper Lounge was very cool and it felt secluded

Proof!

More proof!  That's us in the reflection

Donna looking good in the cool looking chairs

Looking down on the world

After happy hour it was time to head home.  We walked to the bus stop and I took a shot of the front of Union Station.  

I am already looking forward to our next trip to Union Station.  We will be riding what they call "Commuter Transit" but what is in reality "Regional Transit" to Arvada CO to hang out there on a Friday night.  

Check out yesterday's post here.