Dodge City, Boot Hill, Manitou Springs

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Dodge City

Day 7- July 1

On the way from Kansas City to Dodge City, we stopped in Topeka to see the Capitol building. It was closed unfortunately, but an impressive sight nonetheless. A nifty statue of an American Indian pulling back on a bow and arrow adorns the top of the dome. We heard music echoing not too far off so walked 1/4 mile to where the streets were closed for what seemed to be a street fair. It was a street fair but sparsely attended, and supported with just a few unbusy food trucks. It was actually sad to see a state capital’s street fair being so pathetic. We just walked through the couple of blocks and got back in our car and continued toward Dodge City.

We survived the night at a lowly Knights Inn in Dodge City. This is a very ugly, run-down place with zero amenities, but cheap, near Boot Hill, and a nice manager.  There was a dingy but comfy chair on the shared balcony though. We also noticed upon entering Dodge City that night we smelled a strong odor of cow manure, and the city’s main strip was desolate, run-down, and ugly…just like the motel. From the motel we could faintly hear live Mexican music off in the distance on the other side of the main drag. It appeared to be desert in that direction, it was kind of surreal.

 

Dodge City – Boot Hill

Day 8- July 2

Not surprisingly, there was no breakfast at the motel, and there was no place to eat anywhere near us. So, we just drove the 2 miles down the main strip to get to the Dodge City Boot Hill Museum. We got tix for the trolley car tour of the area near Boot Hill. While buying tix we asked if there was anywhere nearby to get a cup of coffee, and the young woman responded by saying it would be a good idea to have a coffee shop nearby, but there wasn’t one. Really?! Not exactly a tourist focused town, apparently.

On the very sad trolley tour we learned that the smell we noticed the night before when we got into town was from the cow feed lots around the city, its major industry. We saw thousands of cows on the tour, including several dead ones amongst the lot. Not very pleasant viewing or smelling. The tour also confirmed that Dodge City is an awfully poor, downtrodden city with absolutely nothing to offer tourists except the Boot Hill Museum. A city to just pass through next time. The 1-hour trolley tour was fair at best, but at least only $14 for both of us…nobody left a tip for the driver/tour guide.

On to Boot Hill. The Dodge City Boot Hill Museum, Boot Hill Cemetery, and the staged gunfight in front of the saloon were all very good. Great artifacts, history, cemetery markers, and street entertainment. Combined, they were worth the stop here. We strolled the old west boardwalk along Front Street and stopped for a decent lunch at the only place to eat on the town boardwalk, Beatty and Kelley Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlor.

Once done with that and a quick photo of me sitting with the Doc Holliday statue we “got outta Dodge” real fast, and we recommend others do so as well; two to three hours in Dodge City is enough for anybody. No need to spend a night or go anywhere other than Boot Hill. The “gunfights” and other shows, and the restaurant/ice cream parlor operate only during the summer months though.

 

We drove around other areas of Dodge City before leaving and found nothing of interest. We headed toward Colorado, stopping at a couple of Santa Fe Trail Ruts historical landmarks along the way. These ruts were different from Oregon Trail Ruts in that these were really not wagon wheel ruts preserved in the earth but rather indentations and rolls in the prairie which were evidence of the wagon trains.

Around 5:30 P.M. we found ourselves just outside of Holcomb, Kansas, the town where the Clutter family was killed in their farmhouse, and which was the killing that was depicted in Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood”. We drove as close to the actual farmhouse as we were allowed to. It was a bit eerie, but fascinating to see that the house is still occupied today. The current owners just don’t appreciate tourists coming by, so one can’t get closer than about 100 yards.  We also chose not to share a photo of the house out of respect for their privacy.

Then, in nearby Garden City, Kansas we went to “The Big Pool“, the world’s largest municipal concrete swimming pool (as noted on the Offbeat Attractions app). We hadn’t intended to swim, only just see it. But it was so damn hot, and the entrance fee was only $2.50 (including towels) so we took a break here and enjoyed the pool for about an hour.   It was extraordinarily huge, and so there was plenty of space to swim. There were lifeguard chairs at the halfway point in the water as well as on the pool sides.

We went down the very tall waterslide just before they closed the pool for a 20-minute break. We decided then to move on. Nice respite.

We decided to spend the night at a very nice Marriot in Pueblo, Colorado for a good price. This was a nice change of pace from the cheap motels we had been staying in since Pittsburgh and St. Louis. We each got one complimentary drink voucher because we told the front desk that our room was missing soap and shampoo. We went out for a walk along the beautiful and lively river walk right behind the hotel in downtown Pueblo. Seems like most cities now have a “river walk” of some sort. Got back to the hotel around 10:00 P.M. to cash in our drink vouchers at the hotel bar. The bartender was very friendly and she offered some great ideas for what to do when we got to Colorado Springs and Manitou Springs the next day. Off to bed.

 

Manitou Springs

Day 9 – July 3

We found a great coffee place within walking distance from the hotel in downtown Pueblo called Solar Roasters where the coffee beans are roasted via solar panels on the roof of the building. Then we spent a few hours in Manitou Springs, near Colorado Springs.

We considered going up the Pike’s Peak cog railway, but being July 3rd, it was sold out. We then tried to get into the Manitou Cliff Dwellings, but the line of cars to get in was so long we couldn’t see how long it was, so we then decided to walk through the very touristy town, stopping at the various mineral springs in town, following a map and trying the waters. Some tasted like seltzer water, some fruity, some like iron. The springs weren’t all easy to find even with the map, it was kind of like a scavenger hunt, and a nice way to discover the cool town. We stopped to chat with a guy on a public bench carving hiking poles to sell for a living. He lived in a tent in the hills. We got great crepes and then wine ice cream at a couple of the quirky cafes.

 

We then realized that we were within a 15-minute walk to the Manitou Cliff Dwellings. So, we followed the GPS to it but, as we suspected, we needed to walk across the 4 lanes of highway to get to the entrance. With great skill and poor judgement, we made it across and walked up the entrance where the line of cars was.

When we got to the entrance gate the guy in the booth opened his back door and asked us what was up. We thought he might tell us we weren’t allowed to walk up the drive that way, but instead, when we told him we were going to the Cliff Dwellings he merely told us the price of admission. We paid and then kept going, no issues. The people in the cars must have thought we were both crazy and smart. The dwellings were very impressive. We could walk into them, climb up ladders, through windows and doors, and really get a feel for what is was like to actually live in these.  What a great relic.  It was an excellent visit. .

 

After about an hour, we walked back, across the highway, and to our car to head to Boulder. We checked in to our Airbnb, meeting our surrogate host Robby, on Iris Street about a mile from our daughter’s apartment, and then off to meet Suzannah at her apartment.

We had an excellent, bustling dinner at The Kitchen on the always lively Pearl Street, downtown Boulder.

I paid a street entertainer $2 for a really great card trick, though Em and Sz weren’t at all interested. We drove a few blocks for local favorite Sweet Cow for awesome ice cream. Sat outside on a beautiful night and chatted for about half hour. Em stayed the night at Suzannah’s since all of her roommates were not there. I went back to the Airbnb for the night. The Airbnb was a nice, large two-story apartment but the bedroom was uncomfortably hot. We were able to do laundry here, too.

Next: Boulder and Rocky Mountain National Park