Bucket List

We took a break from the gorgeous weather to cross a few more places off our bucket list.  Our first stop was the Denver Mint.  Elisabeth's friend Erica joined us for our adventures.  Cameras are not allowed inside the Mint, but the older girls (and I) thought it was interesting to see pennies being made and learn the history of US coins.  And the non-production areas of the Mint are absolutely beautiful!  Allison was rather bored and couldn't wait until we got to the gift shop so she could pick out a souvenir.


We had lunch reservations at 11:30am, and we were done with the Mint tour and gift shop by 10am, so I had to think of a way to kill some time.  Where could I take 3 little girls in downtown Denver?  I caught a glimpse of the gleaming Capitol dome down the street from the Mint, and decided right then and there that we were going to continue our history lesson and take a little tour of the state Capitol building!  I've been wanting to visit the Capitol "someday," so we got to check another thing off our bucket list!

We took a self-guided tour of the Capitol building, and even got to see several members of the Senate taking a break from a meeting.   Like the Mint, the Capitol is beautiful inside!


Outside, we found the mile-high marker on the front steps of the Capitol.  It marks the exact spot where Denver is one mile above sea level.  Actually, there are THREE markers.  One group marked a spot.  Then another group measured and decided that a different spot was a more accurate marker, and a third group decided that they had found the exact spot where Denver is one mile above sea level.  We found all THREE markers, but only got a picture of one.  (The other 2 markers are on the steps where those boys are sitting.  They were preparing for some type of protest or rally, so I decided not to ask them to move so we could take a touristy picture!  Here's Allison with one of the mile-high markers:

Here's Elisabeth and Erica on the Capitol steps...along with Allison and her goofy face:

On the East side of the Capitol building, there is a nice little garden with some sculptures and benches.  We found this E embedded into the walkway.  I told Elisabeth and Erica that the E stood for their names.  Those 2nd graders are smarter than I think....they noticed that there was also a N, S, and W and told me in their matter-of-fact voices that the E really stood for East, not Erica and Elisabeth.  Oh well, I tried!

We had lunch at the Old Spaghetti Factory in LoDo (lower downtown Denver).  I had read online that service is terrible at this restaurant, but I hoped we'd have better luck if we got there right when they opened for lunch, before they got too busy.  We had a reserved table inside the trolley which was fun...

...but sure enough, we experienced the worst service ever.  I guess those online reviews don't lie!  Our lunch took 2 hours from start to finish, no thanks to the slowest server ever.  The food wasn't that great either.  Been there, done that, won't be going back!

The best part of the lunch was when Allison had to go to the bathroom.  The women's restroom was in plain view of my seat, so I let her go alone.  Then I watched several people enter the bathroom...and leave.  Several more people came to use the bathroom...then they left.  More people came...and left.  Meanwhile, Allison was still in there.  Finally, I asked Elisabeth and Erica to go check on her.  Allison had run out of toilet paper and was sitting there, patiently waiting for someone to come rescue her and bring toilet paper!  We all got a good laugh about that.


This weekend we have our neighborhood Easter egg hunt.  It's supposed to be sunny and in the 80's all weekend.  What a great way to wrap up spring break.  And of course the weatherman says we might get some snow on Monday.  Typical Colorado weather!