Hello from Black Hawk, CO

Hello from Black Hawk, CO

Tuesday Morning   January 22, 2013   (First travelogue of this trip).

Black Hawk, CO??????  Yes, Pat and I are at the Ameristar Casino and Resort in Black Hawk (map).

As was the case last week, I (and this time, Pat) are/were close to home (less than 30 miles).  Pat and her cousin, Linda, come up here every so often to feed the slot machines.  Apparently AMERISTAR is reaching towards the bottom of the membership barrel and offering a free two night stay at their hotel.  Who can pass up that offer?

Pat and Linda have stayed up here at least once, using Linda's points.  She had told me many times how neat it was.  I had to drop the hint that I would like to be her roommate {grin}. 

I have long been frustrated at the huge amount of “damage” that the casinos did to this historic area of Colorado.  Gold was discovered in 1859 in a gulch between the towns of Black Hawk and Central City. and that created a “gold rush” to the area.  It became known as:  "The Richest Square Mile On Earth". Reasonably good documentation of the history of this area can be found here:  http://www.centralcitycolorado.com/history.php and here:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_City,_Colorado. 

I spent a lot of my younger years touring  and being immersed in the amazing history of the area.  As a kid, I would drag my folks all over the two towns looking at mechanical relics of the past (mecca for me).

For years I refused to come up here because of the loss of focus on what was a major part of Colorado history.  But after 20 plus years, I guess I had better get over it {sheepish smile}

This a fabulous casino/resort.  The room is the equivalent of  a 4 or 5 star hotel.  The casino is huge.  The architecture and interior of the building are very well done in what I would call early American.  The buffet is among the very best we have been in.  With her points, we were able to have dinner last night for less than $5. 

This morning, I used our Starbucks cards to get oatmeal and scones.  So far, a pretty inexpensive trip.

As I write this, Pat is up a bit less than $100 playing the “penny” slot machines.  Me, that is another story.  She still has a lot of playing to do and we will see how that all plays out at the end of our stay.

That is all for now.