FLIP + CHING

Manitou Cliff Dwellings

Posted on July 9, 2021 by Ching under Travel.

The Manitou Cliff Dwellings Museum is another neat tourist attraction that we went to check out while we were in Colorado a couple of weeks ago.

Here are some pictures from our tour.

This place was really neat. I am glad we went to check it out.

Brian and I really wanted to check out Garden of the Gods because he hadn’t been there since he was a child and I hadn’t been there since the early 90s when my family first moved to the US. The weather made it a little tricky though because of the rainy weather forecast. We made it to the Garden of the Gods Trading Post just as the rain started to really come down.

We decided to wait it out by having lunch at the Trading Post. We were sure that the rain would eventually stop and the weather had pretty much been like that all weekend. It was start and stop throughout the day but it was really coming down hard right at that moment.

We shared chicken tenders and frieds, which were just so-so, and I got Brian a big truffle for dessert. For myself, I got a double scoop ice cream in a chocolate dipped waffle cone. I got one scoop of French silk ice cream and a scoop of cappuccino ice cream – something for me and something for Brian because I was sure he would want to share my ice cream with me.

Brian enjoyed his milk overload truffle.

I thoroughly enjoyed my ice cream. The best part of the ice cream was my chocolate-dipped waffle cone which actually had chocolate coating all over the inside. Sometimes on these dipped waffle cones the chocolate is only at the top part. This one had chocolate all over the inside. It was so good!

We ventured out once it stopped raining. I was amazed at how many people were out despite the weather.

We just went to the popular sights so maybe that’s why there were so many people around. We didn’t bring any hiking shoes, and Brian isn’t much of a hiker, and I really didn’t want to go hiking if the ground was wet so there was no hiking in the cards for us this trip.

We just went out and took some selfies. That’s pretty much the extend of our Garden of the Gods adventure. I’m sure there will be other tournaments in the area and we will be more prepared when we return. We will have to set aside time for hiking. Brian won’t be thrilled but I will make him go hiking with me next time.

Until then. GNG.

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Miramont Castle Museum in Manitou Springs

Posted on July 7, 2021 by Ching under Travel.

Here are some pictures from our visit to the Miramont Castle Museum in Manitou Springs. The weather forecast called for rain for most of the day so we were looking for things to do indoors. We settled on visiting Miramont Castle in nearby Manitou Springs because it looked interesting.

Here’s a great view of the mountains from the parking lot.

The parking lot in the back is elevated so you have to walk down some steps to reach the castle’s front entrance. Here’s a photo I took in the tiered garden out back as we were walking down to the entrance.

It’s very peaceful and quiet back there and they have a nice sitting area. I’m not seated all the way because the chair (and pretty much everything) was still wet from the rain. I just sat on the edge of one of the chairs for a quick photo.

Here are some pictures of the patio.

Lots of steps to get all the way back down.

There is a firefighter museum on the first floor.

Here are some pics from the second floor.

Brian.

There is a chapel inside.

The grand staircase.

Look at this amazing view!

One of the bedrooms.

Another bedroom.

These aren’t all the pictures. There are a few more in my Flickr album. This is all for now though. Until next time. GNG.

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Another Day, Another Brewery

Posted on July 6, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

After leaving the player social at Lulu’s Downstairs, our group decided to go to Oskar Blues in downtown Colorado Springs.

The feel of the place reminds me of the Iron Rail in Topeka.

Time for a group pic!

Brian and I ate at Lulu’s Downstairs so we weren’t hungry but Janelle and Karen hadn’t eaten since their late lunch so they both ordered food which are the next two pics here. First one is Karen’s turkey croissant.

This is Janell’s meatloaf.

We already had dinner but I’m never too full for dessert so I got a brownie.

Brian was on a porter kick so he got Death by Flapjacks. He said it tasted like pancakes with maple syrup, literally breakfast in a glass.

I don’t drink beer so I was obviously scoping out the cocktail menu. I got the Colorado 75 but no pic, unfortunately. We will probably return at some point and I will get a pic then.

That’s all I’ve got for now. Until next time. GNG.

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Player Social at Lulu’s Downstairs

Posted on July 5, 2021 by Ching under Events, Travel.

There were a lot of complaints about the recent USA Pickleball Great Plains Region regional championships in Colorado Springs last weekend because of the choice of location and the issues that went along with it. However, they did something kind of fun that we didn’t get to do at Middle States in St. Louis last the previous month. Great Plains Region hosted a player social.

The player social was held at Lulu’s Downstairs in Manitou Springs. It’s a really neat event venue. I’m glad we went because I probably wouldn’t have gone out of my way to check that place out.

Lulu’s Downstairs has a speakeasy feel and really interesting decor. The front area has a nice bar and then if you go into the back they have a stage with ample seating for shows and such.

I think the social was meant for you to meet other players but, silly us, we pretty much stuck to our own group. We found the “mob booth” and spent most of the time hanging out in there visiting with our Wichita pickleball friends plus our friend Ben Paquette from Texas.

Bruce Meyer said he also went to the social but we never saw him. I think he arrived after we left. We left about the time that they decided to close the downstairs portion and made everyone move to the bar upstairs.