2013 FAM Canon City

Canon City

WHAT: Canon City FAM

WHEN: April 10 & 11

Canon City is much more that the Royal Gorge and prisons.

We will visit the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park and also ride the Royal Gorge Route Lunch Train. We'll visit the Museum of Colorado Prisons and an active Department of Corrections facility.

There will be a walking tour of the downtown historic district and a guided tour of the Fremont Center for the Arts and the Historical Museum. Even though Dinosaur Depot will be closed, we will learn about the numerous and important fossil finds in the area and perhaps learn of plans for a new home for the dinosaur exibit. We'll travel Skyline Drive and see the dinosaur trackway site.

We may even have the opportunity for a zipline experience and/or a Segway ride.

We will learn the latest about Cristo's "Over the River" project, his plan to suspend 5.9 miles of fabric above the Arkansas River. Dinner will be at the Winery at Holly Cross Abbey.

Guide Line Review

Canon City FAM

We arrived at our assigned motel were greeted by Judi Paxton, Visitor Center/Tourism Advisor with the Cañon City Chamber of Commerce, and we boarded the Royal Gorge bus and we were introduced to our drive, Larry Lallemand. He proceeded to pick up the rest of the group. Doug Shore, Executive Director of the Cañon City Chamber of Commerce and Tourism Director for Fremont County, join the group when we picked up the rest of our party.

In 1859 there were Native Americans in this area (Utes and Cheyenne). Anson Rudd married Harriet after an 18 year courtship and lived at 4th & Main Streets. They arrived in 1860 and their son was the first white child in the area to be born and survive. During the Civil War the city declined. In 1867 a group of Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians came together to rebuild the community. The three churches are very close to each other downtown – the Methodist church was completed in 1888. The flour mill in town burned three times. The KKK was active here from 1900-1920s. Their downfall came through corruption and bad management. After the arrival of the monks and nuns at the Abbey the KKK went away. Several of the businesses in town are over 100 years old. The Gibson Mansion was owned by D.E. Gibson who made his fortune in Cripple Creek in lumber after Cripple Creek had a disastrous fire in 1896.

Doug told us that the Department of Corrections (DOC) provides about 33% of the employment in the area with about 18% actually living in Cañon City. The starting salary is about $30,000/year. There are a total of 21,000 – 22,000 offenders in the state. The average for the Canon City area is about 10,000 – 12,000 offenders. The cost/offender varies depending on the facility and the number of staff required for each offender. Colorado State Penitentiary (CSP) costs $118/day/offender. CSP has a total of 756 bed and has possibly 6-7 available and requires about 62 staff/shift because of the extra security. As a comparison, Camp George West costs only $56/day/offender. Four Mile has 500 beds with a staff of only 10 per shift, one guard for each 100 offenders.

We then went to the DOC and met Chad Arguello and Heather Strickler of the DOC who escorted us around the grounds and prisons. Chad is an Administrative Services Captain and has been with the DOC for 13 years. Heather has worked in the Correctional Industries division and is currently at the Training Academy, located at Holy Cross Abbey. The Training Academy classes consist of four weeks of self defense classes, four days learning about uniforms, food service, security and four days in firearms training and a CPR-type class. All employees are required to take 40 hours/year of additional training. Thirty-two hours are refresher courses and the other eight hours are new material.

There are twelve prisons in the County and there are five levels of incarceration – Level 1 has no fence, the offenders are pretty free to go and come from their building though they have designated boundaries; Level 2 also has designated boundaries, single or double fences and periodic patrol; Level 3 has a wall and/or double fence w/razor wire, detector devices and towers; Level 4 has the same as Level 3 and sally-ports and 24-hour perimeter patrol; Level 5 – has double fence, razor wire, detector devices, towers w/24 hour coverage and sally-ports. The lower level facilities have ball fields where games within the unit are played and also an open yard for exercise. Lower level custody offenders have more privileges. Level 1 offenders may have door locks but not security locks and they may also have individual rooms or share in a dormitory.

Colorado State Penitentiary (CSP) is a Level 5 facility and has 23 hrs/day lockdown. There is also only one fence around this facility. The offenders get one hour out of their cell for exercise and approximately another 20 minutes/day for a shower. Offenders used to spend up to two years in a Level 5; the average currently is about 9 months. There is not a tree or shrub anywhere to be seen – bare land all around.

CSP houses all men. All offenders and staff are generally called by their last names – to show respect both ways. This prison has many outlying buildings and industries for the offenders to work in. Most of the structures, yard work and roads here were built by offenders, some date from the 1930’s. Some of the old houses were used as dorms for the offenders while they were working on the farm, with the goats, and horses. There was a “Brown” house which was used for demolition practice. The wild land around the facility is used for firefighter training – offender firefighters were used last year to fight the Waldo Canyon fire as well as Iron Mountain.

The trails around the property are disc raked regularly because footprints are easily detected in these trails if an offender decides to take an unauthorized walk. The South Tower of Centennial, the maximum security, solitary confinement facility, was closed in February of 2013. It was expected to be built in the late 1990’s, however construction did not start until 2004. Due to sentencing not being as harsh as it once was and current economics, the facility was closed. Offenders working in any program earn $.60/day though the wild horse program pays a bonus of $2.00/day, making them rich at $2.60/day. In the tag (license plate) shop bonuses are earned when quotas are reached. There is also mirror etching and a saddle shop where offenders can be employed.

There is a dairy farm that helps pay the bills for the prison. Sinton Dairy buys products from the dairy farm. As well as the dairy farm, there is a goat farm and the milk is made into cheese. There are also water buffalo on the farm because that milk makes great mozzarella cheese.

There is a fish farm where tilapia fish are grown (an aside on tilapia fish – when the fish are about four months old, the water temperature is reduced to about 40 degrees F and the females think they are about to die and so change their sex to male in order to live longer and so they grow larger and therefore the filets are larger. Pretty tricky). In addition to the fish farm, there is a fish processing plant and the remains of the fish after the processing are made into dog treats.

CSP also has a dog training program – this program is in many facilities and privileged offenders may participate. It costs $450/dog and the dog is socialized, trained, crated in the cell with the offender. This provides normalcy to the offenders. Those interested in getting a dog or having your dog trained meet with the trainer and dog and also take a short workshop on how to train and treat the dog.

There is a wild horse program with about 2,000 wild horses which the offenders break and train and then sell. This program is non-profit. They also have 350 – 300 donkeys, pheasants and chukkers. There are veterinarians on contract to care for all these animals. There is also a vineyard and the grapes produced here are sold to the Abbey Winery.

The offenders also maintain the state vehicles, working with a supervisor. Offenders can also be trained in administrative services including the Call Center as well as computer skills and engineering. Offenders wear green, culinary wears black and white striped pants and transfers wear orange while staff members wear blue.

There is also a food service program and a greenhouse program. Special floral arrangements can be ordered for special occasions such as Easter, Valentine’s Day, etc. Most arrangements are paid for with cash though none of the offenders actually handle the money. The food service program makes bread that is sold in the Correctional Industries shop. The Correctional Industries shop also sells clothing such as t-shirts, aprons, and men’s pants. There are many other items sold in this shop including leather goods such as purses, wallets, belts; mailboxes w/flags and other designs; many wood items – desks, tables, boxes; cheese and baked goods; and SuperMax chopper motorcycles.

The parole case manager sets up plans to try to get the offender a job after their sentence is completed. Approximately 97%– 98% of all offenders are released into the general public. Therefore it is extremely important to have the offender trained in some trade while they are incarcerated so that they can be a productive member of society when they are released.

When we went inside CSP we saw the execution chamber which was last used in 1997. There is a possibility that it will be used again this year. We also toured the cell block center where cells are set up in V corridor and the offenders can talk to each other through the windows in each door. There is a room off the edge of the common space where there is a pull-up bar for exercise. To escape the prison an offender would need to get through six doors, get past two staff officers and get off the property – quite difficult to escape. DOC often finds that Mexican offenders are part of a big gang, in and out of prison. There is the 211 which is a white supremacist gang (211 means robbery in progress). Some offenders join gangs inside prison to protect themselves and then leave it all behind when they are released. Of course there are others who are not interested in being retrained or rehabilitated. There are so many opportunities for offenders to learn and educate themselves anywhere in the DOC.

Of the prisons in the area, four are federal and one is a super-max (Timothy McVeigh). Level 1 prisons are Skyline and Four Mile. Level 3 is Fremont (was called Shadow Mountain) has a double fence and has 1,500 beds, mixed custody (more than one level) and segregation facilities and Tower 2. This facility has a shop to repair and repaint pallets. They also have laser etching, and welding, as well as a dumpster fabrication plant which is not currently in use.

Centennial is a Level 4 facility. There are only two Level 5 prisons in the state – CSP and in Sterling, Colorado. Fort Lyons has a nursing unit and a geriatric/infirm offenders section. Level 5 offenders do not have any contact with visitors. Other levels generally allow children and monitored contact with family. None allow conjugal visits. Pueblo Community College in Canon City is built on land donated from the state’s DOC land. There are no women offenders housed here - women may be housed at LaVista/Pueblo or at DRDC.

Our next stop was The Abbey which is now a winery and event center. Brenda McKay told us about the Abbey as we had a delicious lunch served by their catering staff in the Event Center in a room that seats about 80 people. The Abbey was a monastery for Benedictine monks and the Benedictine monks started the winery. They also operated a well-known and highly rated boys high school from 1926 - 1985 here. The property was sold in 2002 and currently Yucippa Corporation owns the abbey. Yucippa is an investment company. The other banquet room, the Benedict Room, seats 350 banquet style. The Event Center hosts many coach tours. On one occasion they served a meal to 375 people in 1-1/4 hours. The gym (no pool) can also be used for craft shows and expos. The smaller buildings can be used for private parties where you can provide your own food. The monastery is open for guided or self-guided tours which take about 45 minutes to an hour for all four floors. The cost for a tour is $3/person. It is modest, and was a teaching facility. Photos are allowed. The staff is expanding into historical displays. Any profit goes for maintenance. There have been many different types of events held here – movies, Western heritage events and even used as a beer garden. The Monastery is supposed to be haunted. The property has 200 acres of land; the abbey has 66,000 sq ft of space and is listed on the National Historic Registry. Hedley House dormitory (boys’ school dorm) has 56 rooms, two conference rooms, two common areas with Wi-Fi. The room charge in the dorm is $41/nite/room/dbl occupancy. There are also four rooms with bath that rent for $53/nite. The Nunnery is also available is available for group retreats or family reunions. The Nunnery has 14 bedrooms, kitchen, and dorm style rooms also.

The land is farmed and grows hay, corn and pumpkins. Some of the land is also is used to board horses as well as being a vineyard. The irrigation method used is flood irrigation. The Diocese sold the winery to a private individual, Larry Oddo. We visited the Winery Gift Shop and tasted a few of the wines they produce as well as gifting ourselves with wine and many of the wine associated items available. Most of the grapes are Colorado red. The Chardonnay is made from California grapes. The winery produced 4,000 pounds of grapes last year, enough to make their own version. The winery produces only Riesling grapes because there is too much underlying water for Chardonnay grapes. Grapes like slopes. The winery has made one type of Chardonnay entirely from prison grapes. The Winery does have VIP wine tastings for $20/person (generally for a coach group) with wine, cheese and instruction on wines. A minimal wine tasting is complimentary (no charge). They have regular wine tasting tours on Saturdays at 1 and 3 pm from Memorial Day to Labor Day. We met the owner and also Sallie Davidson who is in charge of Marketing.

Mary Chamberlain joined us on our tour – she has several titles, among which are Vice Chair of the Fremont County Heritage Commission, and Secretary of the Fremont County Historical Society. Mary was dressed as Harriet Hickman of Shelby, Kentucky, born in 1829. Mary presented a short program on the coach about the life of Harriet Hickman of Shelby. Harriet Hickman’s mother dies when she 20 months old and she was raised by a colored nanny. She was very intelligent. In 1840 her family moved to Independence, Missouri. In 1841 she met Reverend Grazilla Adams, a missionary for the Indians. They married and soon then she had four kids and her father while still in Missouri. The family moved in 1861 to Bent’s Fort where Rev. Adams was the stage manager. He also was friends with Daniel Boone and they were there during the Sand Creek Massacre. They moved to Canon City and bought land for $3,000. They built the first Baptist church in Cañon City. Now a brew pub sits on this site. Harriet had 9 kids total. Her husband was really a missionary and he planted churches all over Colorado. He was also the Superintendent of Schools, a hotel manager and worked on the Kansas/Pacific Railroad. He was not at home often. She died in 1871 and he then remarried and he died in 1921. Harriet raised the money to build the bell tower from people in Missouri.

Mary was our step-on guide along Highway 50 to the Royal Gorge. She filled us in on upcoming events and general information about what we were passing on either side of the road. Mary also mentioned that there are 16 motels in Cañon City. During the first weekend in May each year there are anywhere from 10,000 to 45,000 visitors for the National High School Band competition. This is the Cañon City Music and Blossom Festival. They also have a pro rodeo each year with this year being the 75th consecutive (except for a couple of years taken off for Prohibition and WWII). The Highway 50 Yard Sale – the longest yard sale in the world will take place from May 15 -17. D’Nardas family-owned orchards makes their own cider. Royal Gorge Blvd. was once named River Street.

Our host at the Royal Gorge tour was Dona Basham, Sales Manager for the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. The Royal Gorge is open every day. They also offer a Royal Rush Skycoaster where you can fly out over the Gorge and back (sort of like a bungee cord) and they have a Soaring Eagle Zipline that takes you along side the gorge – sort of a ski lift that goes backwards. They offer a group event called Cables, Planks and Rails (CPR) for motor coach groups of 15 or more. This involves a combination train ride and a visit to the Royal Gorge and Park. They also have trail rides, aerial tram, and incline railway as well as other family oriented activities. We each were given a packet with a free ticket to the bridge, zipline and skycoaster as well as vouchers for an ice cream cone and fountain drink in the gift shop.

The Royal Gorge hosts 300,000 visitors/year. It is city owned and was built in 1929 for tourists. In 1931 the outside tram to the bottom was opened. This is North America’s highest bridge and the 3rd highest in the world. The bridge itself is 1,200 feet long and 18 feet wide. It has a 2 million pound weight capacity and a 125 MPH wind capacity. There are 1,200 wooden planks on the bridge, 250 of which are replaced annually. There are historical displays and shows daily. There is a mountain man encampment town where you can do such exciting things as pan for gold. There are also trail rides around the edge of the Gorge, a play area for kids. You can also take a trolley to view animals such as elk (this is the time of year when they grow horns and the horns grow 1”/day), bighorn sheep and American bison (buffalo) including several rare white bison. The Gorge also has nature educators, local bands and one restaurant on the far side. They also partner with river rafting companies. Last year the flow from the Arkansas was approximately 500 cfs while the normal flow rate is 1,500 cfs. Last year the raft companies used smaller rafts with fewer people to compensate for the low water level. The Gorge does allow pets on a leash. Fees are $25/adult/day, $22/seniors, groups of ten or more are $17.50-$18.50.

After we left the Gorge, we stayed on the high and scary adventure tour and Larry (our driver) drove us over Skyline Drive which is in the Morrison Rock Formation, when dinosaurs walked the land 100 million years ago. There is oil and coal in this formation. It is a one-way road, fortunately because it is certainly not wide enough for two vehicles. We stopped to look at several dinosaur tracks that are visible along the side of the hill. This road was built by offender labor in 1905 and was a highlight, in more ways than one, of our trip. Adrian Swenson was the “official” photographer of this road which runs along the top of the hogback. On either side the land is 800’ below and relatively flat. On the descent we went around two hairpin turns and Larry negotiated both in fine style. The Royal Gorge Museum has fossils from Skyline Drive. There are university geology/paleontology summer camps held in the area.

Joining us on top of Skyline Drive was paleontologist Jon Stone, president of Garden Park Paleontology Society and Director of Dinosaur Depot Museum. He explained that even though Dinosaur Depot had recently closed, they are in hoped of finding a new and larger home for their dinosaur museum. He told us about the “bone wars” of the late nineteenth century and the many important fossils found in the Canon City area, including a nearly complete stegosaurus discovered in 1992. He also pointed out dinosaur tracks along Skyline Drive that had been discovered in 1999 by a CU paleontology student.

Terri Madigan, Area Director of Friends of Over the River came on board and told us about Christo, an engineer artist, who is planning to cover the Arkansas River in several places with luminous porous fabric. This hanging will possibly take place in 2016. All the installation costs will be paid for by Christo. All the tour sites, coaches, etc. are already planned. A previous installation of Christo’s “The Gates” in NYC brought in $250 million to New York.

So ended our first day of touring.

Thursday we were picked us up at 7:00 am and we were on our way to Penrose. Penrose is home to many orchards, one of their events is the Apple Days Festival in October. Doug with the Canon City Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor of Penrose, Max Singlelhart, (who is also the elementary school principal) told us a little about Penrose’s history and its future plans. Penrose is named for William Penrose who built the Broadmoor Hotel and founded Cripple Creek and has a population of approximately 6,000.

Some of the things to do in Penrose include visiting Brush Hollow which has fishing, hiking, picnic pavilions and a park. During Apple Days on the first Saturday in October, approximately 5,000 to 6,000 people visit for free apple pie, a parade and other fall activities. Max told us that 4-H is big in Penrose. There are a lot of cottage industries in Penrose, many people work out of their homes or ranches. Holcim Concrete has been in the same location on Highway 115 for over 90 years and employs many people in the area.

Our next stop was in Florence (pop 7,000), the antique capital of Colorado. A little history of Florence – when it was founded in 1848 it was part of Mexico. The Arkansas River was navigable to this point. In 1870 the railroads arrived and coal camps developed. In 1874 there were two stores and a tiny rail depot. The first oil well in Colorado was discovered in 1881, two miles south of Florence and the well is still producing. By 1887 there were 50 brick buildings in town. By 1894 the population was 3,880 and there were several brick factories in town. The oil wells were producing up to 2,000 barrels/day. Both Continental Oil and Conoco were started in Florence. In the 1930s and 1940s Florence was a commuter town for CF&I in Pueblo, the Pueblo Army Depot as well as Fort Carson and later the Air Academy in Colorado Springs. In the 1970s oil production declined. In the 1980s Supermax and three other prisons were built in the area. Wal-Mart arrived in 1992. Now oil production is again increasing helping the tax revenue to increase year-over-year. At one time the population was over 20,000 and the main businesses were oil production and ore processing. Florence has the second oldest water compact in the state; signed in November 1861 it is the oldest municipal water rights (the oldest compact is owned by a rancher in Leadville).

Our first antique shop we visited was Willie’s Antiques & Collectibles. Willie’s building was once a Safeway and you will recognize its shape. Originally Willie’s was the site of the railroad roundhouse. Willie’s has a great selection from flatware to books to collectibles such as Zippo lighters, coins, knives and jewelry. We commented that we had never been in such a clean and well maintained antique shop. There are several wonderful chandeliers displayed and many antique linens and quilts. The prices are also reasonable, generally more reasonable than you might find in Denver. Breakfast was hosted in the Aspen Leaf Bakery. Florence has more of a concentrated city center than does Penrose. Florence also has many ranches as well as oil production. Many of the buildings on the main street of Florence are historic, having been built in the late 1880s. There are many antique shops (12-13) among the more than 30 shops along the main street. Morrie Aves was our guide through the shops on the main street where we visited six of the antique shops as well as a couple of restaurants. All the buildings housing these businesses are historic.

As well as antique stores, there are a number of art galleries Florence. On the 2nd Saturday of each month artists demonstrate their artwork throughout town – music in included in this event. In a few weeks there will be a docent-guided sculpture walk available as well. On May 19th Florence will host their 13th Annual Car Show (the Abbey has a car show on the 18th). There are also Ghost Walks through several of the buildings a few times a year.

We visited a bar/BBQ restaurant that has a bar that was built in 1884 and refrigerated in the 1910-15 timeframe. The story is that two bars were built at the same time and unfortunately the front bar to this one actually belongs to the other set and vice versa. This bar also has the original bar stools from 71 years ago (1940s).

Another shop we visited was Legends and Lace Antiques which has a wonderful collection of refurbished and old hats as well as lamps and lampshades that are handmade.

Then we were back on the bus and headed back to Cañon City to the Royal Gorge Route Railroad depot and were met by Dean Remillard who gave us a synopsis of how a motorcoachs would be received at the depot and how the passengers would be ticketed and escorted to the train. The depot has a gift shop as well as restrooms. The train also has restrooms so timing could dictate that passengers board the train immediately. Each ticket shows which gate to enter as well as the car and seat number. We were treated to seats in the Vista Dome car and also had a fantastic lunch as we traveled up the Royal Gorge past the Bridge and back. We traveled quite slowly both directions and were fortunate enough to see several bighorn sheep along the river. The tracks run right next to the Arkansas River so the view on that side of the train is great. The staff on the train were all very efficient and knowledgeable about the train and its history. When we returned to the station we were met by Steve Kaverman, General Manager for the Royal Gorge Route Railroad.

We than had a coach tour of historic Canon City. We had a brief history of Canon City. In 1859 there were Native Americans in this area (Utes and Cheyenne). Anson Rudd married Harriet after an 18 year courtship and lived at 4th & Main Streets. They arrived in 1860 and their son was the first white child in the area to be born and survive. During the Civil War the city declined. In 1867 a group of Baptists, Methodists and Presbyterians came together to rebuild the community. The three churches are very close to each other downtown – the Methodist church was completed in 1888. The flour mill in town burned three times. The KKK was active here from 1900-1920s. Their downfall came through corruption and bad management. After the arrival of the monks and nuns at the Abbey the KKK went away. Several of the businesses in town are over 100 years old. The Gibson Mansion was owned by D.E. Gibson who made his fortune in Cripple Creek in lumber after Cripple Creek had a disastrous fire in 1896. In 1869 Thomas Macon succeeded in getting the Colorado Territorial Prison built. It was completed in 1871 when the first male prisoner arrived. By 1874 there were 500 prisoners. Today there are 700 offenders at this prison and the prison museum is located next door to this facility. This prison has an infirmary and a geriatric/hospice program. Denver Reception and Diagnostic Center (DRDC) also has an infirmary.

We visited the museum which was the women’s prison in the 1930s. Our first stop was in the front yard to see the gas chamber. Eight men have been executed in this gas chamber. We saw typical cells from various periods including two cells in the yard that are barely 6’x6’x6’. Also in the front yard is an old drying rack for license plates and CDOT signage. As we went through the museum we were able to visit 32 different cells depicting how the women and men were treated and the history of several of the wardens and the prison riot in 1929 in which several inmates were killed. We could walk through the laundry area which still smells of laundry soap. We also visited the gift shop and we were gifted with keychains in the shape of a pair of handcuffs.

The main tour officially ended and we were delivered to our respective motels where we collected cars and several of us headed home. Several of the group went on the three hour zipline tour.

The zipline tour was the last event of the Canon City FAM and was not for those with a fear of heights, but was indeed for those with a spirit of adventure. Four intrepid RMGA members indulged in zip-lining, the sport of walking off a perfectly safe and solid platform into … air, while attached to a cable, and riding downhill to the next station at great speed. Royal Gorge Zipline (719-274-7238; royalgorgezipline.com) provided the foursome with harness, helmet, gloves, and two guides and a photographer with abundant expertise and a great interest in making this a fun and safe experience. They drove us to the zip-line park, and we walked perhaps ¾ of a mile total among the different launch sites. The first step was to go through ground school, where we learned how to start, stop, move the body to stay lined up correctly, be safe, get to the tower when stopped just short of it, speed up, slow down. The trip had nine cable runs, ranging in length from less than 200 feet to more than 1000 feet, and each new line was longer than the previous one, so we built up towards the longest cable. At each station, our guides clipped us onto the line, checked our equipment, gave us encouragement, and launched us off the edge. We climbed up the launch towers, each not far from the ground and each very thoroughly anchored to the ground. We all commented on how safe this felt, so we could focus on hootin’ and hollerin’ and enjoying ourselves as we zipped down the lines. It was a great experience.

-- Nancy Brueggeman wrote the main article and Mary Bendelow wrote the portion on the Zip Line.

Merlino’s Belvedere Restaurant (1330 Elm Avenue) (piasan1330@qwestoffice.net)
The Belvedere captures a time when dining was more than just eating. It is a place where you can have a conversation without the disruption of TVs and noisy patrons. It is a place to get away from the chain restaurants. It is a Canon City tradition. It is a restaurant serving wonderful Italian food!

The owner, Mike Merlino, with help from his children, continues operating the restaurant started by his grandfather, in 1946. I highly recommend it for both individual and group customers.

Unlike so many restaurants today, the food at Merlino’s is handmade, including the sauces and the pastas. They have their own meat shop where the meat is cut and aged. A portion of the pressing room of the original cider mill (another story) is the bakery for the fresh Italian bread and other desserts. The meals start with a family style Traditional Belvedere Salad. They do have Gluten Free items.

The desserts are wonderful judging from the Burgundy Cherry Chocolate Cake (save the Burgundy Cherry for last!), the Tiramisu, and Merlino’s special version of bananas Foster, with vanilla bean Cognac and lemon zest made from the imported Sorrento lemon tree thriving in Mike’s living room.

An after dinner drink not to be missed is the Mafioso. The ingredients remain a family secret. Ask Mike how he came to start serving the drink after being visited by some men from New Jersey in expensive suits who came to visit a “colleague” at one of the local institutions!

The Belvedere is very experienced with groups having three banquet rooms that will hold 30, 55 or 185 individuals. They have a choice of buffet menus (or create your own) starting at just over $17.00/person including tax, tip, and drink. For a smaller group, they could order from a special menu with a choice of five entrees, including vegetarian or gluten free. While not normally open for lunch, Mike will open for private banquets.

There is ample motorcoach parking in several lots surrounding the restaurant.

-- Tom Jensen

Royal Gorge Brewery (ckatchmar@aol.com)
The building was originally a car dealership back in the 1930s. It has been refurbished and is a rustic style now though the menu offers more than the usual pub fare of sandwiches and pizza. The food is excellent.

-- Nancy Brueggeman

Michael's on Main (kevin.holdridge@michaelsonmain.us)
This restaurant is an excellent choice for groups. Both food and service are excellent. They have a nice variety of entrees priced between $12 and $20 including salad. The chef is from New Orleans. Be sure to ask for the art gallery tour.