We are in Golden, just west of Denver at Jefferson County Fairgrounds. While here we had our truck in for the 67,500 mile service and went into Denver. We visited and toured the Colorado State Capitol Building, the residence of "Unsinkable" Molly Brown, and the Hammond Candy Company.
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| The Colorado Capitol Building is under renovation |
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| Inside the dome |
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| The Colorado Supreme Court Chambers |
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| The Legislative Chamber |
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| The Senate Chamber from the upstairs gallery |
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| The Mile High marker on the 13th step of the Capitol Building |
We visited the "Molly" Brown home and learned that her real name as Margaret and was never called Molly. The name Molly was used by the writer of the play, "The Unsinkable Molly Brown."
At 19 she married her 32 year old husband who was a silver mine supervisor in Leadville. They were not rich, but when her husband J.J. figured out a way to mine copper and other metals, as well as the silver, his company promoted him and gave him stock. The price of silver went way up, as did the stock, and they became millionaires. They bought the house in Denver, she hired tutors to teacher her 5 other languages, and about every subject she could think of. She had a veracious yearning for knowledge. She also was what we would call today a "fashionista". Some of her gowns, costing $3,000. were only worn for one party. She was touring Europe when she heard that her baby grandson, who she had not met yet, was ill and got a ticket on the Titanic to get to her daughters in New York. When it sunk, she was instrumental in saving lives and once in New York, helped hundreds of survivors with their affairs. She was the first woman in Colorado to get a drivers license and to vote. No photos were allowed of the inside of her home.
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| The Brown home |
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| Debbie at the entrance |
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| The guard (above) looks like a girl I dated in high school |
We took the tour at Hammond Candies. They are the largest maker of ribbon candy, one of the largest suppliers of candy canes, caramels, and high quality chocolates. We saw the 100 employees toiling to keep up with the upcoming Christmas demand.
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| Boiling the syrup to make candy canes and ribbon candy. |
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| Putting the large roll into the candy cane roller |
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| Rolling out the candy canes |
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| Hard at work |
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| Making chocolate covered pecan clusters |
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| Packaging the pecan clusters |
