| Colorado Rocky Mountain high. |
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 I mean, come on. Why would anyone spend their holiday at the beach when you could come here? |
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| Upon arrival in Durango, I was stopped as a steam train crossed the road. Durango sits at 6,512 ft., fairly low for this trip/ |
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| Colorado is an expensive state. I have never paid such prices for average hotels on a trip. I decided to spring a little more for a stay at an old historic place, the Strater Hotel. |
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| The decor is reminiscent of the 19th century. |
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| The old telephone booths are still there, even if the telephones are not. Those are just pictures of phones. |
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| Much nicer than the hallway of your average Holiday Inn. |
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| The downside of an old hotel is sometimes it does not have modern conveniences. It did not have a little fridge. It also had a rather small shower. |
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| Rather than go find somewhere for dinner, I decided to eat at the Diamond Belle Saloon at the hotel. |
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| This corner of the Strater was originally the hotel's saloon but later became a drug store and other businesses. In 1957, it became a saloon again. |
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| Complete with a ragtime piano and waitresses dressed up in period clothing. She was my waitress. Kind of cute but I don't think women in the Old West had tattoos like she does. |
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| After dinner, a walk down Main Avenue. |
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| The S.W. Wall Drug Store is now a cafe. Ghost signs! |
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| The R.C. Schneider Building, 1889. |
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| In 1915, here at 10th & Main, 20-year-old Colorado native Jack Dempsey, the "Manassa Mauler", knocked down Andy Malloy in a ten-round fight, winning $50 and going on to become the world heavyweight champion in 1919. |
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