DENVER, COLORADO, SEPT 14, 2009

Monday, Sept. 14 found us on our way to Denver. We left early (6:30 am) to avoid some of the early morning traffic. Our first stop was the U.S. Mint on West Colfax Avenue. Construction on the facility began in 1897. In the first year of operation, the Denver Mint produced 167,371,035 gold and silver coins valued at $27 million dollars.

Coining of one-cent pieces (pennies) began at the new Denver facility in 1911. That year 12.6 million one-cent coins were minted. Today the Denver Mint has the capacity to produce more than 32 million coins PER DAY. One hundred years after first producing coins the Denver Mint can now produce over 8 MILLION coins per year!

Next we walked through the beautiful city park that separates the City Building to the west from the State capital building to the east. Here's Bill by a tribute to the American Cowboy in the city park.

Looking west from the center of the park is the City Building. The flowers were in full bloom.

Looking east from the same spot as above is the State Capitol Building. The sun was in the wrong position or you could see the gorgeous gold leaf dome at the top.

This is the main stairway to the second floor. It has marble steps and bronze railings.

Bill took this picture by sitting on the steps above and looking straight up at the dome overhead.

Here's Bill on the second floor, again lots of marble and bronze. Most of the marble is pink and unique to Colorado.

This is the Colorado Supreme Court Room on the second floor. After the first season of the Perry Mason show, all the courtroom scenes were shot in this room.

The third floor contains the "President's Room". All the portraits were painted by the same artist and surround this area.

Another view of the second floor from the ground floor. Note all the beautiful marble archways. It is a most impressive building. The original cost was 3 million dollars. I can't begin to imagine what the cost would be today.

We walked up the stairs to an area just below the dome which is covered in gold leaf. This is a view looking west. You can see the City Building and the majestic Rocky Mountains in the distance.

Denver, the "Mile High City". Here I am sitting on the step of the State Capital Building that is 5280' above sea level.

After our tour of the Capital it was almost time for lunch. So we headed to the 16th Street Mall. This is an area 1 mile long, with shops, cafes, outdoor eating areas, street vendors, and lots of huge flower containers and trees. The only vehicles allowed on 16th street are free buses that you can jump on and off at will. There is cross traffic at each block. We found a Hard Rock Cafe and had a relaxing lunch before going to the Colorado History Museum. It was a very educational day in a beautiful, modern city.