Two days in Pueblo, day 1

A few years ago we were driving to New Mexico and made a quick stop in Pueblo... I mean, we wanted to make it quick... but we ended up wandering around for a half a day instead of a planned couple of hours. You can find this story here - The most boring city in Colorado... Really?. We fell in love with this place and decided that one day we would be back for a whole weekend... It took us 7 years to find the time for a longer stay, but last week we finally did it ;)

 

This time we started with a walk around the block in the Rosemount Museum area. We strolled aimlessly and slowly through the streets, looking at the houses and really enjoying the idea that we didn't have any strict plans for the next two days ;)

But we also admired blossoming trees - cherry, apple, crabapple... The plan was to visit Pueblo when everything was in bloom, and we managed to find just the right time...

Most of the houses there were built in the late 1800s - early 1900s, but despite the age, most of them look well-kept and in great shape.

We circled around and returned to the Rosemount Museum.

The mansion is impressive and we heard the museum is worth a visit. They offer a tour that lasts about an hour and a half. We had time but also some plans so we decided we needed an excuse to come back... so we left for now...

Blooming apples could be found just everywhere... Fragrant and so beautiful...

We continued toward downtown and stopped for a second to look at the courthouse. An old and impressive looking building.

On our way back to the car we passed a few blocks of old houses built for the workers and families of the people who worked downtown. Still old, they looked much simpler and more monotonous.

 

We then walked down Main Street (you can find some photos from our short walk there during our trip to New Mexico last year here - A quick stop along the way...). There we found some interesting décor on the wall of a bus depot.

We stopped for lunch at Gray's Coors Tavern - the birthplace of the slopper - an open-faced burger smothered with green chili. And it was really delicious ;) Highly recommend trying it out if you find yourself in Pueblo... you won't be disappointed!

Our next stop was the Pueblo Weisbrod Aviation Museum... A place where you can find a lot of interesting things... Like this B-24 "Peachy" bomber.

There are a lot of cool planes to see there. You won't be disappointed if you stop and spend a couple of hours wandering around.

Learjet was a manufacturer of business jets for civilian and military use based in Wichita, Kansas, United States. Founded in the late 1950s by William Powell Lear as Swiss American Aviation Corporation, it produced compact private luxury planes loved by celebrities and business people. There are two planes on the display in the museum, and this is the larger one.

Oops. An unexpected find - Soviet made MIG-15 (they also have MIG-17 too). Old-fashioned design and an interesting color scheme ;)

We spotted the Flight for Life helicopter on duty while we were wandering around the airfield. I guess this was to be expected since the museum is located next to the Pueblo airport.

 

Meanwhile, it was time for us to leave and we drove straight to our B&B, where we dropped off our bags and relaxed before dinner.

We had dinner at La Forchetta da Massi, an authentic Italian restaurant where we tried wild boar pappardelle. Yummy!

To make this day perfect, we had some extra plans for after dinner time ;) Neon Alley is a really gem that is worth visiting (after dark). It is an unassuming alley behind a row of restaurants in the heart of town.

The collection of signs is courtesy of Joe Koncilja. As an avid neon sign collector, Koncilja enlists the help of nearby sign restorers to repair the wall hangings back to their former glory. The rare, retro pieces are then put on display in the alley.

By this time we were really tired and ready to hit the hay... So we returned to the B&B and slept like babies until Friday morning when we woke up full of energy and eager to explore more...

The pictures were taken on April 10, 2025.