Walking Around Chautauqua Park

I drove up to Boulder yesterday afternoon and walked along the always busy Pearl Street Mall before heading to Chautauqua Park. This is a beautiful spot right beneath the Flatirons, and is the location of the Chautauqua Auditorium, a large wooden structure built in 1898 to host concerts, lectures, and other events, and happily, it still does. I remember years ago my sister Susan, mother Mary, and I attended a Peter Kater concert there, after having an early dinner at the Chautauqua Dining Hall, also built in 1898 and seen in the photograph on the left. Along with Susan's late husband George, we also had Sunday brunch a number of times on the outdoor patio there. A beautiful spot to just sit and enjoy the scenery.

The photo on the right shows the view you get from that patio. As I recall, the breakfasts were good, but sitting at your table along the railing and looking at the park and the mountains beyond was the real attraction. And I am happy to report that it looked like there were a fair number of people dining up there on a rather overcast, fall-like Friday afternoon.

In addition to the auditorium and the dining hall, there are a fair number of cottages located next to the park, which I believe can still be rented during the summer. When classes are in session at the nearby University of Colorado, they can be rented out by the faculty for the school year. Some of these cottages can be seen in the photograph on the left, with the Flatirons looming in the background. There are many popular hiking trails throughout the area, which makes it virtually impossible to find a parking spot on the weekend, especially during the summer. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day they have started charging $2.50 an hour to park there. I am glad it was still free back in the day, when we used to have brunch there. Knowing me, I would have insisted on finding a free parking spot, and it would have been a long walk to the Dining Hall for my poor old mother. What can I say? I am an incorrigible cheapskate.