COLORADO EXPLORER

By Linda DuVal

La Veta
Diamond chefs create culinary delights
Affordable sculptures
Colorado caving: prepare to get dirty

Casa de Pajaros in La Veta.
© Rick DuVal

Paradise enough: La Veta is first stop on the Scenic Highway of Legends

La Veta (“the vein” in Spanish) is a former railroad town and coal-mine supply center that offers enough to keep you entertained, but a relaxed attitude that’s contagious. Along the way there, stop by the visitor’s center in Walsenburg and pick up a map of the famous road that runs through town—the Scenic Highway of Legends.

Be sure to do a little shopping here. Think Santa Fe, but cheaper. You’ll find some of the same artists, and much of the same sort of art, for much less than you’d pay in New Mexico’s trendiest town. Don’t miss the turquoise and silver necklaces at Desert Expressions, which look like they might be worth $300 but cost only about $30. Paintings, sculptures, fiber art and more adorn the handful of shops and galleries in this artist’s enclave. Casa de Pajaros offers unique, imported clothing and accessories. Find great gift ideas at North by Southwest.

World-famous quilter Ricky Tims (co-host of HGTV’s Quilt Show and a local since 2003) looks like a cowboy, sings like a bird and quilts with a passion. His gallery is closed, but quilting workshops are still available. For details, visit www.rickytims.com.

Don’t forget to check the current schedule for live performances at the Francisco Center for the Performing Arts, housed in a historic, remodeled 1892 Presbyterian Church. Call 719-742-5767 or go to www.lavetatheater.org.

Visit the Francisco Fort museum and historic site, right in town. Nine buildings surround the original plaza, shaded by a gigantic, ancient cottonwood tree. For a complete history of the museum or information about tours or hours, call 719-742-5501 or go to www.spanishpeakscountry.com.

Grab lunch at the Ryus Avenue Bakery, or Alys at the La Veta Inn, with an eclectic selection of burgers and tacos, or Charlie’s Market, the hot spot for mid-afternoon ice cream cones.

The historic La Veta Inn is furnished in Western style. The 1899 inn is a quarried sandstone bed and breakfast that is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. Groups might want to stay at the Warehouse Suite, which has four bedrooms and two baths. Cabins, cottages, campgrounds and an RV park round out lodging options.

The story goes, when Col. John Francisco first saw the area and decided to build his fort here, he said: “This is paradise enough for me.” It might be for you, too.

Destination: La Veta
Location: In the Cuchara Valley of southern Colorado. Take Interstate 25 to the Walsenburg exit (#52). Then follow U.S. Hwy 160 west to Colorado Hwy 12 and turn south.
Population: 2,000
Altitude: 7,000 feet
Incorporated: 1871
Information: www.lavetacucharachamber.com, or call Charlie’s Market, 719-742-3651. The LaVeta/Cuchara Chamber is currently without an office or phone number, but Charlie’s Market will take calls.

Diamond chefs create culinary delights
A continued series featuring Colorado’s AAA Four and Five Diamond restaurants.

Montagna, Aspen
Inside the upscale Little Nell hotel, this Four Diamond dining room overseen by chef Ryan Hardy offers “Italian Farmhouse Cooking.” Fresh ingredients come from the chef’s 30-acre Rendezvous Farm.
Philosophy: A lover of handcrafted foods, the chef makes his own cheeses and fruit preserves, and cures his own prosciutto.
Signature dish: The chicken liver pate.
Most popular: Spring pea and ricotta ravioli, and handmade tagliatelle with truffles.

Ludwig’s, Vail
Chef Richard Beichner won the Iron Chef competition in Michigan in 2001 before coming to Colorado. Now at Sonnenalp Resort’s elegant Four Diamond restaurant, he continues to challenge the status quo creating a fresh new approach to fine dining with an emphasis on local, organic ingredients artistically prepared.
Philosophy: Advocates farm-to-table freshness.
Signature and most popular dish: Colorado lamb trio: lamb sausage, braised lamb neck and roasted rack of lamb.

Palace Arms, Denver
Thailand-born chef Thanawat Bates oversees one of Denver’s premier Four Diamond restaurants at the Brown Palace Hotel & Spa. Trained at Colorado Mountain College in Vail, he was banquet chef for the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, D.C. and later the Vail Cascade Resort & Spa.
Philosophy: For guests to “expect the unexpected.”
Signature dish: Crab cake appetizer.
Most popular: The Colorado Bison Rossini with truffles.

Affordable sculptures
Colorado boasts a number of talented sculptors whose works can be seen on Colorado city streets and around the world. But many of them also offer affordable pieces for your home, garden or special space.

Loveland sculptors sell both affordable and lavish pieces in local galleries and at the annual Sculpture in the Park Show and Sale in Benson Park each August.
Former Disney animator and AAA Colorado member Ellen Woodbury sculpts animals and nature. See samples at NatureArtists.com or on Woodbury’s blog.
George Walbye’s Southwestern-motif work often incorporates pottery and sculpture.
Linda Prokop’s whimsical, contemporary bronze sculptures appear in Loveland’s outdoor public sculpture garden as well as in local art galleries.
Huberto Maestas created a lovely white chapel offering a silent place to sit and meditate on a hill outside his hometown San Luis, Colorado’s oldest town. A first-edition maquette of the shrine is included in the Vatican’s permanent collection in Rome. Visit Maestas’ art studio on Main Street, half a block from the foot of the hill. You can’t reach him by phone so you’ll just have to stop by his vast, treasure-packed shop to check out his eclectic work—or catch him at the coffee shop just down the street.
Michael Garman sells gritty sculptures of the good, bad and ugly: cowboys and bums, firefighters and derelicts, sports heroes and prostitutes. Prices start from $35 and go up to $500, with many affordable pieces worthy of any fireplace mantel. See Garman’s work at www.michaelgarman.com.

Colorado caving: prepare to get dirty

Colorado is dotted with caves, but most require expertise. And the U.S. Forest Service closed many wild caves last year due to prevent the spread of the deadly white-nose syndrome among the bat population. So, there are really only two publicly accessible caves in Colorado: Cave of the Winds in Manitou Springs and Glenwood Caverns in Glenwood Springs.

Glenwood Caverns. First opened to the public in 1895, closed in 1917, and reopened in 1999, the caverns offer three touring choices—a tame, well-lighted walking tour, a 90-minute walking and crawling Adventure Tour, and the three-hour Wild Tour, limited to adults and children 13-17 (with an adult) in good physical condition. Wear sturdy footgear and clothes you don’t mind getting dirty (you’ll crawl on your belly, through 18-inch-wide openings, on the Wild Tour). You’ll be provided with lighted helmets, gloves and kneepads. Think you might get claustrophobic? Don’t worry, says spokesman Eric Brotherson. “Our guides will help you get acclimated before you go in,” he says.
Cave of the Winds. In the late 1800s, brothers George and John Pickett stumbled across the opening of this limestone cave while on a church outing. Modern-day visitors have three options for exploring the Picketts’ find: a 45-minute walking tour—interesting but not too strenuous, a one-and-a-half hour lantern tour that explores areas not on the regular tour, or a one-hour Eco/Adventure flashlight tour after hours that’s truly unique.

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