What do we do in the mountains when it rains?
We spent the last three days of our stay in Creede dodging the rain. The early mornings were usually sunny, followed by dark clouds in the late morning, and then rain showers in the early afternoon. Then, the cycle would repeat thoughout the day. However, we did find some things to occupy our time.
We drove to Lake City to check out one of the gift shops, The Cabin. It was loaded with unique items for decorating a cabin or a home in the woods. The unique items didn’t quite fit our Sun Lakes, AZ home. We enjoyed looking around, but, we didn’t purchase anything.
We drove towards South Fork and spotted some mountain goats on the side of the road. That was a fun surprise!
Driving along the river, we some kayakers and rafters. It looks like fun, but, I know that water is freezing!
On another rainy day, we decided to drive to Freemon’s General Store for lunch. We were told that this place had fabulous hamburgers!
We pulled up to the old time building that has a porch/patio. It was a little too chilly to eat outside, so, we opted for an inside table. Their menu hung on the wall and included burgers, hot dogs, chicken sandwich and sides. We ordered at the counter, paid in cash, gave them our name and they brought the food to our table. We ordered Hamburgers with grilled onions and a side order of onion rings. The hamburgers were huge and delicious, and the side of onion rings was tasty but skimpy. Freemon’s was a very popular and busy place with ample seating indoors and outdoors. It was a fun visit to get an old fashioned burger, and soak up the cool ambiance of the place.
In the evening, we decided we would go to historic downtown Creede for a drink. We had seen a bar that advertised live music and BBQ, The Tommy Knocker Tavern.
The Tommyknocker Tavern was established in 1999 by a group of locals in the historic mining town of Creede, Colorado. Over the last fifteen years, it has grown to be a popular spot for locals and tourists alike, featuring great live music all summer and fun local events throughout the winter!
The Tavern’s restaurant (The BBQ Bistro) serves great food in the casual setting of this historic Creede building with a spacious back patio. Delicious sandwiches and our famous BBQ Ribs go great with our selection of both locally and globally brewed beers.
The Tommyknocker Tavern celebrates 23 years in Creede with a summer jam-packed with almost 30 live music shows! Featuring bluegrass, rock, funk, jazz, acoustic, blues, Americana and more from all over Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Texas, Illinois and Rhode Island.
Sounds great…Let’s go!
We found a parking spot and entered the bar. No music and no customers! There was only one person at the bar and he was a friend of the bartender. The internet was down, so, there was no “live music” and we could only pay with cash. We asked for a local light beer, but, they didn’t have any so we settled on 2 bottles of BudLight. As we drank our beers and tried to converse with the bartender, a young boy entered the bar with 36 cents and wanted to know what he could buy…a man came in and wanted a draft beer, but, they were out, the same man asked for a shot of something that they didn’t have, so he leftl A family came in for BBQ but the kitchen closed at 5PM (it was 6PM)…they left. What happened to the bar in the advertisement???
Another day we checked out Pizzeria 8852 in downtown Creede. The pizzeria was located in a famously historical “Old MIner’s Inn” building on Main Street, built in 1901.
The atmosphere in this place was the exact opposite from the Tommy Knocker Tavern. When we entered, the place was full of patrons and very lively. We were lucky to get a table! I usually take photos of the food we order, but, I totally forgot at this location. We ordered the large Supreme Pizza. All their pizzas are made with hand tossed dough and fresh ingredients. It was so goooood!
Back at the RV Park, we took a walk and found a building that we had not seen before. It was a large building with a commercial kitchen, pool table, piano, and tables/chairs for large events. There was a beautiful lounge area with a spectacular fireplace. It was a lodge in the mountains!
On our last day, we headed to the Rio Grande River for a picnic. We found a good flat spot next to the river for our blanket and just sat and took in the beauty of the river and mountains. Several Fisherman in rafts went by as we ate our lunch. Lucky for us, we managed to fit this trip into the dry part of the day!
Tomorrow we start our way towards AZ!
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