Saturday, August 4, 2012

The mystery is revealed!

Folks following along religiously with this blog (seriously, what's wrong with you people?) might recall this picture:
And in particular, I couldn't help but wonder why an antique store had costume rentals, particularly this time of year.  Well, we have our answer...Boom Days!  That's right, I reported that Boom Days had started yesterday and the fact that it's a big yearly festival here in Leadville.  Matt talked to some folks who come every year from Pennsylvania, in fact.

So the theme is to hark back to the time when Leadville was in its heyday, and that's the very late 1800's.  So the locals actually dress up in costumes for the events, as seen here:

The one on the right, not the one on the left!
They have fake gunfights in the street, but the garb is as close as we get to the fake brothel part, I guess.  According to this blog, "by 1880 Leadville boasted 120 saloons, 118 gambling halls, 110 beer gardens, and 35 brothels."  And that's all inside of one square mile.  Talk about a happening place!

They also have a car show, and here are some of the highlights of that:
Lamborghini Countach that is a native of Leadville.  Incredibly shocking.

Superformance Cobra replica, also a Leadville native.

Does this need words? At least it was NOT a Leadville native.
They have a great selection of fair food, and today I had a bacon-wrapped sausage on a stick.  And homemade potato chips.  And awesome sweet tea.  What more could you ask for?  Oh, I also did a workout earlier...a long walk up a steep hill.  Necessary, but booooooring.  At least we did it on somewhere I hadn't really seen before, and I did push my bike up so I could ride back down.  Matt got a good little workout in by spinning along beside me as I walked, so that was cool.  Plus I had someone to talk to!

Anyway, Boom Days is huge around here, and not a bad way to spend a few afternoon hours, certainly.

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