Remembering September 11th

This photo was taken at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado last year when we were there for the General Society of Mayflower Descendants Board of Assistants meeting in Denver.  We took a few days to explore Colorado, where I have never been.  One of our stops was a few days in Colorado Springs.  The Air Force Academy was our first destination.  

This memorial is labeled "In Memory of Our Fellow Graduates Who Have Fallen in Battle".  It was our specific desire to see the carved name of Chuck Jones, who was Vincent's boss and co-worker, and who was on American Airlines Flight 11 on September 11th, 2001.  Chuck not only was a co-worker, he was a 1974 graduate of the Air Force Academy, former Air Force Colonel, an ex-astronaut, an MIT graduate, and a wonderful man. It was a great honor that his death was considered "Fallen in Battle" because he was working for a defense project at the time of this act of terror. 

The chapel of the US Air Force Academy

Charles Edward Jones, wikipedia article:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Edward_Jones    

My 2011 blog post on September 11th:   https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2011/08/remembering-september-11th.html  

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Remembering September 11th", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 11, 2020, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2020/09/remembering-september-11th.html: accessed [access date]). 

Weathervane Wednesday - Open or Closed?

Today's weathervane was photographed in Manitou Springs, Colorado. 

This cute little weathervane resides on the front door step of The Kitchen restaurant in Manitou Springs, Colorado.  We saw it when we went in for lunch, and since we left after closing time at 2pm, we were able to see that the weathervane had a sign on the other side, too!

Click here to see over 400 other weathervanes featured on "Weathervane Wednesday":
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday   

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday - Open or Closed?", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 9, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/10/weathervane-wednesday-open-or-closed.html: accessed [access date]).

Weathervane Wednesday - A Fossilized Bee

This unusual weathervane was photographed near the entrance to the Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument in Colorado.  We passed this weathervane and didn't understand the significance of this odd piece of art until after we saw the displays of the fossils in the visitor center.  Scroll down to see the sign for the National Park entrance.  

34 million years ago, during the Eocene period, this valley was a lush lake surrounded by sequoia trees.  A nearby volcano exploded and the volcanic ash covered the lake (similar to Pompeii) and any plants, insects, or animals were preserved in the fine layers of ash, clay and mud which became shale.  Now the lake bed is surrounded by a petrified forest of tree stumps, and the shale fossil beds have yielded many fossilized insects, fish, parts of small mammals, and plants.  

This is the famous Florissant bee

A leaf captured as a finely detailed fossil

Petrified stumps of giant sequoia trees

These layers of shale yield many fossils
from the ancient lake bed

Another petrified sequoia stump

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument website:   https://www.nps.gov/flfo/index.htm

Florissant Fossil Beds National Monument at Wikipedia:   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florissant_Fossil_Beds_National_Monument

Click here to see over 400 other weathervanes featured on "Weathervane Wednesday":
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday   

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday - A Fossilized Bee", Nutfield Genealogy, posted October 2, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/10/weathervane-wednesday-fossilized-bee.html: accessed [access date]).

The Penrose Heritage Museum and their Abbott Downing Coaches from Concord, New Hampshire

The Penrose Heritage Museum is located at the Broadmoor Hotel and Resort in Colorado Springs, Colorado.  Yesterday I blogged about the weathervane at the hotel, and today I have photos from the museum, especially the two Abbott Downing coaches on exhibit.

Originally this little museum was "The Carriage House Museum" and it featured many antique carriages and coaches, some used by the hotel to transport guests and others were just collected by the Penrose family who owned the hotel.  In 2005 this museum was expanded to include the collection of antique automobiles used in the Pikes Peak Climb.  The museum also has Native American artifacts on the second floor.

This Concord Coach was built around 1857 by the Abbott Downing Company in Concord, New Hampshire.  Before the railroads, Concord Coaches were popular transportation in the American West.  You have seen them in Western movies, but there are very few of these original Concord Coaches on display in museums.  There are two at this museum in Colorado Springs.

This second coach was built by Abbott Downing in Concord around 1895.  The "Yellowstone" model coach was a sightseeing carriage used in Yellowstone National Park.  In the 1890s this wagon was used at the hotel for excursions to tourist spots like Pikes Peak and Garden of the Gods.  William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody bought this wagon in the 1890s for $1,800 (quite a sum in those days!) and used it to entertain guests at his Pahaska Tepee Ranch near Cody, Wyoming. His notable guests included President Teddy Roosevelt, millionaire "Diamond Jim" Brady, and members of European royalty. 

Here are some of the other objects on display at the museum:

Goat Cart for children

The Penrose Heritage Museum:   http://ppihc.org/penrose-heritage-museum-fans/ 

The Broadmoor Hotel: https://www.broadmoor.com/ 

Previous posts about the Abbott Downing Company that built Concord Coaches in New Hampshire:

A weathervane from Concord (with a history of the Abbott Downing Company)
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/04/weathervane-wednesday-stagecoach.html 

A weathervane with a connection to the Abbott family:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2013/04/weathervane-wednesday-brought-to-you-by.html 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "The Penrose Heritage Museum and their Abbott Downing Coaches from Concord, New Hampshire", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 26, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/09/the-penrose-heritage-museum-and-their.html: accessed [access date]).

Weathervane Wednesday ~ At the Broadmoor Hotel

A few weeks ago we were in Colorado, and Vincent took me to have dinner at the Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs, where he used to attend the Space Symposium before he retired.  This elegant hotel near the Rocky Mountains reminds me of the Bretton Woods grand hotel in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. It is located 6,230 feet above sea level (almost the same as the height of Mount Washington) and was built in 1918.  It is close to Pike's Peak and Cheyenne Mountain.

The unique lantern weathervane over the front lobby of the hotel lights up at night. It's shape reminds me of Aladdin's lamp in the old story from 1,001 Arabian Nights.   Scroll down to see this eleven story tower and weathervane in the day, and at night.  A lantern is often a symbol of hospitality.

An interesting connection between the Broadmoor Hotel and New Hampshire is the painting of the hotel by Maxfield Parrish.  This painting is often reproduced on gift items at the hotel - T shirts, mugs, calendars, magnets, etc.  I have a coffee mug with this painting Vincent brought me about 15 years ago.  Maxfield Parrish (1870 - 1966) was born in Philadelphia but lived in Cornish and Plainfield, New Hampshire near the Cornish Art Colony until his death at age 95.  The Currier Museum of Art in Manchester, New Hampshire has many of his paintings and has held exhibitions of his work.

You can see three of Maxfield Parrish's paintings in the Main Mezzanine, including this painting of the hotel. It is to the right when you ascend the escalator from the main lobby.   Parrish was a guest of the Broadmoor Hotel in 1920.

The Broadmoor Hotel website:   https://www.broadmoor.com/

Click here to view over 400 other Weathervane Wednesday posts:
https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/search/label/Weathervane%20Wednesday 

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Heather Wilkinson Rojo, "Weathervane Wednesday ~ At the Broadmoor Hotel", Nutfield Genealogy, posted September 25, 2019, ( https://nutfieldgenealogy.blogspot.com/2019/09/weathervane-wednesday-at-broadmoor-hotel.html: accessed [access date]).