Business in Pueblo

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Business in PUEBLO

Since Jeff was considering hiring someone to work in Pueblo, we took a drive to Pueblo two separate weekends. The first was in October, just Jeff and I, to check out the town. It was just a day trip with about a 2 hour drive south of Denver. Pueblo's population is around 160,000 (the 9th largest city in Colorado) so it's not a small town but does have a downtown that has that small town appeal. We spent most of our time in the downtown area. Downtown Pueblo has some unique street art with some older style buildings that add character to it. We stopped in at Bingo Burger for some lunch and sat on the patio. We like to find places that are unique to the towns and not just chain restaurants. Their burgers are made to order and include Pueblo's famous chili pepper's in their burgers. They were pretty good but more on the drier side. Loved the fresh cut fries though and special sauces you could order with them. After lunch we drove around town just to see the area. We also took a walk around the Arkansas Riverwalk which is probably Pueblo's famous tourist attraction. I had been there previously with my Dad and the kids when we came to visit a few years back. At the time of our visit the river had been drained or low. This time is was full and was a very pretty scene with the fall leaves on the trees. I of course couldn't help but take lots of pictures! The entire walk around the riverwalk is a mile. It was a beautiful sunny day for a walk. Besides the riverwalk and some museums and parks, there's not much else to see in Pueblo. We called it a day and headed back home.

Our 2nd trip to Pueblo was the beginning of November when we had an overnight stay and traveled with Jeff's manager so they could conduct some interviews there. They reserved the hotel conference room at the Springhill Suites and conducted their interviews that morning and early afternoon while I hung out in the lobby area. Nice hotel and nice decor but older building so you could see some of the wear and some areas not as clean. We were able to check into the room after lunch which is where I hung out until they were done with interviews. While waiting for their interviews to be done, I did some of my own research of Pueblo to find some restaurants and sight seeing spots. During my search I learned that Pueblo was the #1 worst city to live in Colorado. Hmmmm, interesting. Their crime rate is very high with a high poverty level. Knowing that, my decision to venture out on my own in the town was less appealing so I stayed put in the hotel and got a little workout in. After interviews were done we took a walk over to the riverwalk and stopped in at the first restaurant we saw which was Brues Alehouse. It had good reviews but it was a brewery and therefore no Jack Daniels. Since I had ordered my drink already we just ordered an appetizer (meat and cheese tray - which was very good) and moved on to find a different place. Rosarios Italian restaurant was also on the riverwalk but it was packed and a longer wait so we kept walking and ended up more downtown and found a nice Italian place called La Forchetta. They were also very busy and tables reserved but there was room on the patio and they had heaters back there so we took a seat on the patio. Plenty warm with the heaters. This was authentic Italian. Jeff almost needed a translation on the menu and his manager was pleased with our restaurant choice as he likes Italian. I ordered the squash ravioli which was very good, very sweet too. Everyone liked their dishes. We ended the evening with a "night cap" at the hotel bar while I listened to the two guys talk "shop talk" all night.

The following day was Saturday and a free day so I convinced the guys that we should take the drive over to see Bishop's Castle. I had also been here with my Dad and the kids and it was well worth the drive to see it. It was about an hour from Pueblo near the San Isabel National Forest in Rye, CO. It was a very windy day to be headed there but we headed there anyway. As we arrived there were several cars pulled over along side of the road. This had become quite a tourist attraction yet it doesn't cost anything to view it and it's not really monitored, nor is there really a parking area. We walked around the castle and even went to the top which made my knees weak. You are mostly walking on wrought iron that you can see straight through to the ground. It's amazing to think that one man hand-made the entire castle (I think I read he had a little help from his Dad). Bishop purchased the land for $450 when he was 15 years old. Starting building a cottage and then later turned it into a castle. It is a pretty spectacle sight to see and the guys were pretty impressed. I think they thought it wouldn't be worth the trip. While we were there a young girl dressed in a beautiful full dress was getting pictures taken. I can only imagine how beautiful those pics will be. Not sure if she was a bride or if it was just a photo shoot for something. Of course it's a great place for taking pictures so I was snapping away on my iphone. After touring the castle we headed for home. It was an interesting drive with lots of wide open spaces for miles. We were all pretty hungry so we stopped in a small town of Florence to have some pizza at Papa's Pizza. Very good pizza and cute little place on one of the main streets in downtown. Also noticed it was a big antique town as Jeff's manager stopped in to one of the stores to purchase something. I listened to more shop talk on the way home.

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