Listing Through Life

We drove by this restaurant a while back, and I thought it looked interesting. I looked it up online and saw that it got good reviews. I also discovered that it was decorated with Uncle Sams!

I ordered bacon, eggs and hash browns, with pancakes. The bacon and hash browns were good. The eggs were fine, but tiny. The pancakes were boring — odd for a pancake house.

Our waitress was a hoot. Her  name was Samantha (Sammy) Joe, “from Texas.” And there were a lot of Uncle Sams.

We probably won’t make a special effort to return, but if we’re in Manitou Springs in need of breakfast, we’d go here again.

I used to collect coins. (At one time or another, I’ve collected just about everything.) I’ve retained enough knowledge and interest to make me want to visit the Money Museum of the American Numismatic Association.

There were four exhibit areas. The first was a temporary exhibit featuring commemorative coins and medallions from the Olympics.

Torches used to light the Olympic flame in different years.

There was an exhibit on gold mining and assaying in Colorado. This giant scale was built for the Denver Mint in 1910 and was used to weigh gold bars.

Coin scales

This has very little to do with money, but I thought it was cool.

Another room contained a collection of U.S. gold coins and other interesting early U.S. coins.

The most interesting part of the museum was the history of money exhibit in the basement.

A $5 Federal Reserve Bank note from 1907 showing Andrew Jackson and a pioneer family, and a $5 Silver Certificate from 1896 showing electricity as the world’s dominant force.

Hobo nickels — Buffalo” nickels from 1913 to 1938 that were carved during the Great Depression. Hobos would trade them for a meal, clothing, or a place to sleep.

When banks shut down during the Great Depression, businesses and towns printed “money” so they could operate during the “bank holiday.” The large white one in the middle of the display is from Des Plaines!

We both found the museum much more interesting than we expected, but there was an awful lot to take in. We’ll probably go back sometime when the temporary exhibit strikes our fancy.

It snowed much of the day, so we decided to stick close to home. We drove to downtown Colorado Springs and ate an early supper at King’s Chef Diner.

It’s as tiny inside as it looks outside. There are only 14 stools, 10 of them along the counter and four along the window. When we entered, there were two open seats, but they weren’t together. A woman sitting by the door called this to the attention of Cassandra, the server. Cassandra had two guys do the “Diner Shuffle,” and they moved down so we could find seats at the corner.

The woman who got us our seats took it upon herself to tell us about the menu and warn us about how hot the green chili is. I ordered the “mini” half-size breakfast burrito with country gravy.

My wife got the “grump,” which was basically my burrito without the wrap. She ordered the ¼ size, which was still huge. The green chili was, in fact, very hot. And Cassandra asked her if she wanted Tabasco Sauce to put on top of it!

Our friend left and another couple came in. The woman announced to the entire place that it was her husband’s birthday and that it always snows on his birthday. She ordered the same thing my wife had and an order of French toast and they compared their experiences. Then another couple came in, and we all did the Diner Shuffle to make room for them. They were from Massachusetts and moved to The Springs two years ago. I warned them about the chili. Since all of us were basically sitting in each other’s laps, it seemed perfectly normal to chat with everyone.

I think next time I’d order the ¼-size Grump with gravy and split an order of the French toast. But the food is only secondary. The cool thing was the way total strangers from very different backgrounds instantly became friends, if only for 15 minutes.

Later in the day, after we toured the Money Museum (next post), the snow really picked up. So of course I thought … ice cream. We drove to BJ’s Velvet Freez. I got a chocolate dip cone and my wife got a turtle sundae. The ice cream was creamy and delicious.