A close (and fun) friend suggested that we spend the Friday morning after Thanksgiving in a…read more"Scraptastic" class at this North Boulder location, and I am so glad that I went. The overall atmosphere within Erinn Diekman's glass art workshop was so terrific, and I had such a great time. Erinn was truly kind to this arts & crafts novice, the newbie of all newbies, but she made it such a fun experience as I learned about creating art work (making bowls, plates, wall hangings, ornaments, coasters, etc) from scrap glass in all sorts of colors, transparencies, shapes, and sizes. Whether you're an amateur like me, or a serious artist, this is a really fun way to spend a couple of hours, either by yourself or with friends & family. Erinn is patient, friendly, helpful, and brilliant, making the whole experience pleasant. Strong recommendation.

The employees are very nice, equipped with great knowledge. Our tour guide Toren was really fun and…read moreeducational! You would have never known she's only done a handful of tours and is new-ish touring with Argo Mill. The tour was very interesting and living in Colorado for 20+ years, I've always seen the red building driving by Idaho Springs but never thought they had tours available to check out. We panned for gold at the end and that was very fun to learn how to do that. All in all I'd recommend to support local and Idaho Springs to come check them out. The tour is not handicap friendly so if you have a wheel chair it would not be ideal to walk through the mill. Hard hat is for show with the tunnel visit but it was def a fun experience with photo opportunity.

The Argo Mine & Tunnel tour in Idaho Springs is such a unique and educational experience. The…read moreguided tour takes you deep into Colorado's gold mining history and really brings the story of the miners to life. We purchased our tickets on site at the tour location. Tours times fill up quickly and you can also book tours online. You start the tour by watching a video that gives you a history of the tunnel and mill. The Argo Mill and Tunnel became an international center of milling and tunneling innovation and served for many gold mines in Colorado. Construction of the Argo Tunnel began in 1893 and lasted 10 years until it reached Central City 4.2 miles away. The Argo Mill was a state of the art facility providing the latest technological advancements in milling and situated at the mouth of the mighty tunnel. On January 19th, 1943, a catastrophic flood in the tunnel caused the Argo Mill and Tunnel to cease operations. Then we loaded on a shuttle and took a short ride to the mouth of the Argo Tunnel. We start by picking up safety equipment including a helmet. Walking through the tunnel itself is like going back in time, it's cool, damp, and feels like stepping into another era. Then we moved to the Mill itself that had many original equipment items still on site. Our guide was knowledgeable, engaging, and shared so many interesting details about how the mine operated, the hardships miners faced, and how important the Argo was to Colorado's development. The guide explained each piece of machinery and the purpose along with an explanation for any missing equipment. You can tell he is passionate about preserving the history. The museum area is well done and adds great context after the tour. After the tour, perused the gift shop and got some great souvineers for 50% off! Highly recommend for families, visitors, or anyone looking to learn something new while exploring the mountains. It's a perfect stop if you're passing through Idaho Springs, especially if you enjoy history, geology, or unique local experiences.

I am an opera fanatic, and have attended probably 200 all over the world in theatres both grand and…read moremodest. Today, however, I had the inestimable pleasure of perfect seats at the Central City Opera house to witness the most perfect rendition of The Barber of Seville I've ever seen. Everything was simply perfect; the set, the costuming, the musicians, the director, and above all, the perfectly cast singer/actors. There was not one weak link among them. They not only sang the parts perfectly, they were physically perfect for their roles. I don't know why the DCPA has so much trouble casting (especially sopranos), but the CCO simply nailed each and every one; no fat sopranos or geriatric tenors bumbling around the stage playing the parts of lithe heroines or young militiamen. My hat's off to the casting director!! (The ONLY suggestion I'd make (and this is nigh on trivial) is to ask the musicians in the pit to PLEASE aim their music stand lighting down toward them instead of aiming it up in the eyes of the first five rows of the audience; the light was blinding. Thanks.) It is ABSOLUTELY worth the drive up to Central City to see this production if you can still snag tix at this late date. You'll be glad you did.

From the Front of the House to the Back of the House all the seats afford a perfect view of the…read morestage and the acoustics are awesome. We attended The Pirates of Penzance and from the opening scene to the finale we were totally entertained. The cast was amazing and the delivery of the songs and music were nothing but fantastic. Considering the Opera House was open a year before Gilbert and Sullivan premiered it in 1879 it was a perfect match and we were spoiled by the production and the ambiance of the house!

So we just went to the 1940's Ball at the Boulder Airport June 15th after getting our hopes up for…read moreover a year after my fiancé's friend went and told him about it. He's a huge history buff so we went all out on buying a suit and accessories for him, a dress and accessories for me, plus the time and effort putting it all together. I don't know if this is how it is every year and I'm aware it was sold out, but for what we paid we felt pretty let down. First, I'm disabled and nobody knew where to tell us to park for ADA parking, we had to ask 5 people and make 2 circles before someone directed us somewhat correctly. And a guy in a hi-vis vest basically told us to park where we were at which wasn't super accessible but we made it work. I'm not wheelchair bound yet but it was a good walk from where we parked. There seemed like there was no planning for ADA parking. I couldn't imagine having to navigate that area in a wheelchair or even with a cane. Upon entry, we noticed the crowds and how tight it was trying to walk around there. You were bumping into people everywhere you turned. There were booths to sell things in a portion of the area and even that was crowded. And it didn't seem like there were very many of them. And you pretty much had to wait in line to get to the booth and actually go in or see their offerings. Every single thing from the atm, to drinks, to photos with planes or scenes, had a line of at least 50-75 people, or more in some instances, often times having multiple long lines for things like each side of the planes or alcoholic drinks. Or lines for drink tickets to go stand in another line for drinks. We opted out of drinking after seeing the process. Even if you bought drink tickets in advance, you'd have had a really long line. And then lines were running into other lines, and in the middle of the line about every 15 minutes they had to split the crowds to get their little trash carts around. We tried to walk around to things but everything was so full there was no room to enjoy it, couldn't even find room on the dance floor or anywhere near that stage. The other dance area in the hangar was packed full and you couldn't get in. We were able to find a spot to stand and hear a few Hawaiian songs, the group was really good. Afterwards we got a few pictures and decided maybe the lines would die down if we grabbed dinner. When we found the dining area the tables and chairs were basically squished together so badly that you couldn't get to the only available seating. I don't know who set this thing up but the tables were set up where there was maybe 2 ft of room between each of them, add some folding chairs on each side of this narrow isle and people and you're practically on top of one another. After standing around and looking for 15 minutes we finally found 2 spots, having to climb over 3 people to get there. It took about 10 minutes at the atm, another 30 for 2 lemonades, and another 30 for 2 burgers. By this time we were less than impressed but we were keeping our seats and waiting for the advertised flyover at 735ish. By 830 it still had never happened. We never even knew why it didn't happen, if there was an announcement, it was not audible. It was still on the website as a scheduled activity at 730. It was a big disappointment especially since it was one of the reasons why my fiancé wanted to go. It was getting dark and they started the "drive in movie" which was just short clips, like trailers, for everything Bob Hope had ever been in. No actual movie at least while we were there before we gave up and left. We got one single picture of us with one plane. That line only had like 10 people. We Didn't get to dance, didn't get to do any of the other activities, and I feel cheated after spending a total of almost $700 between the tickets, food, clothes, and accessories. I'm really glad I didn't spend money to get my hair or makeup done. It's like somebody thought "how many people can we cram in here for at least $100 each?" Like did vendors or certain activities bail out? Like is this how this event is? Looking around we weren't the only people who looked miserable. It wasn't a "Ball", it was like a crammed flea market with 20 booths a few classic cars and armed forces equipment and a few planes and long lines everywhere to see it more than in passing. It felt thrown together and seemed like we paid $200 to stand in line for dinner and to watch some movie trailers from the 1940s.

Such an incredible event. The entertainment is u paralleled. The vintage vendors are so amazing…read more The airplane static display... next level. Just a unique experience all around.

Visited this wonderful museum over the 4th of July weekend. Enjoyed it very much and plan to stop…read morein again to see what's been added. Great fun for everyone in the family and well worth your time!

Although the Gilpin Museum is one of the most comprehensive museums one could visit (chock full of…read morehistory and unique artifacts from the area) it was pretty clear that the Gilpin Historical Society does not really care too much for visitors coming to their sites. When we visited the museum, reception was lukewarm at best. However, given that its a self-guided museum we strolled around the building and read about each exhibit (note to the society: you could up charge tourists like us who come to your city for the historical value if you offered guided tours with a docent or using an app audio guide). The visit to Washington Hall however (were tours for the Opera House, Teller House, St James church, old Print Shop and Thomas House all depart from) was extremely disappointing. We inquired about a tour of the Opera/Teller Houses to a younger female with glasses and long strawberry blond hair (she never introduced herself; no name provided) who mentioned she would need to cross the street to see if an opera tour was possible (no tours are allowed while the troupe is in session). It seemed like she was annoyed to have to make the trip, but she did and returned shortly afterwards announcing no opera house tours were allowed, due to ongoing rehearsals. She then proceeded to begin typing on her laptop without further details or inquiries (to weather we may want to tour other available properties, to provide an amount for the teller tour, or any interactions with us whatsoever) and merely continued to type in silence for several minutes. Having gotten the hint that we were disturbing, we let her continue her work and took the chance to peruse the gambling exhibit waiting until she'd provide a hint that she was done with her work. When we ran out of displays to read, we approached to ask if tours started at a set time, to which she replied: "the tour is $10 per person, and will start as soon as you pay me". Taken aback, but with not much choice, we paid for the Teller House tour (note: she never mentioned touring any of the other buildings, which we knew of and were very interested in visiting but given the rude nature of the interaction we lost interest in spending additional time with this tour guide) and proceeded across the street to the hotel to commence the tour. She was quite knowledgeable and not a bad tour guide, but by then she had ruined our experience and put me in a very bad mood (so much so I decided not to tip. First time for me I have to admit). It's very unfortunate that in such a small town fully dependent on tourism someone who works (or volunteers) for the most important historical attractions in town would be so clueless about customer service, but alas she missed the opportunity to sell us additional ticketed tours as well as to make a nice tip. I truly fail to see what slight we may have caused her, but apparently it was enough to grant her behavior...

I called earlier today and spoke to a very nice lady on the phone who was more than happy to…read moreschedule a time for me to come checkout the Museam on the same day! I wasn't disappointed- the submarine they had in there was truly quite impressive! And let me tell you- the $10 admission for this place is a STEAL! There's SO MUCH to see in here, they have SO MUCH COOL STUFF!I definitely recommend checking this place out!

Great art by a very friendly local artist! Also fun to see a piece of history since the building…read moreis over a hundred years old. Lovely garden grounds as well-a must see!

Quaint little gallery in town. I ended up buying a print that I just loved. Elizabeth was so very…read morewarm and friendly. I wish she had a smaller original oil painting that I absolutely loved. As it is, I bought a smaller print. Glad I made the stop. It's attached to a thrift store that I found awesome bargains on too.

Their free tour is a must!! At first, I thought, oh hell no, this is way too expensive. Then I did…read moretheir short tour and was ready to blow all my money. Tour is short, but it was so great to see the attention and detail that goes into every puzzle. Each step and each person carefully doing the tedious steps that ensures each puzzle coming out beautifully. Love their wall of shame!

The puzzles are wooden puzzles and the designs are very interesting. Most are very colorful,…read moremosaic-like and very artistic. They have several puzzles out in the store for people to put together and I completed one that was almost done!!! That felt good.