What's Your Favorite Place?

Do you have a favorite place? Oh, I'm sure everyone does. I have to admit I have several favorites - Yellowstone National Park is high on my list of favorite places. So is my cabin in the mountains of Northern Utah. Recently, I visited the state of Kentucky and fell in love with it. I could go on and on, but today I want to talk a little bit about Colorado and the area near Glenwood Springs - Redstone and Marble.

Now why do I want to talk about that area? I have to admit its because my recent book, A Perfect Catch, talks about the area of Redstone and Marble.

Have you ever had a conversation with a new friend and you talk about one of your favorite places? Well, in my book, A Perfect Catch, that's exactly what they do. Erin and K.C. go to dinner in Park City - oh, that's another beautiful favorite spot of mine. Anyway, K.C. tells her about Redstone and why he loves it there. I wasn't sure how many of you have been there so I thought I'd explain a little about Redstone, Colorado, and the tiny town of Marble.

Redstone is called the Ruby of the Rockies and was an old mining town situated along the beautiful Crystal River.

 At one time, Redstone was a small arts community. Many of the old homes have been turned into antique and gift shops and some of them are still open.  A beautiful Inn was built as housing for a model coal mining town in the late 1800s by John C. Osgood.  The town of Redstone was his dream, and the inn and coke ovens across from the town stand as monuments to that dream.

Today, the Inn is a nice place to relax, eat or enjoy a drink, and sit on the terrace and listen to various musicians.  A few of the old miner's houses still dot the steep hillside and the small town is an interesting place to visit.

Once of my favorite places just outside of Redstone is Cleveholm Manor or many call it "the Redstone Castle". This was Mr. Osgood's former residence. At one time it was open to the public to explore, and then it was turned into a bed and breakfast. The last time I was there, it was closed to visitors, but it's still a grand place and interesting to drive by as it sits atop the hillside.

It has forty-two rooms and built in the Tudor Style with servants’ quarters, a guard house with a huge wrought-iron and rock gate, and carriage houses. You can sit on the patio and enjoy the wonderful view below of the clear flowing water of the Crystal River amidst the aspens and pines.

 

Years ago, a railway went from Carbondale just outside of Glenwood Springs past Redstone to Marble where some of the world's best marble, including the six-ton piece used for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, was quarried. The railway is not there, but along Highway 133 you can see where the railroad bed once was. Along the riverbed you can see pieces of scrap marble, and I understand it was dumped there to shore up the riverbank. Below is a picture of a couple chunks of the white marble laying alongside the road leading up to the old quarry.

The little town of Marble is surrounded by tall peaks and thick aspens as the road twists and narrows as you travel along the Crystal River. The Colorado Yule Marble Mill, located about four miles above the small town of Marble, closed in 1942 but reopened in 1990. Blocks of marble are trucked down as shown in this picture.  

I'm told this is one of only a few places in the world where you can get white marble.

If you're ever in Glenwood Springs. Colorado, take a small roadtrip along Highway 133. Follow the beautiful Crystal River. Stop in Redstone and do some exploring, perhaps take time to get a drink or a snack in the old hotel and travel back in time as you visit Marble. It's one of my favorite places. What's yours?

I hope this gives you a few tidbits about the Redstone and helps you better picture the small town Erin and K.C. talk about in my story, A Perfect Catch. If you haven't picked up your copy of the book, it is available in both ebook and print formats through Amazon.com.

Happy Reading!

K. R. Bailey

www.KRBailey.com