Palmer Lake PHOTO TOUR & Information (Colorado Springs, Fountain: camping, living, moving to)

[treedonkey]

Originally Posted by CA****4

I'd also love it if anyone could give me their opinion or impression of palmer lake.... What is it like? What's good? What's bad? Is it family oriented? What is there to do for entertainment?

Okay, here's stab one at answering all your questions:
IMPRESSION: Talk about about Woodland Park, Manitou and all those high country mountain towns if you like, but in reality they are already well known and over developed. To me, Palmer Lake really is one of the best kept secrets around here. I really don't like touting it's virtues unless I'm asked to. But in this case, you asked so nicely, so I will.

What's it like: Small, dirt roads, a post office where all the gals who work there know your name, lots of small town holiday/festival stuff if you're into that (I'm not).

What's Good: It's very close to the mountains, great for hiking, trail running, mountain biking and just about every other outdoor activity I can think of except for swimming and paddling (but we're working on that). Of course, if you demand that your mountains be above treeline and have a true alpien feel, then you may not be too impressed by our peaks: Sundance, Chautauqua, Raspberry, and further south, Mt.Herman (that last one is actually Monument's). On the other hand, if you just like casual strolls through the mountains and across open-space meadows then it's hard to beat the PL area...

What's Bad: Did I say it was small? It is. If I had to rely on the PL townies as my basis for meaningful friendship I probably would have lost my mind and moved back to the city a few months after arriving. Fortunately my wife and I have other outlets for socialization. Not that the people aren't nice, they are, it's just very small... Also, if you're bugged by train noise, you might want to look elsewhere. We have at least 20 trains per day passing through here, at all hours, and there are few places in town that are more than 1/2 mile from the tracks. I think that's why all those folks in Red Rocks build custom homes over there in the treeless fields outside of town, because they prolly figure they'll die from train noise if they lived any closer. As for me, I live less than 1/4 mile from the tracks, and horn, and all, I barely hear it anymore. That red dust that's on my car has been a bigger source of irritation to me than the trains, and the red dust is hardly a big deal either. Also, if you're bugged by motorcycles, PL could be a problem. We get hundreds of them coming into town on a nice summer day, stopping into O'Malley's for who-knows-how-many beers and then moving on. Oh well, if I have to have a crowded beer joint near me I'd rather it be a biker bar, because at least then if they're drunk driving they will most likely only kill themselves and not me.

What's on our minds? Will the lake stay full? Will it become a mudpit again in the near future? Could they put some of that fireworks money into removing some of the potholes or some other public works that would be of more tangible benefit?

Is it family Oriented? other than the biker bar, yes, very much so. Just make sure your kids know not to play along railroad tracks (I see that often and it blows my mind). My wife and I do not have kids but we've always felt like ti;s kid paradise... fishing, ice cream, baseball, hiking, biking, winter sports... pretty much everything i dreamed of doing when I was a kid.

What is there to do for entertainment? Depends on what you consider entertainment. Running up into the woods alone is my idea of entertainment so I'm well-suited here. if you prefer the more traditional sort, there is a coffee shop in town that has some pretty fun live music Wed-Sat in the summertime, and the Art Center here puts on concerts, shows and other events almost every weekend, especially in the summer. They just had their Chautuaqua revival which was a pretty big deal, and of course the July 4th fireworks are spectacular here. If that won;t do it for you, the good think is that COS and Denver are both within and hour's drive. I go to Rockies games regularly, and I'm planning on going to see some shows in COS soon, so you have that available in additions to what Monument, Castle Rock and other closer towns may have to offer.

How about the restaurants? We have many of them here. That seems to be our only local industry, and I believe that they are all good in their own way. Here they are (making my way from north to south down 105):
1) Amuze Bistro - a true, five-star world class restaurants with prices to match, and it only has about 4 tables so if you want to try it make reservations and bring a CC with plenty of cash left on it.
2) The Depot: A great spot for lunch when you're in the mood for a big ol' sandwich or fried chicken or something. Good on the wallet, not so good on the waistline. The waitresses are super friendly. I probably go there more than anywhere else here in town.
3) O'Malleys - The pub. Grill your own steaks. Great when you're in the mood for grilled beef, fried food, and beer. A few drunks seem to be camped out there, but it's not a total dive or anything and I do see families in there during dinner hours.
4) La Zanagra (or whatever it's called... used to be Paravincini's) - A nice, upscale italian place with a great patio dining spot for warm summer eves.
5) Speedtrap Cafe - Coffee, Espresso, Live music on the weekends, and real 'drinks' in the evenings, if you want to have some cocktails without having to hang out in a typical 'bar' this is a great spot. Sometimes they get some really good music.
6) B&E Filling Station - Possibly the best restaurant in town, overall. It's small, but a little bigger than Amuze, but it has excellent food and the prices are very reasonable for what you get. European/Continental fare with lots of specials.
7) Bella Panini - The Pizza/Past place, another one of my favs. Fairly cheap, but good, fresh, quality food, especially if you love thin crust pizza. Their wine list is pretty good as well.
8) Rock House ice Cream - great for ice cream, shakes and fun, snacky food (like their frito salad) as long as you don't mind standing in line and eating amongst hordes of over-excited children.
9) The Country Store - It's really just a gas station with a quickmart inside, but I included it on the lost of eateries because if I ever need to buy and emergency cup of coffee and a breakfast burrito in the morning it's the one place in town which I am sure will be open.
10) Mozaic - At 'the Inn at Palmer Divide'. Very good food, but probably not on the level of B&E and definitely not like Amuze, but fine none-the-less, with good service, decent prices, and a really nice atmosphere with great views of the mountains and the valley looking down toward COS. I would rate this one #1 in ambiance.
11) Pinz Bowling Alley - they remodeled this place in the last couple years and it's really quite nice now. it may actually be one of the best bars in town. If you're in the mood for bowling, beer and fried food, it's a pretty good place. It gets crowded, especially on $2 Tuesdays.
12) Bodhicitta Bakery - RIP Bodhicitta. This was a truly excellent little bakery on the south end of town and she really seemed to put a lot of care into her products. Unfortunately a few months back, the health dept. came in and said they needed to install some kinda $10k smoke vent over the oven and they could not afford the upgrade and had to go out of business instead. Too bad. So sad.

That's it. That takes us to the Monument town line, and they have they're own eateries, although several of them of chains.


Anything else?

[CA****4]

treedonkey: THANKS!! It sounds like PL is my kind of place, small town with everyone knowing everyone but close enough to all the big stuff in COS. I like simple hikes in the woods... and maybe going to a small small concert in a park every once in awhile, but I think COS will have everything and more of all the extra entertainment if I feel like going there.

The train noise isn't a bother. We live 4 blocks from one now and you only hear it when you're outside, and you only hear it for a minute or two.

I'm still waiting for some pictures!!!
& to the one who said they'd do it for $100 --- If I had an extra $100, it'd be yours!

[treedonkey]

Originally Posted by CA****4

treedonkey: THANKS!! It sounds like PL is my kind of place, small town with everyone knowing everyone but close enough to all the big stuff in COS. I like simple hikes in the woods... and maybe going to a small small concert in a park every once in awhile, but I think COS will have everything and more of all the extra entertainment if I feel like going there.

The train noise isn't a bother. We live 4 blocks from one now and you only hear it when you're outside, and you only hear it for a minute or two.

I'm still waiting for some pictures!!!
& to the one who said they'd do it for $100 --- If I had an extra $100, it'd be yours!

I attached on picture to a post on the previous page.

Yesterday at lunch I walked all over town and took pictures of all the business and town buildings, but I'm still mulling over where or how to share them here?

Any suggestions?

[treedonkey]

Okay, here they are...

Palmer Lake Photo Tour

Like I said before, this forum won't support Picasa for direct sharing, so just go to the link if you want to see them. I don't plan on leaving it up very long, so save down whatever you want to keep.

[Mike from back east]

Originally Posted by treedonkey

Okay, here they are...

Palmer Lake Photo Tour

Like, this site won't support Picasa for direct sharing, so just go to the link if you want to see them. I don't plan on leaving it up very long, so save down whatever you want to keep.

Great job, especially the helpful captions.

Isn't "La Zingara" the old Paravachini's Restaurant?

[treedonkey]

Originally Posted by Mike from back east

Great job, especially the helpful captions.

Isn't "La Zingara" the old Paravachini's Restaurant?

Thanks.

yep, they changed the name, and a few menu items, but the owner and personnel remain intact. Good thing. I really hope all those restaurants can make it through this recession, else all we'll have left is the Biker bar and then we'll REALLY be a one-horse town.

PS: Comments welcome on the pics... it's nice to know what people think.

[vfrpilot]

Great pictures. The Lake is looks really nice right now.

[treedonkey]

Originally Posted by vfrpilot

Great pictures. The Lake is looks really nice right now.

Yeah, it's mostly filled itself on its own due to all the rain, which is great. Plus, the city maintenance crew has spent a lot of time clearing out the old brush and weekds and making mulch out of it or just taking it to the landfill, which is also nice. Hopefully it will stay nice for a while. We'll see..

[McGowdog]

Thx 4 the pics Tree, and nice arial!

[CA****4]

thanks so much for the photos... AND the comments!!

It's so much more helpful when people explain it ... and it's more personal with your opinon... LOVED IT...

Thanks 100x over for those photos...

It looks VERY similar to the small town feel that I was looking for (and what I'm used to here in upstate NY).... I cant wait to visit and take my own photo tour... I'll end up having 3000 pictures from each town by the time I'm done.