Less than 75 miles away from Denver, Colorado Springs is a place I've traveled through many times but have not fully explored. I seem to always travel west to the mountains for recreational activities or when heading south usually make a beeline through "The Springs" en-route to my destination. Colorado Springs is a significant destination in its own right for tourists, though. Based on most of the accents I heard at tourist sites, I think that’s especially true for Texans and other southerners who don’t need to go all the way into the mountains to feel cool and comfortable when they come from home.

I’ve explored the north side of the city which includes Garden of the Gods Park and the U .S. Air Force Academy more than I have the south side, so for this trip I mapped out a few things on the south side of town that looked interesting.

The Broadmoor Hotel is probably not a place I will ever decide I have enough money to spend a night at, nor am I likely to ever be in a situation where someone else like an employer would pay for me to attend a conference there. I’ve heard the Sunday brunch buffet is absolutely fabulous, though, and could find it in myself to fork out a little more for good food and lots of it. In the meantime, though, I’ll just have to walk around and enjoy the grounds at one of America’s most famous hotels. It’s one of those places that has grown in popularity with the American population and incomes and numerous modern wings have been added to the historic structure in recent decades.

One place that was pretty interesting I wasn’t aware of until recently is the Will Rogers Shrine of the Sun, up a steep hill on the south side of town with great views overlooking the Broadmoor Hotel, the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and north to the southern part of the Front Range. The shrine is an 80-foot tall tower built in 1937 that houses the ashes of Colorado Springs philanthropist Spencer Penrose. Penrose supported many of Colorado Springs local institutions like the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo and the Broadmoor Hotel, so maybe I should call this my Spencer Penrose tour day. Penrose was apparently persuaded not to name the shrine for himself so he named it for his friend Will Rogers. I particularly enjoyed the first floor murals by New Mexico artist Randall Davey that depict the early development of the Pikes Peak region.

And my third stop of the day was the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, a place I’ve known about for more than 20 years and have always thought, “This summer I’m going to go to the zoo one day.” Cheyenne Mountain Zoo has received numerous awards for quality of its facilities and has some unique species like Okapis that you don’t see in many zoos. Other highlights are the Meerkats, Hippos, Gorillas, and the Giraffe petting since you can view them from a platform which puts you at giraffe head height. Watch out if one tries to kiss you – they have very rough tongues. Overall I was pretty impressed with what I feared might be a bit of a tourist trap.