Alligators ... in Colorado? (Shallow Thoughts)

Alligators ... in Colorado?

A recent trip through Alamosa reminded me that I'd never written about my trip to see the gators. High time!

As you drive up Colorado highway 17 north of Alamosa, you pass a series of old, faded, hand-painted signs saying things like "Alligators? In Colorado?" and "COLORADO GATORS Discount Tickets sold HERE!" I'd seen them for years, and chuckled a little but didn't ever give them much thought. The desert is full of signs for roadside attractions that were abandoned fifty years ago.

But five or six years ago, someone told me that Colorado Gators actually was quite an interesting place, too bad it had recently closed. Darnit — why couldn't someone have told me that before it closed? Oh, well.

Then last year, we were heading up 17 on our way to visit the relatives, and I couldn't help noticing that there were really quite a lot of signs for an attraction that was supposedly gone. And some of the signs looked fairly new. We had some time to spare, so we took the detour and found Colorado Gators still very much open for business.

Read more ...