Georgetown, Colorado offers a number of attractions from the Georgetown Loop Railroad, Hamill House, Hotel de Paris Museum, and Guanella Pass which is a Scenic and Historic Byway. I landed there recently on a whirlwind tour from Denver to Keystone for the annual TBEX event.
The town itself is cushioned between some of the most majestic peaks in the state. This historical attractive gen houses a number of interesting eclectic shops and cafes. It has managed to keep its Victorian charm from its external architecture to some of the items it sells in its antique stores throughout the town. All on Rose Street or 6th Street, worth diving into is the Antique Emporium, Grantiques, Nora Bloome’s Antiques, Powder Cache Antiques and Ophelia’s.
While its not as expansive as I’ve seen in other parts of the country, the Georgetown Rock Shop features a healthy inventory of fossils, meteorites and crystals along with items like animal carvings made from cut and polished stones, spheres, coasters and bookends.
Specific to the area is Railroad Art by Scotty, which presents the custom matted and framed collector Railroad Art Prints by renowned artist H.L. Scott, III. Each print of Scott’s highly detailed pen and ink drawings of trains are available in a variety of frame combinations.
And, of course you can’t have a small western town without a trading company, so be sure to check out the Buckskin Trading Company and High Country Trading Post, both located on 6th Street.
For sweet bites, check out the Georgetown Valley Candy Company A.K.A. – Fort Mackinaw Candy Factory, Yuma Bob’s Tavern, Mountain Buzz Cafe and The Happy Cooker, known for its European Waffles, 
homemade breads, soups, chilies & desserts.
My favorite place was a quaint specialty place called CAKE, which offers cupcakes and other delicious desserts.
Seriously, does it get much quainter than this?
A close second favorite was this charming little shop which offers old fashioned milkshakes, as well as trinkets, books, postcards and clothing.
Georgetown also has an interesting mining history. The Georgetown Loop Railroad was one of Colorado’s first visitor attractions. Completed in 1884, this stretch of three-foot narrow gauge railroad was considered an engineering marvel for its time. Georgetown and Silver Plume (both mining towns), lie two miles apart in a steep, narrow mountain canyon.
To connect them, the railroad’s builders designed a “corkscrew” route that traveled twice the distance, slowly gaining more than 600 feet in elevation. It included horseshoe curves, 4% grades and four bridges across Clear Creek, including the massive Devil’s Gate High Bridge. Today, the train is used for tourism for the most part and you can take short scenic trips or upgrade to the dining car where they’ll serve you cheese and fruit along with red and white wine selections. Refer to my write-up on the Georgetown Loop Railroad tour.
You can take the short loop and then return to the town for lunch or more browsing in the umpteen number of quaint shops, trading posts, cafes, bistros and art galleries. I’m a fan of showing off the art from local artisians wherever possible and this town, like so many in its category, is not short of talent. The Georgetown Gallery, based on 6th Street, offers fine art by Colorado artists. Also in town is Dragonfly Glassworks, which features hand blown art glass by many local artists. There’s also Georgetown Gallery of Fine Arts, Grizzly Creek Gallery, Mountain Magic Stained Glass, Railroad Art by Scott (mentioned above), and Stonehenge Art Gallery.
So if you pass through this charming town, stop into some of these galleries and support the local artists.
Below is our ‘travel writing’ team hamming it up in front of the Hotel de Paris Museum.
Above: SF Gate’s Spud Hilton, Renee Blodgett, We Blog the World, Chris Christensen with Amateur Traveler, Matt Long with LandLopers, and Andrew Hazelton with the Platinum Traveller. (yes two l’s – he’s an Aussie :-).
For more blog posts on Colorado, click here. See my whiz bang tour post here.
Renee Blodgett is the founder of We Blog the World. The site combines the magic of an online culture and travel magazine with a global blog network and has contributors from every continent in the world. Having lived in 10 countries and explored nearly 80, she is an avid traveler, and a lover, observer and participant in cultural diversity.
She is also the CEO and founder of Magic Sauce Media, a new media services consultancy focused on viral marketing, social media, branding, events and PR. For over 20 years, she has helped companies from 12 countries get traction in the market. Known for her global and organic approach to product and corporate launches, Renee practices what she pitches and as an active user of social media, she helps clients navigate digital waters from around the world. Renee has been blogging for over 16 years and regularly writes on her personal blog Down the Avenue, Huffington Post, BlogHer, We Blog the World and other sites. She was ranked #12 Social Media Influencer by Forbes Magazine and is listed as a new media influencer and game changer on various sites and books on the new media revolution. In 2013, she was listed as the 6th most influential woman in social media by Forbes Magazine on a Top 20 List.
Her passion for art, storytelling and photography led to the launch of Magic Sauce Photography, which is a visual extension of her writing, the result of which has led to producing six photo books: Galapagos Islands, London, South Africa, Rome, Urbanization and Ecuador.
Renee is also the co-founder of Traveling Geeks, an initiative that brings entrepreneurs, thought leaders, bloggers, creators, curators and influencers to other countries to share and learn from peers, governments, corporations, and the general public in order to educate, share, evaluate, and promote innovative technologies.
