Monday, April 28, 2025

Severance, Colorado and famous Rocky Mountain Oysters!


 My husband and I drove to Northern Colorado this week to spend a few days sightseeing in and around Fort Collins, and as we checked online for things to do and see, the nearby town's name of Severance caught my eye!  I am a big fan of the Apple TV+  series, Severance, as the coincidence of the names being the same made me want to drive through the town. Seeing the welcome sign made me even more curious.


The community was named after David Severance, a pioneer settler in the area. The town originally applied for its post office to be named Tailholt, but the name was mistakenly changed to Severance when Mr. Severance applied for the post office in 1894.

The town of Severance was once a small farming community, with sugar beets as a major crop,  but it was very evident by all the new housing developments we saw in the area that its population was booming!

Upon further investigation, we learned a local landmark, Bruce's Bar, was famous for their Rocky Mountain Oysters. They have been a house favorite since 1957!

 

 Murals on Bruce's Bar outside walls

Geese hunting is a popular sport during hunting season, so the town's motto of "Where the geese fly and the bulls cry" makes perfect sense!



Severance is only 10 miles east of Fort Collins, so after we checked into our hotel, we decided to drive back and dine at Bruce's Bar. 

We saw many beautiful and dramatic cloud formations along the drive.


We were so happy we returned to Severance to dine on Bruce's famous Rocky Mountain Oysters as appetizers--they were the best we ever had! We also enjoyed a draft beer and a delicious steak and shrimp dinner. It was a wonderful way to begin our mini-vacation!



We also enjoyed our visit to Fort Collins, Colorado... more in my next blog post!  

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Sunday, April 13, 2025

Littleton Colorado's Historic Crabapple Trees!



One of the beautiful aspects of the Spring season is seeing nature come to life again.

My town of Littleton, Colorado, is known as the "Flowering Crabapple Capital of Colorado," with over 7,000 pink crabapple trees along the city's streets. The trees were planted in the early 1970s as part of a city beautification plan spearheaded by the City of Littleton's mayor at the time, Vaughn Gardinier. He convinced the Littleton City Council to appropriate funds to plant the colorful trees along city streets and to encourage homeowners to plant them in yards throughout the city.


In 2011, with the encouragement of the former Mayor Gardinier, and in celebration of the original effort, the City selected streets with the most colorful collection of the flowering trees and drew a map of a continuous loop route through the community to showcase the beautiful color. It was designated the “Littleton Crabapple Route.” Signs were created by the City staff and placed along the Route to mark it.



My husband and I took a drive along the Crabapple Tree Route ...





...to enjoy the beauty!



We saw so many crabapple trees!


In 2012, a group of citizen volunteers created a non-profit corporation and secured IRS designation to make tax-deductible donations possible, named the “Littleton Crabapple Route, Inc." Its purpose is to continue and promote the appreciation of the springtime color display of flowering crabapple trees in Littleton. They plant additional trees each year and encourage community events that recognize Littleton’s unique beautification heritage.
New trees planted are ornamental, of the nonfruit-producing kind.



Crabapples were not the only blooming spring flowers in view around Littleton. We've had a few weeks of warm weather between our light snow shower days, which has made the entire city begin to blossom. It is a beautiful time of the year!

The high Rocky Mountains are still snow-filled, as you can see by the photo above, but ski season will be ending in the next few weeks and months--the last will be Arapahoe Basin, which estimates June 8th to be their closing date!


I also know spring has arrived when the squirrels become bolder in their search for food. They have been invading my backyard trees lately and eating the budding leaves. One even tried taking a bite of a plastic hummingbird ornament I have hanging in a tree! They make me laugh!

I hope you are enjoying the changing seasons where you live--have a happy week ahead!












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