A quick getaway to ride the rails in Golden is the ticket
It was a warm, sunny Ride the Rails Saturday morning at the Colorado Railroad Museum. My family and I entered the gift shop to get our tickets and I realized I wasn’t the only one who’d decided this was a good day to visit Golden. Only minutes after they began boarding passengers on the Rio Grande Southern Galloping Goose antique locomotive (the museum opens at 9 a.m., but the rides begin at 10 a.m.), the main parking lot was already full and the admissions booth was swamped with rail buffs of all ages.
We usually venture farther afield on our weekend adventures, but sometimes, the low-hanging fruit of a trusty, nearby destination (Golden is only 15 miles from downtown Denver) is just the thing. Actually, the crowd wasn’t that big at all, and the indoor-outdoor compound of museum buildings, standing rail cars, model trains and working roundhouse absorbed everyone quite well.
Two-year-olds toddled around in overalls and conductor caps; balloons and birthday parties spilled out of a few train cars; families followed children to the play area and displays downstairs; and a handful of friendly “foamers” — rail fans wearing hats and T-shirts from other historic Colorado train lines — explored everything. We mingled with them all in the short line to ride three laps around the museum on “The Goose.”
There are other museums in Golden — the American Mountaineering Museum, the only one of its kind in the country, and the Geology Museum at Colorado School of Mines, for example — but the best for my kids, on this morning, was the train museum. They were especially enthralled by the tiny figures and scenes throughout the model train in the basement.
Wanting to move on while we were still ahead of the game (before anyone melted down from hunger), we drove three minutes to Parfet Park, the center of Golden, right on the creek and across from the visitor center. My kids climbed metal statues of fishes and dragons, then we walk across the bridge to Sassafrass, Golden’s newest brunch option. Its Southern-themed sister restaurants in Jefferson Park and Capitol Hill have received rave reviews for their beignets, po’boys, and creative comfort dishes.
The restaurant has an enviable outdoor deck next to the bike path and creek, but we are seated inside, in a homey dining room with tons of space around the tables. The kids are enthralled by the lengthy mac ‘n’ cheese menu while I settle into a spicy, Cajuninfused Sassafras Mary and wait for my chicken fried eggs over buffalo hash, jalapeño cornbread, and Fresno chili Hollandaise.
Yes, on this day, a day trip to Golden was just the thing.
The Colorado Railroad Museum, 17155 W. 44th Ave., Golden, 303-2794591, coloradorailroadmuseum.org. $10, $8 seniors, $5 children, children under 2 are free. Open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Ride the Rails Saturdays run through the end of October, then returns in January ($4 adults, $2 children. Other upcoming events: Harvest Fest Oct. 14; Trick or Treat Train Oct. 28; Polar Express, Nov. 9 to Dec. 23, tickets $25-$100. Sassafras American Eatery, 1027 Washington Ave. Golden, 303-5930003, sassafrasamericaneatery.com. 7 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday-friday, 8 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Reservations only available on weekdays.