Yesterday a friend and I hung out in Georgetown, walking around and checking out all the little shops there. And wondering about why the people of Georgetown and neighboring Silver Plume have such an affinity for the color purple. I didn't make a tally of all colors of all buildings, so perhaps since it is such a unique building color there seemed to be a disproportionate number of purple buildings. I've nothing against purple; I'm just not used to seeing it. Perhaps, as my friend suggested, at one time there was a sale on purple paint. One building was closer to mauve; we speculated that was the last of the purple paint, mixed with white in order to stretch it.
All that walking around in brisk mountain air considerably cooler than what we've been used to in Denver stimulated our appetites. At the visitor's center we looked at a list of local restaurants and the woman who worked there told us Ed's 1859 Cafe had "the best burgers in town." Well, a statement like that, you just have to check out! Not having sampled the hamburgers in other area restaurants, I cannot say if they truly have the "best in town" - we plan to return to Georgetown for further investigation - but their cheeseburgers were good! I got mine with all the fixins, save mayonnaise, and all the lettuce, tomatoes, onions, catsup, mustard and pickles fell out the edges of the burger. Now, I know that many people think a "real" burger is nice and neat, staying inside a bun and having minimal condiments and vegetables. Nope, sorry. A real cheeseburger has all the fixings, requires two hands to eat and requires at least two napkins. Their Angus burgers come with your choice of cheeses and in quarter or half pound sizes. We didn't try the sweet potato fries, but they did look yummy, as did the soups I saw many of the customers ordering.
It's a popular spot, apparently: it was so busy we had to arm wrestle an elderly couple for the last table. Okay, I made that up. A table did open up by the time we got to the counter to place our orders. But clearly there was both a regular clientele there and other tourists like ourselves, and although there was outside seating available, they weren't hurting for customers.
The back of their menu had a picture of "Ed", also known as "Edwina", a dog who lived for 16 years before going to doggy heaven. Next time I go I'll have to ask for the story behind the naming of the cafe.
