Planning a family vacation to the Denver area in 2010?

Recently, the Washington Post ran a story in their travel section entitled "Going Our Way: A family trip to Denver with an eye toward setting down roots". The article focuses on planning a vacation to the Mile High City for a family of four. The family wants to explore all the state has to offer since they are considering moving to Denver; however, there are a lot of wonderful ideas and help for anyone coming to the Denver area in 2010.

The article goes on to discuss what tourists like to do on a trip and shows that families generally have more than one interest. "We want to go to Denver because we love the mountains and are considering moving there. We are looking for a fun family vacation that will give us a taste of Denver and life out West. Our interests include hiking, museums, train rides, baseball and visiting Invesco Field."

Well, Black Hawk and Central City are only 30 minutes from downtown Denver and there are all kinds of things to do that would enhance this family's vacation experience. Our "Things To Do in Black Hawk and Central City" web page has a lot of information on the topic.

We'll see you when you get here!

Looking back at the 2010 National Western Stock Show

We always look forward to participating in the National Western Stock Show. The event brings a lot of people to the state who enjoy the services that our area offers. This year we were given a VIP tour to the activities happening at the show.



We worked closely with the Downtown Denver Partnership at the event and everyone joined in on the celebration during the parade. The antique fire trucks from Black Hawk seem to bring a smile to the faces of kids and adults alike.

Miscellaneous campaign photos from the 4th quarter of 2009

We were busy over the last few months of 2009. The holidays are always fun, but it can be hectic and finding the time to upload and categorize all our photos is a challenge. Here are some miscellaneous photos taken during the last quarter of 2009...Enjoy



The bureau was able to participate in various Colorado tourism events and it was nice to see and catch-up with everyone.There was a lot of positive activity in our area in 2009 with new hotels, gaming rules and extended hours. It's an exciting time for Black Hawk and Central City.

New Web 2.0 functionality provides hourly promotional information from area businesses

Over the last year or so we've been trying to figure out the best way to provide our users with up-to-date promotional information from area businesses automatically. Cross referencing promotions and discounts with services and events can be helpful for planning purposes, but the coordination and training for input from our partners was considered redundant since many of them were already adding the information to the web in other ways.

Today, many promotional events are added and propagated in short time increments, so specific event dates and times are not always applicable for scheduling in a calendar of events. Twitter is now being used by many businesses in the area as a delivery mechanism for such information. It delivers fresh, relevant information and tells people what they care about as it is happening. We hope that providing up-to-date promotional information from within our calendar of events will help you with planning your next trip to the area.

“Snow at First Sight” campaign finalists visit Gilpin County

The state of Colorado's “Snow at First Sight” campaign - a global search for three people who have never experienced snow before, ended with the selection of three winners from Atlanta, Australia and Hawaii. After arriving in Colorado, one of the first stops for the finalists was the Black Hawk / Central City area. Here are some pictures:



The state of Colorado is promoting tourism through this online contest and campaign. The Colorado Tourism Office put it together and it was truly a pleasure showing the contestants around the area, our mountain culture and heritage. Thanks CTO!

Black Hawk and Central City events go mobile!

We recently implemented a new events calendar for the Black Hawk Central City Visitors and Convention Bureau web site. Part of the project included functionality for our users to see up-to-date event information on their mobile devices. Below is a picture of the calendar's mobile interface working on the new Google Nexus One cell phone.

So, whether you are in the area or planning your next trip you can now conveniently see area entertainment and event information right from your mobile device. Use the following url: m.visitbhcc.com to access area event information mobily. It's a nifty way to check out what's going on.

Where does the term "Tommyknocker" come from?

With all the activity associated to the Tommyknocker Bazaar this weekend, we thought it would be interesting to do a little research on the term. Tommyknocker is the Welsh and Cornish equivalent of Irish leprechauns and English and Scottish brownies. At about two feet tall, they live beneath the ground. It is said that they wear tiny versions of standard miner's garb and commit random mischief, such as stealing miner's unattended tools and food.

Their name comes from the knocking on the mine walls that happens just before cave-ins. This is thought to be the creaking of earth and timbers before giving way. To some of the miners, the knockers were malevolent spirits and the knocking was the sound of them hammering at walls and supports to cause the cave-in. To others, who saw them as essentially well-meaning practical jokers, the knocking was their way of warning the miners that a life-threatening collapse was imminent.