I spent much of the past week recovering from the dreaded summer cold and dealing with the real estate issues Maureen discusses in her latest post. So when Wednesday rolled around, I wasn’t super-keen on following through with our plan to attend the Evening Walking Tour Exploring Pueblo’s Neon Alley & the ARTery sponsored by Pueblo Heritage Museum. I knew, however, that Maureen was excited to go (she had made a special effort to get us tickets to the nearly sold-out event), so I packed some Kleenex and carried on.

We arrived and got our wristbands (after a very reasonable $5 donation to the museum) and sat to wait for the event. Initially we were the youngest people there, though the later arrivals decreased the average age somewhat.

Shortly after the scheduled tour time, our host Gregory Howell took the stage. Described as a “storyteller, curator and creative economy consultant,” Howell is the owner of Kadoya Gallery in downtown Pueblo. He explained that we were going to visit the ARTery and Neon Alley, as well as the historic Federal building. Given the demographics of the tour participants, I expected a short, easy stroll. This did not turn out to be the case.

We started with Neon Alley, but it was not yet dark, so much of the glamour was lost.

Next, we moved on to some murals on downtown buildings. Throughout the tour, there was a mix of street art and commissioned or festival pieces.

We passed the Riverwalk and City Hall (where one of our tour-mates pointed out to me the flood line from the Great Flood of 1921) on our way to the next part of the tour.

Next, we stopped at one of our favorite Pueblo establishments, Bingo Burger–home of Thursday night cruiser rides. Two large murals here show entertainers and pirates (on The Pirates’ Cove bar) and the dumpster area is also decorated.

The ARTery came next, including the big bear, peppermint pig, the pot-heads, and more murals.

Our last stop was the Historic Federal Building, which is a fantastic building that deserves its own tour.

We returned to Kadoya Gallery, where a reception was being held, but it was already past 9 and I had been sick all week, so instead of joining the reception, we walked back to the starting point with one of our new acquaintances. We were fortunate to get another glance of Neon Alley–this time in the dark.