Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Eating
J & L Cafe
( 970-522-3625; 423 N 3rd St; mains $6.25-9.99; 5:15am-8pm; )
A local joint steeped in country
music where the men wear cowboy hats and the women talk with a hint of western twang.
It serves breakfast all day, burgers, chili and chicken fried steak. And pie. Always pie.
And strong coffee. Diner coffee. This is real Americana as you live and breathe.
DINER
$
Getting There & Away
Sterling is 125 miles northeast of Denver off I-76.
TOP OF CHAPTER
Julesburg
If you're heading into Colorado from the northeast on I-76, one of the first spots you'll
see is the
Colorado Welcome Center
( 970-474-2054;
www.colorado.com/JulesburgWelcomeCenter.aspx
;
20934 County Rd 28; 8am-6pm Memorial Day-Labor Day, to 5pm Labor Day-Memorial Day)
. Part rest area,
part information center, it's bordered by corral fencing around waist-high grass dotted
with a teepee-like shade structure and a buffalo sculpture.
There's a rather cool cast-iron monument to the Pony Express here too. On the first
Pony Express expedition in 1860-61, the riders traveled 1943 miles between St Joseph
and San Francisco, stopping in present-day Julesburg, then known as Overland City be-
cause it was also a major stop on the Overland Trail (over 350,000 people came through
here in the mid-19th century).
Launched as a trading post in 1850 and known as the 'Wickedest City in the West' by
the 1860s, the town of Julesburg moved three times before settling in its present location.
First it was moved because of a raid by Native Americans, then to be closer to the rail-
road. In 1880 it became a rail junction for Union Pacific. These days, though, Julesburg is
another dying prairie town that makes Sterling feel like a metropolis. But if you are curi-
ous about Overland Trail history, take the
South Platte River Scenic Byway
(
www.byways.org
;
20934
County Rd 28)
, a 19-mile loop that circuits Ovid, the original Julesburg site, and Fort
Sedgewick, with pull-outs and interpretative panels installed throughout.
