Genoa Jerry and a Rickety Old Tower

Not to be outdone by its neighbor, Colorado has its own quirky spots.  We visited one place in particular on our last trip that jumped straight to the top of the coolest places EVER list in my head!  The Tower Museum in Genoa, Colorado.

Meet Jerry Chubbuck.  And meet him you will if you enter the Genoa Tower looming above I-70 in eastern Colorado.  At eighty-something years old, this man is far from normal.  He greeted us at the door and wouldn't let us out of his sight until he had shown us at least three bizarre things from his collection of oddities.  I'm still not sure what they were,  but I'm fairly certain that walrus "tusk" was not in fact a tusk at all.



When I asked Jerry if I could take his photo, he made me wait until he put on his hat and grabbed his snake.

You stop at the tower for the view from the top, or so you think, but the real treat is well, everything else.  Room after room is packed full of the rare, the unusual, and the completely insane.  It's awesome!

A collector?  A hoarder?  A madman?  A genius?  Who cares?!  Jerry is one of a kind, and all his belongings are treasures to say the least.

Up, up, up we climbed.  More than once I thought the building may collapse under our weight, but dang it, we couldn't stop climbing.  We had to see the next room.  And the next.  And the next...

I finally drew the line at the top.  All I could do was stick my head out.  Good enough.

The stairs were extremely steep and narrow and very difficult to climb in flip flops.

Because who thinks they'll need steel toed boots at the Tower Museum?

Once you climb all the way to the top and back down again, you realize there about a million more rooms to explore at ground level.  You feel like you are in a dungeon as you wind through a maze of Jerry's treats.  I remember thinking, "Well, if this dude is gonna murder me, at least he amazed me first."

Believe it or not, but this place used to be a hot spot for travelers back in its heyday.  There is even a stage with an old organ buried underneath other curiosities.

There are people all over this place.  They're not real, but still.

Why not collect meat grinders?

Visiting the Tower Museum in Genoa was really a one of a kind adventure.  Unfortunately, it looks like Jerry may be selling his gems soon and the tower will close.  Thank goodness after all these years of wondering about it, I finally got to go inside and share in the experience with good ol' Jerry before he moved on.  What a rare treat it was.  Thanks for the experience of a lifetime, Jerry.  Loved every step I took. 

Update:  Jerry Chubbuck passed away on August 6, 2013.  The fate of the tower has yet to be determined.