Boise: The Oasis

Saturday, July 5 - Thank God for Boise. Civilization still exists. And it serves wine. We checked into a relatively new “boutique” hotel right downtown called Hotel 43. As we checked in, the bellman told us the reason for the name: Idaho is the 43rd State, they are on the 43rd Parallel, and “ID” is “43” on on your phone’s touch tone key pad. Cosmic?

We had heard that downtown Boise was a very nice place from my neighbors from my hometown of Petoskey, MI, the Kutcipals, and it exceeded our expectations. The first place we walked to was 8th St. Wine Co., where we had a great time talking to the bartender, Michelle. She introduced us to some local wine and liquor, including a drink made from a local huckleberry flavored vodka called 44 Degrees North Vodka. The drink was a Huckleberry Lemon Drop, which also had huckleberry liqueur.

We then decided to explore the rest of downtown Boise. We walked down the street, and were surprised to find, at about 8:30pm, a big parade of souped-up cars crusing in a loop. Little did we know that there was a car show in town, and this was the big night out. The crowds were big, and the engines were roaring. There was a guy in the middle of the street, MC-ing the event. Sandy jumped out to talk to him, and it turned out that he’s a local radio guy. His name Jack. Who knew that Boise would be so hopping!