I fell in love with Boise, y’all. After arriving downtown Boise and checking into The Grove Hotel, starving – I quickly asked for recommendations for a lunch hot spot. I always ask the front desk or concierge for local recommendations when I travel and I am so glad I did on this trip. I really hadn’t planned out a lot of sightseeing because I was arriving in Boise for a agriculture conference, but when my flight landed early I knew I needed to take advantage of the beautiful weather and mountain scenery.
The front desk clerk suggested that I take a short drive up to Hyde Park. A suburb of Boise, Historic Hyde Park is as charming as the name it bears. With a cozy downtown area that offered everything from patio grills to designer retail shops, the town was incredibly inviting, so much so, that I visited twice during my week long trip.
Quick tip: If you visit Hyde Park, plan on wearing your tennis shoes because I found a parking spot on a side road and walked my way through the downtown area and then on to Camel’s Back Park where I was able to view the entire city after a short climb.
In the month of June, Boise celebrates one of my favorite parts of agriculture, viticulture. While visiting Boise, I was lucky enough to visit a beautiful vineyard, just a short drive outside of the city. Indian Creek Vineyards presented a beautiful event lawn covered in shade trees, perfect for enjoying a glass of wine (or two… ok three, crap a bottle). Food trucks from burgers to homemade ice cream also grabbed my attention.
The Idaho Botanical Gardens was another agricultural experience that you should take advantage of while visiting the beautiful Treasure Valley. Spanning over 15 acres, including an old historically preserved penitentiary (don’t worry it’s currently unoccupied by inmates), the gardens came to life with beautifully designed gardens filled with flowers, plants, koi ponds and ornate sculptures by local artists that spanned the entire garden.
During the welcome dinner of the agriculture conference I attended in Boise, we visited a local event space called JUMP. This urban meeting place isn’t lacking in excitement, including a slide from the rooftop all the way to the bottom floor of the building! Open air spaces created a causal atmosphere for networking with my fellow philanthropic agricultural friends. If I ever need to reserve a meeting space in Boise… I will be contacting JUMP.
Despite all of the outdoor activities that I had participated in during the week I still found the time to wake up early in the morning and get my OrangeTheory workout done. One of my favorite things about my OT membership is that I can travel anywhere and have a home based gym to keep me in shape on the road.
6 Quick Links Beyond Idaho Potatoes:
- The Grove Hotel, in Downtown Boise
- Historic Hyde Park
- Indian Creek Winery
- Idaho Botanical Gardens
- JUMP (Jack’s Urban Meeting Place)
- Orange Theory Boise, Idaho
June is the perfect month to visit Boise, the weather is amazing and the days are long. The sun didn’t start setting until 9:30/ 10 PM each night, which gave me plenty of time to explore the city in the evening. I will definitely be going back to Boise for a second trip, it was gorgeous and exceeded my expectations as a destination I had never been to before. xx-Jennifer
