Weekend in Boise

One of the benefits to shortening our upcoming trip to Spain is that it allowed us to have time for a trip with my extended family. My family, my dad, and my brother’s family recently all spent the weekend in Boise visiting two cousins who live there. One of my cousins has three boys, so together with my kids and my brother’s kids, it was chaotic and fun!

My cousins spent most of their childhood in Idaho, but they lived in a suburb north of Boise. I visited many times over the years and always enjoyed my time in Eagle. This time, we spent our time in the popular north end neighborhood, about a mile north of downtown Boise. It was so much fun! We found a rental property through Airbnb down the street from one cousin’s house. The other cousin lives just a few blocks away. There is a cute commercial area about five blocks west of where we stayed with restaurants and coffee shops. It’s definitely where I would want to live if I was in Idaho!

We made very few plans before arriving, which isn’t typically my style. However, life has been so hectic recently that the one thing we all agreed on was that we wanted our weekend in Boise to be relaxing and fun! Our flight landed on Saturday around 3pm. It was after 4 by the time we got to our house, so we agreed that takeout was the way to go. My cousin and I walked to a nearby Mexican restaurant and brought food back. It was delicious!

Sunday after breakfast we enjoyed a lazy morning. After lunch, some of us headed downtown to walk around and get groceries. I hadn’t walked around downtown Boise for a few years. It is relatively big, particularly considering Boise itself isn’t huge (by Bay Area standards, that is!). We were also struck by how clean it was! The downtown area is a mix of small local stores and a few larger chains, as well as many restaurants. That night we barbecued for dinner and enjoyed the spacious and inviting yard. The kids’ favorite part of the house was a secret stairway that connected the basement to the hallway. They spent hours running in circles!

Monday was the hottest day of our trip and some of us wanted to float the Boise river. It had just opened up a few days prior to our visit, so the timing was perfect! My dad opted out so I stayed back with him. We walked to the commercial area and sat at a coffee shop. One of my cousins joined us and it was lovely to have the extra time with her.

Tuesday was our last day in town. We considered visiting the zoo since it was near where we were staying. Instead, my cousin recommended that we visit Birds of Prey, an educational center where you have the opportunity to see raptors. It is south of town and took about 25 minutes to get there. It was interesting and the kids liked seeing the birds up close, but it was a bit smaller than I expected and didn’t take much time to visit. We headed back downtown for lunch after about 90 minutes. After lunch, we walked around some more and then headed back to an ice cream shop near our rental house. We finished our weekend in Boise with pizza before heading to the airport. It was definitely the relaxing weekend that we were hoping for!