Boise, Idaho...Less Boring Than I Thought It Would Be

I was in Boise last weekend.  It was the first time I had stayed downtown with any free time at all.

There was plenty to do and some of it was thrifty.
The parks are great.  I happened by a community garden on or near State Street, checked out the architecture of a couple of historic districts, and got a reasonably priced donut at DK Donuts (Guru Donuts looked good but I wasn't in the mood for hipster donuts.  I wanted traditional donuts and plain coffee).  The donuts were VERY good.

I splurged a bit with a movie at The Flicks.  Independent films...so much fun.  I got to eat a cookie and see "The Little Hours."  I had been leery of the film based on a trailer I watched, but it was that feeling that I could either love it or hate it.  I LOVED it.  So funny.  Apparently it is based on a medieval story so now I need to read the original story...but in modern English so I can actually get through the stories.

I stayed at the Safari Inn downtown.  I loved it!  I didn't make it into the lobby for the free cookies from 2-9pm.  Oh well.  Next time.  The breakfast isn't bad.  Boiled eggs.  Some sort of pre-fab omelette thing, and peanut butter for proteins.  Oatmeal packets, bread selections, a few small pastries, fruit cups, yogurts, coffee, tea and juice were available.  I can start a day with a couple of boiled eggs and some fruit.  The fruit cups were recently made, not canned or in prefab shelf-stable tublets.  They were in the fridge!  As if they could actually go bad.  As much as I'd rather have an apple, I realize that we'd all just take an apple for later and that ups the cost.  If the fruit is already diced up, you need to eat it sooner. 

The room was big, a king bed with dining table and chairs in a semi-separate area, good functional bathroom.  There was one hair on the pillow, but it was probably just a maid with long hair.  It happens.  The sheets were clearly clean as was the bathroom.

One feature I really liked was the clothesline in the shower/tub!  It is a retractable deal with a connector on the far end of the tub.  You could wash the delicates and hang them to dry over the tub. There was a guest laundry for only 1$ per load for the washer and the same for the dryer.  That's not bad.  The workout room was pretty good as well and had a sauna, but I didn't try those out.

The location is close to all of downtown and over a few bars and things but with the window shut and the AC on, very quiet. I didn't hear the people above or beside me in rooms.  That impressed me.
Overall, not a bad value.

I did have some spendy coffee because I love that.  It was a treat.  I ate meals with family and friends so didn't spend on those (the brats wouldn't let me).

Best Fundraiser EVER. Also, Breakfast of Champions

Here is what I had for breakfast

 I don't know what the "Las Vegas Classic" is.  I don't care.  It could be a stripper competition.  I don't care.  Fry bread, sausage, egg, and that plasticine cheap "cheese" product.  5$.  EVEN though I had to scrape off the cheese because the sammiches were already assembled, I didn't care.  I usually have a tantrum about incipient dairy.  This time, I didn't care.  The actual sandwich was quite a bit larger than pictured. 5$.  And seriously delicious.  I supported a local group, locally made food (the fry bread was fresh), and talked to several community members as we stood in line.

The limited run of 150 sammiches gave the sale quite a bit of cache.  No dawdling over decisions because they were going to run out.  It also means the folks making and serving didn't have to hang out for very long.  There are over 1000 people in this town.  They will run out fast.

At least 300 of us got paid this morning.  Good timing.  I got there a bit before 8 and the sandwiches were already going fast.  So much for "Indian time"..."fry bread time" means "show up early or miss out."