Boise or Bust

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I took a quick weekend trip to Boise for the first time at the end of July- and today I’m going to share! I went to visit Brenna, one of my best friends and old roommate from college! I took Friday off of work so I could drive and get there at a decent time. Yes, drive. 7 hours! Yuck. But, I drove my mom’s car which is a hybrid, so I only paid $50 total for gas!

I packed up some healthy snacks (Clif bars, rice crackers, dried fruit, almonds, and an apple) and hit the road at 6 a.m. on Friday morning! The drive there wasn’t so bad- I’m sure it’s because I was super excited to get there. I finally arrived at around 4 and was so ready to get out of the car! After the hugs and unloading all my stuff, I got the grand tour of B’s new home. I freshened up a tad, and we didn’t waste any time before starting our busy weekend!

First on the agenda was stopping at her office so I could see where she works. From there we walked downtown Boise. It was beautiful out, and I adored downtown. There were so many places, I couldn’t imagine having all those options for outings… Thank goodness I had a tour guide to show me all the good spots:)

The first stop on our Boise walking tour was BodovinoOh my gosh you guys- coolest concept ever. I desperately want one of these in my hometown!! Basically you walk in, get ID’d, get a bracelet, get a wine glass, and a card pre-loaded with however much money you want to put on it. Then you walk through and look at wine in glass cases and you can taste whatever you like. It’s hard to explain, so here’s a picture from their Facebook page:

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Yeah, so basically you find wines you want to taste and you stick your card in. Once it reads your card you push the button of the wine you were eyeing, and you can either taste it or buy a glass of it. Hold your glass under the spout, pick your preference and out comes the wine! How cool is that?! And any wine you try they have there to purchase as well. There are local wines, wines from Europe, whites, reds… SO many options right under one roof! I was seriously amazed that I had never heard of anything like this before. I think everywhere needs to jump on this bandwagon, ASAP- it’s such a cool concept!

I tried a few tastes of different wines, and we spent the majority of our time there catching up- which was long overdue. (I was too busy chatting away to even snap a picture!)

After wine tasting, we headed to the rooftop bar at The Reef for dinner. We each ordered a mojito. I got the pomegranate and it was really good. For dinner I ordered the fish tacos with a salad for the side. These little tacos were SO filling- I could only eat 2. They were tasty though, a good choice for dinner.

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By the time we were done eating, we had just enough time to walk over to Liquid, where we had plans to watch B’s roommate compete in an improv comedy show. We paid to get in, ordered a beer, and found our seats. I didn’t really know what to expect as far as the comedy show went, but it was actually pretty funny! Most of the groups did really well.

The next day we had a lazy morning of drinking coffee and watching Friends- just like we used to do back in our college roomie days!

For lunch, we went to a place called Miss Tami’s, which is a really cute little tea house in Meridian, Idaho. We were seated outside in an adorable little area, and the weather was just perfect. We each ordered the iced tea, which we were told was a little different than regular run-of-the-mill iced tea. It was really good! There was cinnamon in it, which I’m a fan of anyway, so I enjoyed:) For lunch B told me Monte Cristo sandwiches were the thing to order at Miss Tami’s, so we both did. We ordered the half sandwich and it came with a salad. The salad came first, and I got the Italian dressing- which was amazing! One of the best Italian dressings I’ve ever tried.

And then, we got our sandwiches… I had no idea what to expect, and let me tell you- it was nothing like I thought it would be. I was told that it was a ham sandwich covered in powdered sugar. Odd? Sure, but I’ll try anything at least once:) What I actually got was a deep fried ham and cheese sandwich covered in powdered sugar!! And- It. Was. Good. So good, and so filling! I adore trying new things. If you ever get a chance to try one of these- do! We giggled because we thought we were going to avoid fair food by eating dinner at home before the fair that night, but here we were eating deep fried sandwiches for lunch… Oh well, our intentions were good:)

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Here’s half of it, after I demolished the first half:) Even just the half sandwich was huge, and I’m sad to say- I could not finish the whole thing. It was delish though, I would definitely order again!

After lunch, we did some wine tasting. B works for the Idaho Wine Commission, so I got to learn as well as taste. The first place we went to had three wineries set up in one building. I haven’t done a lot of wine tasting in my day… but I was really impressed with the Idaho wines I tasted. I learned that the region on the bottle is where the grapes are grown, not necessarily where the wine is made. How interesting is that? Some Idaho wineries grow their grapes in Washington!

Here’s what we tasted:

Coiled Wines: These were our first tastes, all really good. Each wine was paired with a snack, which was so fun! I know very little about pairing wine with foods, so I really enjoyed this! B had bought me a bottle of their dry Riesling, which was so good- and not too sweet. I can’t wait to open it up!
Cinder Wines: Right next to Coiled in the tasting room is Cinder, so naturally this was our second stop. These wines were also enjoyable. It was interesting to try the off-dry Riesling, which I’d never heard of before. If you like sweet wine, this is the one for you! It was too sweet for my taste, but I definitely know some people who would love it!
Telaya Wines: Next to Cinder was Telaya, our final stop in the tasting room. These were amazing! They have a red they call Turas, which is Irish for journey- which I thought was very cool. They also paired with amazing chocolates.

We walked to another tasting room that was close by to try Split Rail wines. These were enjoyable as well, and the wine descriptions were quite entertaining to read. Seriously, go check out their website and see for yourself!

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It was getting close to dinner at this time, so we picked up some sushi at Whole Foods to eat at home before the fair. We sat outside with a glass of the Rose and continued chatting. The sushi was delicious and so fresh!

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The fair we went to was the Canyon County fair in Nampa, ID. It was $5 to get in, and that admission price also got us into the concert starring American Young and Josh Turner! It was super hot, but once the sun went down- it was the perfect summer night.

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When the concert was over we headed home, but not before stopping at a place called Cowgirls in hopes to see American Young… We didn’t- but at least we tried!

The next morning was spent relaxing before packing to leave. It was such a great trip- I had so much fun getting to visit Boise, especially since I had never been there before. It was wonderful to see my friend again, who is always such a fabulous hostess!

Have you guys ever been to Boise? 

If you’re nearby, I highly recommend trying some of the local wines! I really enjoyed them, and may have to order some in the future, since none are sold here… Thankfully I have two bottles in my wine rack as we speak:)

Hope you’re having a wonderful Sunday!

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