Foothills, not mountains

Watch Boulder come to life at sunset, from the Corner Bar at The Boulderado Hotel.
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Long a favorite city for me, Boulder is home to 100,000 people, including some of my very good friends. It has been voted one of America's best outdoor cities.  Everyone in Boulder seems to bicycle, jog, run or ski.  Thirty years or so ago, Boulder was the first place I ever heard of recycling.  The first vegetarians I ever knew were from Boulder.  The first “pedestrian-ized” street.  So it was a pleasure to visit Boulder again on this trip, even if only for day or two.  And why am I not surprised to learn that Boulder is one of the few cities where one can recycle porcelain toilets?  Only in Boulder...

Pearl Street Mall, one of the first, and longest lasting, pedestrian street malls.
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My cousin Joan sure knew how to show off her city: our first stop was the Boulderado Hotel, a National Register Landmark and member of the National Trust's Historic Hotels of America. What a place! Nearly a hundred years old, the Boulderado is the original luxury hotel – Victorian stained glass ceiling, gorgeous staircase, marble pillars, even fabulous restrooms. Spend a minute in the lobby and you’ll see what I mean. But don’t linger there - if it’s nice, step out to the sidewalk Corner Bar, as we did. Here we were, it was nearly November, and we sat outside and sipped cocktails and watched the sun go down. I almost said “behind the mountains,” because to an easterner, the ridge in the distance could only be mountains, but I remember that those are the foothills of the Rockies. The Rockies are the mountains, Boulder has “foothills.” Remember that when you visit.

Only in Boulder...

Built in the 1930's from Boulder's abundant sandstone, the art deco Courthouse is one of Pearl Street's wonders.
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Cocktails over, we strolled along the must-see Pearl Street Mall, stopping here and there to window shop or more. I saw my second L’Occitane shop of the day, strange because at home I am about 75 miles from the nearest one (though they do a fine online business with me!) Pearl Street Mall, the “original” pedestrian mall, stretches for four or five blocks along Pearl Street, and is closed to vehicle traffic since 1977. Restaurants and kitschy shops line both sides of Pearl Street, and Boulderites and visitors keep them in business. There is the world’s largest kitchen gadget store, Peppercorn, where I could spend a solid week shopping. If you visit, why not wander into the kite store and just try not to spend money? Or how about the Cheesecake Factory? The Arts & Crafts Coop? Starbucks, of course, as well as Ben and Jerry’s. The Boulder County Courthouse, an amazing art deco masterpiece built during the depression, takes up an entire block and makes you want to read Ayn Rand again.

Fabulous stained glass ceiling graces the elegant Boulderado Hotel, the Victorian "grand lady" of the city
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But I digress.  After our stroll along Pearl Street, we headed to dinner at The Med on parallel Walnut Street; The Med turned out to have a fabulous halibut special on that night. With its great atmosphere, The Mediterranean Restaurant is a Boulder institution serving food from the entire Mediterranean region – Greek, Spanish (especially tapas, which rate an entire page on their menu), Italian, French.

We capped off our Boulder tour with a quick walk inside the St Julien Hotel, a hotel as far from the ornate Victorian Lady, The Boulderado, as a hotel can get. Understated elegance with a spacious lobby and a quiet bar, the St. Julien is also on Walnut Street, a block or so off Pearl.

Modern St. Julien Hotel, a far cry from the ornate Victorian Boulderado.
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A fun return to a well-loved town!