Ambergris Caye, Belize

Trip date: November 2024

Last year I thought I was going to Belize for Thanksgiving. I booked the trip for the 3rd Thursday in November and was really surprised at how inexpensive the flight was ($537.30 RT in Premium)! And that's when I realized that Thanksgiving is always the 4th Thursday, not 3rd! 

Well I was still really excited about going to this small Central American country on the Caribbean and having a relaxing and fun girls trip with my friend Gail. I wasn't however excited to be at SeaTac at 6am for our direct flight on AlaskaAir. And I REALLY wasn't excited to hear the announcement while waiting to board that our flight was canceled due to Tropical Storm Sara. Back home we went to wait for updates. Long story short we were re-booked for the next day but BZE ended up closing so we were finally able to fly out 2 days later.

*Pro tip: Lyft/Uber in Seattle are incredibly expensive and I burned about $150 to and from the airport. Luckily I had just purchased yearly travel insurance from Allianz as it was required to travel to Antarctica and I was refunded before even landing in Belize! I'm now buying this insurance yearly.

Because our 6-hour flight arrived in Belize City after the last water taxi to Ambergris Caye left, and I was afraid to fly out to the island in one of the small planes, we spent one quick night at the Harbour View Hotel. They have a restaurant across the street which was fine for a quick dinner and breakfast the next day, and they didn't charge us for having to change our reservation due to the storm. But in general I would recommend heading straight out to the island.

*Another pro-tip: there is a duty free shop at BZE next to baggage claim with much better options than you will find in the local shops.

It was an absolutely gorgeous morning when we took the 1½ hour water taxi to San Pedro on Ambergris Caye. Everyone on the island gets around on golf carts so I had reserved ours in advance with C&S. They met us at the dock, helped us with our luggage, and drove us to their office which was conveniently attached to a grocery store. Golf cart and groceries procured we made our way to the Marriott Alaia where we had an oceanview 2 bedroom suite. I had found an offer called Belize-A-Little-Longer where we got our 6th night free and a cabana for a day.

The pool cabanas were so comfortable and once we found out they were only $100 we reserved another day. Having an entire day just spent at the pool is like heaven for me. And it didn't hurt that the spa was just steps away, so I also had a lovely massage one afternoon. 

The food and drinks at the pool were really great, I'd say my fish tacos were some of the best on the island! And sometimes a bottle of rosé from our kitchen just happened to find itself in an insulated water bottle and in the beach bag, hitching along to the pool.

Of course I did leave the resort and did some super fun stuff over the course of the week via golf cart, plane, and boat!

One of the things I've always had on my bucket list was to see the Great Blue Hole. You can either take a boat, which is 5 hours round trip + time spent snorkeling/diving or you can take a 1 hour flight and look straight down on the mysterious underwater sinkhole. 

There are only 2 local airlines that provide flyover tours, Tropic and Maya, I went with the latter. It was $230 for the hour flight and the schedule was filled solid when I booked. I chose to go on my first day just in case it was canceled because of bad weather, that way I'd have a few more days to try to book in. 

The tiny plane seats just 10 passengers and the pilot. The co-pilot seat is also available at a higher price. I actually have a pretty solid fear of small planes like this and before coming on the trip had been discussing if I would do the flight or not with a two good friends, the answer was OF COURSE so I took ½ a xanax and got on board!

Although Tropical Storm Sara hadn't left much of a trace on the island, there had been a lot of flight cancellations and the airline was still catching up. So our tour left 1 ½ hours later than scheduled. We flew over the Great Barrier Reef, Turneffe Atoll, and a very cool ocean freighter wreck before arriving at the Blue Hole. The pilot then did a full 2 revolutions of the hole on each side of the plane so that everyone had amazing views. 

                                        

The Great Blue Hole is roughly 1000-foot wide and 400-foot deep! It was an incredible site! But all of the scenery we flew over was really incredible! The clarity of the water is stunning!

On the way back we ended up landing in BZE to pick up some folks whose other flight was canceled and then dropped them off at the teeny airport on Caye Caulker before returning to Ambergris. Taking off and landing multiple times in about 5 minutes really was trying my phobia! 

Another day Gail and I drove our golf cart out to Secret Beach. It's about an hour each way and the rough dirt roads are really rough! There were potholes that you could drown in! A few times we waited for another cart to attempt a pothole crossing before forging ahead!

Secret Beach is a big stretch of beach clubs, all with their own vibe. We chose Maruba Beach Klub (yes, with a K) because the music was a decent level and the loungers looked comfy (& they were). We parked the cart and were shown to the beach where a server set up our chosen loungers and got us menus. 

Even though it was a warm blue sky day, winds from the tropical storm were strong! The normal clear water was murky and rough! There would be no swimming or eating at a table in the ocean or playing on any inflatables. But we had a great day with margaritas, and nachos, and a serious match of giant Jenga!

There's no charge to enter the club but there is a food & beverage minimum which gets you your wifi, loungers, games, etc. 

We also did a ½ day snorkel trip from the Alaia dive dock to Mexico Rocks. Belize's barrier reef is the 2nd largest in the world and it lies just 1/2 mile off of Ambergris Caye. Being such a short ride out we were just in a small dive boat and when we got to the site there was a park ranger who met us in his boat to collect the park fees. Because these reefs are protected areas, a divemaster is always with snorkelers and divers, this is great as it makes Belize a place that I would travel solo to as I would still be able to snorkel!   

When we jumped in I was shocked at how warm the water was; it was like 80F! There were tons of rays, conch shells, tropical fish and amazing coral heads- which I had never really seen before. It was fantastic and the divemaster was really good!

Another day we did a full day out on a catamaran with Seaduced by Belize. It was an early start with just 10 others onboard and plenty of room for everyone as they had comfy bean bags on the bow. It's an older boat but in good shape with a great crew. 

We hadn't been sailing for more than 15 minutes when a large pod of dolphins came up beside us to race! Then a big turtle swam on by! Fantastic!

Our first stop was Hol Chan National Reserve; 160 square miles of seagrass beds and coral reefs. This reserve started off as only 3 square miles in 1987 when it was established!! This time the park ranger had their own floating office and we pulled up to pay our fees.

Then it was in the water for one of the most amazing snorkeling excursions I have ever been on! We had beat the other excursion boats and had most of the reserve to ourselves for a while. We followed our divemaster and saw barracuda, trumpet fish, huge schools of snapper, rays, tons of conch, a nurse shark, and an eagle ray!!! Not to even mention all the amazing coral. Wow!!

From here it was on to Shark Alley. This section of the reef use to be where fisherman would clean their catch and toss the scraps into the water, attracting nurse sharks and rays. We got in and tread water a safe distance away while the captain tossed some chum in. Because sharks have been used to this and it isn't changing their behavior, it is allowed in the reserve (vs in places like South Africa where chumming attracts great whites while people cage dive!). It was pretty crazy both in the water and onboard watching!

We continued sailing to Caye Caulker where we had a couple of hours to explore on our own. This little island is just 5 miles long and 1 mile wide so it didn't take long to see most of it! I had conch fritters for lunch at the Rainbow Grill, then Gail and I did a bit of shopping. All the roads here are sand and pretty much everyone was on a bike. There were quite a few oil-drum bbqs with lobster, fish, and shrimp kabobs along the road and picnic tables to eat at- I'd do that for lunch if I was there again.

It's a cute little place but I was very happy that we were staying on Ambergris! 

Our sail back was just stunning, the water is so clear, and so many shades of blue, the reef easily visible below. What an outstanding day!

As Belize borders Mexico to the north, there is an interesting mix of Caribbean and Mexican food. While we didn't have any "oh my gosh amazing" food moments we really liked our lunch at Elvi's Kitchen so much we also had dinner there one night!

At Caramba you pick out your fresh catch of the day and the owner encouraged me to get a whole lionfish which is invasive to the reefs. It was a delicious fish! So juicy and flavorful! I had to get a couple of stone crab claws too as you never get those on the west coast.

As for drinking, ee had late afternoon cocktails on the dock at Wayo's on our way back from Secret Beach. There are quite a few of these palapa bars around the island, this one was very friendly and lively!

And one night we had a spectacular sunset while sipping on some cocktails on the dock at Hula Bar. There were even rays swimming in the water below us!

Ambergris Caye is so relaxing and chill, I really liked it!

All Belize photos here

First Class, All the Way!

Trip date: September 2023 

Thanks to my travel hacking hobby, I had read about something called "Fifth Freedom Flights" where airlines fly between two countries without stopping in the home country hub. I knew that Emirates had this type of route between Milan and JFK, so I started tracking the business class prices. I was ready when a sale hit, and so after spending a week in stunning Bellagio, Lake Como, I was flying back to the states on arguably one of the absolute best airlines in the world. And in business!

When you buy a business (or first) class ticket on Emirates they provide chauffeur service to and from the airports. And so even though I was 48 miles away from MXP, there was a very nice car waiting for me after I checked out of the hotel. 

The Lounge at MXP is the first I have been in where you board directly from the lounge! Knowing that I could just sit and relax, I settled in with a glass of wine and a salad from their awesome buffet offerings. And then I heard my name called. Nervously I went to the front desk and the agent asked if I was traveling alone. I said yes and she handed me a new boarding pass saying "we've upgraded you to first class". WHOA!!!! I had been lucky to fly their first class before but this was the A380 which has a shower!! I felt like I had won the lottery.

We boarded upstairs on the A380 and I settled into my private suite, was served a glass of 2013 Dom Pérignon, and made a reservation with the attendant for the shower. Most people book their shower for after they wake up (this is a 9+ hour flight) but I chose mine for before dinner. This meant I was the first to use it and also that I was all freshened up for dinner.

So about 2 hours into the flight, after a few glasses of Dom, I took my cozy Emirates pjs and made my way to the shower spa as they call it. It was explained to me that I had 25 minutes, but only 5 minutes of water. But you can turn it on and off which was great. The room was huge and towels had been laid out for me. There was a selection of nice VOYA products in difference scents, drawers with razors, combs, etc., a tv showing the flight map, hairdryer, etc. It was lovely! And the water pressure was good too!

The rest of my flight was a lot of caviar and bougie wines and cognac, much like my first time flying Emirates first class. You can read about that here.

I arrived at JFK at 7pm, which was past the time for the last Alaska Air flight to Seattle, so I had booked a room at the TWA Hotel for the night. I've spent some time here before so I knew it was a quick walk to the hotel. I was a little surprised when I entered my room that I was right on the pickup/drop off road. Luckily the windows kept out the noise but you are on full view of everyone!

I was looking forward to having a drink at "Connie the Cocktail Lounge" inside one of TWA's 1958 Lockheed Constellations. The last time I visited it was too early and the bar wasn't open yet. Unfortunately on my visit it was really dirty and there was only the bartender working so nothing was getting cleaned up. My drink, a Paper Plane, was good but was served in a plastic cup on ice... for $18! I left after one.

It was very convenient staying at the TWA but it was expensive, everything was served in plastic, and the quality wasn't what it should have been. I wouldn't choose to stay again unless things changed. 

When I got up the next morning I had a message from Alaska Air that I had been upgraded to first class for my 6 hour flight home! That is absolutely the first time I've ever had back to back upgrades! 

I headed to the lounge for a glass of champagne but was told that they don't serve alcohol until 10am on Sundays in New York. Oh well, I just had to wait until onboard.

All photos of Emirates and the TWA Hotel here. 

Other posts from this trip:

Beautiful Bellagio, Lake Como

Boating Around Lake Como

Eat, Drink, Sleep in Washington DC

Trip date: September 2023

I'd only been to WA DC once before and it was in 2006! To say I was overdue for a visit is a gross exaggeration. So when I decided to take the entire month of September off last year,  I decided that DC was the first stop on my extended vacation.

I had a $25 coupon on Alaska Air and stacked that with a sale they were having for a one-way Premium Class flight for just $300. At SEA I had a great breakfast in the Alaska Lounge and then it was a 5-hour flight across the United States to Dulles/IAD, landing just in time for dinner.

I still remember the last time in DC having drinks at the bar at The Willard Intercontinental Hotel. The hotel lobby was so grand and stunning! So this time I used some IHG points and stayed at the hotel for free! The Willard is truly a historical place. Every President since Franklin Pierce has slept or attended an event at the hotel. Not to mention all the other famous people who have stayed and historical events that have occured here!

My room was a large King, with a big bathroom and marble shower. I didn't have a view of anything but that was ok as all I had to do was step out the front of the hotel and the White House was to the right while the Capitol was to the left. 

I had dinner that night at Bar Spero, a Basque-inspired seafood restaurant owned by Chef Johnny Spero. It's a beautiful space with soaring ceilings, modern light fixtures, and cozy wooden booths. Everything I had was excellent; hiramasa (amberjack) crudo/black currant yuzu/fig leaf oil/gooseberries, grilled bread/herbs de provence/La Tur butter/chicken liver mousse, fried octopus/squid stock emulsion. 

They are known for their whole or ½ turbot which I would have loved to try but as I was on my own that would have been a bit much! I would recommend but I'd say try to go with a few others so you can enjoy more things!

I was excited to check out Silver Lyan, the first bar in the US by Ryan Chetiyawardana, as I've been a big fan of his bars around London. Silver Lyan originally opened in Feb 2020, which is when I started planning my return to DC! But we all know what happened in 2020, Silver Lyan had to close along with the rest of the country but luckily they reopened in July 2021. 

The bar is in the basement of the Riggs Hotel, a beautiful building built in 1891 as the HQ for Riggs National Bank. I wasn't aware of it being subterranean, which threw me for a minute. But I grabbed a seat at the bar and started reading through the incredibly creative cocktails that Lyan is known for. 

My "Air Bee n Bee" combined tequila, almond blossom, hay-smoked bee larvae, mango vinegar and Mosel riesling. The menu told the story of bees being brought to CA to pollinate the almond trees and the effect that has on the environment. 

My 2nd round was more traditional, a martini with a flight of garnishes included olives, onions, a twist, and an oyster. Both were very good, as was the Lyan gin I was given a sample of. I liked Silver Lyan, I didn't love it but that had to do more with the atmosphere than with the drinks or the staff, both of which were excellent.

I walked back to The Willard and had a lovely nightcap in the Round Robin Bar before heading to my room (which had had turndown service, which I love!)

The next afternoon I had lunch at Central, which was fine. I wouldn't necessarily recommend it but if you are close by and in need of a quick bite and a cool drink, it will do. 

I started my evening at Allegory for cocktails. I was super excited to check out this cool cocktail bar but somehow had missed that it was inside the Eaton Hotel so it took me a minute to locate the entrance! Psst... it's back in the hotel's library. 

Owner Deke Dunne has created such an amazing space! I was seated at the bar, which gave me a great view of the bartenders in action but also of the incredible murals that entirely take up both walls.

This depiction of Alice in Wonderland was painted by DC artist Erik Thor Sandberg and has civil rights activist Ruby Bridges as Alice. You might recall Bridges from your history classes as the first African American to attend the formerly whites-only William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana at the age of 6. It's a powerful and beautiful image.

It's no surprise then that the menu is titled "Down the Rabbit Hole" and is an allegory (with cocktails) of how Ruby may have felt going to that school with illustrations also by Sandberg. I chose Eden as my first drink: gin, supercharged oranges, benzoin, philoncia, orange blossom, clarified whey, served carbonated & bottled. It was light and refreshing and since it was pre bottled it came quick!

It wasn't that I was in a rush, it's just that I hadn't realized that Allegory was also hosting a pop-up with London bartender Andrei Marcu. He was representing Coupette and making some of their drinks and I wanted to make sure I had time to try one before dinner! I chose the Midnight Gimlet with pisco, blackcurrant squash, Dubonnet, cassis, Zirbenz, and acid solution. It was fantastic and so was chatting with Marcu.

Allegory is absolutely not to be missed while in DC.

My dinner choice that evening was Kinship, a lovely small restaurant that had been recommended to me by friends. As soon as I entered I just loved the space. Whitewashed walls, upholstered banquets, a simple set table, and the cute sketch of the exterior of the restaurant on the cover of the menu.

But the servers seemed really surprised that I was dining solo. I mean it's DC, they have solo people in town on business all the time right? They were kind of killing the vibe for me.

The menu at Kinship is arranged by Craft (dishes that celebrate a cooking technique), History (classics), and Ingredients (highlighting a product). I chose the Crab en Feuilles de Brick from Craft and the BBQ Kanagy Farm Pork Jowl from the Ingredients. Both dishes were quite good and had interesting flavors and textures, with my only "complaint" being the portion size on the pork seemed very big. 

After my main the server asked if I was interested in dessert, I said I wasn't sure but wanted to use the restroom and then would decide. When I returned to my table the bill had been delivered. I guess I looked really confused as the server came over and asked if everything was ok to which I said I thought it was odd that the bill was on the table as I hadn't been offered coffee, I hadn't decided on dessert, and I hadn't asked for the bill. Apologies were offered, they said they misunderstood, but it seemed uncomfortable so I left. Not sure if I'd go back or not, it would have been super simple to bring me a small dessert or something as I was signing my bill to show regrets. 

No bother, I was off to the newly opened Death & Co which I was also very excited about! My Uber drove down an alley and asked if I was sure this is where I was going. I got out and found the barely marked door and then made my way upstairs.

I hadn't made a reservation, because they don't seem to take them for one (which is annoying, what does DC have against solo customers?) but when I checked in with the hostess she kindly told me they would have a seat at the bar in just 5 minutes. When she sat me, between a couple obviously on a date and 2 guys on my other side, she checked with me first, asking if that was going to be ok. Very cool move. 

The space is gorgeous, lots of blond wood and marble, and the service was A+. I had a Hanging Gardens with 2 different rums, agua de jamaica, almond & lime peel. It was tart and refreshing and very easy to drink! Before I left the bartender also poured me a taste of a shohu with pineapple, verbena, and chamomile- it was super interesting!

Death & Co also has an outdoor patio with it's own bar. I was so glad that I was able to get in, it's really just a fantastic spot! I'd also highly recommend it.

The next day I decided to walk to nearby Oyamel for lunch, one of José Andrés' restaurants. This one is Mexican and I'm always in the mood for Mexican! 

I completely over ordered as everything sounded so good! Guacamole, esquites, a Baja style fish taco, and a cochinita pibil taco. And a couple of fantastic margaritas. It was all so good! I'd absolutely come here again!

I had a very late flight that evening so I arranged a 4pm checkout (available at no charge with my IHG Platinum status) and then headed to the Hotel Washington for a spritz and some excellent views of the Treasury Building and the White House from their aptly named rooftop bar, VUE.

They were closing for a private event so I moved over to the other section of VUE which faces the Washington Memorial. You're here for the views, order something like bubbles and you'll be fine, leave the cocktails for a better place (like Allegory or Death & Co!)

I headed back to the Willard and The Round Robin Bar for a last cold drink and an order of hot fries before collecting my bags and calling an Uber to the airport.

It had been a great return trip to DC! Now I was off to my next destination on the month long vacation- France- to spend some time in the countryside with the bestie!

All WA DC photos here. 

Next post from this trip:

Art & Architecture in Washington DC

Weekend in Boise

Trip date: July 2023

My friend Aaron has been to almost every state in the US, he's only missing a few and Idaho was one. So last July, after reading about Kris Komori, the chef of KIN Restaurant in Boise, taking home the James Beard award for Best Chef in the Mountain region, we decided to meet up and have dinner there. Even though I grew up very close to the northern Idaho state line, I'd never been to the capitol city. I called the restaurant, because all of their online booking was completely full after their big news, and co-owner Remy found us a ressie after I explained we wanted to come to Boise just for dinner!

At SEA I checked out the Alaska C Gate lounge beforehand and even though it is small it is really nice with great cocktails and nice food options. Then it was just a 45 minute flight to BOI. Aaron's flight arrived just 10 minutes before mine so we were able to meet in the airport and share a ride to the hotel. 

We figured it was going to be pretty hot in Boise since we were going at the end of July, so we chose the Hyatt Place mainly as it had a pool and it wasn't ridiculously priced. This ended up being a great hotel! The rooms were really big, it was super centrally located, my room had a view of the capitol, and of course there was the pool.

After dropping our bags we headed out to one of Boise's growing number of wineries. Split Rail has a really cute tasting room but neither of us loved the wines. YMMV as wine is very subjective! 

We took a walk down the Riverwalk along the Boise River and watched people cooling off by surfing and paddle boarding. Boise is really easy to walk around in as it's very flat and at least most of the things we were checking out were quite centrally located. 

That evening before dinner we headed to The Modern Bar which is in the hotel by the same name. I absolutely loved my Celery & Smoke cocktail; tequila, mezcal, celery, lime, and agave! It was so refreshing and just perfectly balanced. Really great! The atmosphere of the bar was pretty meh for me though. Maybe it was because it was early evening? Maybe it would be better at night? Not sure but I would still stop in for a tasty drink!

Dinner at KIN was lovely. We got there a bit early and had a drink in a little waiting-like area. Then everyone found their seats at one of two communal tables. I really liked the set up, it gave you a chance to talk to others, but you had a designated seat. 

The set menu was 5-courses and we also chose the wine pairings. All the dishes were very good but I think my favorite was this rabbit with apricot, plum, umeboshi and Parisian gnocchi. 

After dinner we headed to one of Boise's many speakeasies (seriously, there are like 8 of them!). We found the ally and then the unmarked door, were let into a small library crowded with books, and then a bookcase opened and we were shown inside.  

We had made reservations at Gatsby but it didn't seem that busy on this Thursday evening and the space is quite large. The drinks are mostly takes on classics but with kitschy additions. My Josephine Baker (tequila, mezcal, chocolate bitters, agave, smoked) arrived in a chest which when opened was filled with smoke. 

It was a nice space and the drinks were well made and presented but they leaned a bit sweet for both of us. When you exit, you leave through a seperate door and find yourself also in an ally. 

The next morning we decided to walk to the Hyde Park neighborhood to check out Certified Kitchen which one of Aaron's friends had said have the "best english muffins in the world". We'd be the judge of that!

100% TRUTH! Damn! The english muffin was in fact the best I've had (better even than Model Bakery) and the bakery is super cute, has great coffee and a whole slew of other tasty treats. I'd say this is a must-stop-at while in Boise. And the neighborhood is lovely as well; great for strolling.

It was another hot day so we decided to cool off like the locals do- on a raft in the the Boise River! I had spent most of my summers, from high school until my late 20's, on a tube in rivers around eastern and western Washington, so I was very excited!  

Aaron had ordered a couple of beach towels from Amazon that had been delivered to the hotel, we bought some cold canned beverages from the lobby store and filled a plastic laundry bag with ice, then had an Uber take us to Barber Park where we rented our gear. 

We each had our own tube and paddle and spent the next 2 hours floating 6-miles down the very chilly river. It was soooo fun!! The river actually has 3 class-2 rapids, all in the first half of the float, so those paddles came in handy! 

Aaron had left our towels in the sealed plastic bag they had come in so that when we reached the take-out we would have them to dry off with. Unfortunately as he was getting out of his tube in the river the plastic ripped and both towels soaked up as much water as possible! It was sooo funny as we were pretty wet at the end and were planning on toweling off and calling an Uber to take us back to the hotel. We ended up walking back since it would have been really rude to be dripping wet in someone's car!

Back at the hotel we decided to cool back off with a quick swim before getting cleaned up for our night on the town! 

Our big bar crawl night started at, you guessed it, another speakeasy! Thick as Thieves had pineapple daiquiris on their $10 happy hour menu and that is exactly what I wanted in the sweltering early evening heat! We found the door in a parking lot, marked only by two birds, used the old-timey telephone inside to gain entrance to the cozy den, planning on just having one and then moving on. 

As soon as we sat down at the bar though we were both instantly charmed by the bartenders, the menu, and then the drinks. We started with the happy hour menu, then started reading thru the regular menu, and then were handed flashlights which decoded secret offerings!

We had a ball! And truly, to find a bar of this caliber in Boise was just amazing! Thick as Thieves would be right at home in Seattle, LA, or New York. Highly recommend!

We exited through a back door into another ally and made our way to Bar Guernica in the Basque Block for an early dinner. We knew that Boise has the 3rd largest population of Basque people (they came to the area about 200 years ago to herd sheep), what we didn't know was that the San Inazio Festival was going on!

Because of the large crowds the menu was more casual, but we still had some delicious croquettas and fried peppers and Aaron got the lamb grinder while I got the chorizo sausage roll. And we washed it all down with a bottle of txakoli wine, just like you'd do in the mother country!

Afterwards we joined the festivities which are in honor of St. Ignatius of Loyola, the patron saint of the Basques. There were musicians, and dancers, and stands selling pretty much the same things we had just eaten. It was fun!

But we had a cocktail crawl to get back to so we said agur and walked to Press & Pony. Surprisingly, not a speakeasy, but still an old-timey western vibe going on. Aaron and I grabbed a couple of stools at the bar and ordered a drink. The bar was about half full and all of a sudden some guy who was in a group of about 6 announced that he was buying everyone a shot! Now I have been in a lot of bars over the years, and I've had many free drinks, but I've never been in a bar when an average customer bought a round for everyone! 

The bartenders made some juicy shots, each with a gummy bear in it. That's the way they roll at Press & Pony! haha!

Aaron loves a tiki bar, which is what Devil's Den promoted themselves as, so that is where we headed next. They were doing Christmas in July with full on decorations and waitresses in costumes, which could be fun, but the drinks were so bad nothing could save it. I see that they are now closed permanently so I don't have to bother telling you just how bad it was.

Finally we met my friend Jeritt, who lives in Boise, at the bar at the newly re-opened Avery Hotel. Tiner’s Alley was still working out their menu when we were there but our drinks were good and the space was very fun. I'd be more than happy to go back and check it out again if I return to Boise. 

On our last day our flights did not leave until almost 7pm so we got one more full day to explore. We started by walking to Janjou Patisserie for some delicious morning treats. The cases were full of temping things but I finally decided on a gorgeous strawberry and pistachio tart. It was very good!

We made a stop at the farmer's market, which seemed to have a lot of tasty lunch options but we had lunch plans back in town so we just walked around for a bit. 

We had our Uber driver drop us off at The Wylder for pizza lunch. It's a really great space, very big so would be excellent for groups, and the pizza was soooo good. Mine was cacio e pepe! We could not finish the pies so we took the rest home and I can say mine made a great late dinner.

We walked back towards our hotel, passing thru the San Inazio Festival again, this time there were displays of the wagons the sheep herders lived in. Then to the last cocktail bar on our list, Water Bear -woman owned and operated.

What a fantastic bar this is! The interior is filled full with house plants & books, and is a very welcoming space. And the drinks were delicious! They have an Old Fashioned of the day (brilliant idea!) as well as a full menu of classics and classy riffs on classics. We ended up staying for 2 rounds and if I get back to Boise it will be my 2nd stop (right after Thick as Thieves!)

We had been chatting with the bartender about how cool Boise seemed, even though it was such a conservative state, and she told us how it is still legal to carry a concealed, loaded handgun in public without a permit as long as you are over 18!! Holy hell!! Then at the airport we saw this on the doors:

So yes, Boise was very fun and delicious, but laws like this are real head scratchers to me in this day and age.

I was upgraded to first class on the way home which is always nice. It was a very small plane and a super quick flight and I had an amazing view of Rainier, St. Helens, and Adams coming into Seattle. 

All Boise photos here