…I’ll find my limo driver, Mister, take us to the show.”
The opening two lines of the great song ‘What’s your name?’ by Lynard Skynard. It’s pretty much the main reason why we came to Boise, Idaho.
Not knowing much about the city, we were happily surprised to find out it’s a pretty cool place.
It’s got a small downtown area but has a hipster vibe thanks to the Boise State University campus and there seemed to be heaps of things on to see and do.
We spent six days in Boise just hanging out, eating, drinking, shopping and visiting the local sights such as the State Capitol Building.
We also went to the Old Idaho Penitentiary – a functioning prison from 1872 to 1973. On site there are 30 buildings you can walk around (and in) and the whole place was just fascinating. We spent a whole afternoon here.
Some prison facts:
- 603 prisoners at one time
- Youngest prisoner was a 10 year-old boy who served less than a year for murder
- An 11 year-old boy served 9 years for shooting his mother
- An 81 year-old served 3 years for cattle rustling (stealing)
- There were over 500 escape attempts with 90 people getting away
- The longest sentence went to Harry Orchard – who served 46 years for assassinating a former governor. He died in prison in 1954.
- Most common crime for women was forgery and for men was theft.
The prison also had gallows – 10 men were hanged here, the last one was in 1957. No women were ever executed.
The prison had 215 women prisoners over the years, and they had much better living conditions than the men. The women got to cook, clean, sew and could walk around into each other’s cells and common areas. There was usually just one matron ‘female guard’ on duty to oversee the women.
There was also a special exhibit of arms and armaments, which had a whole collection of World War I and II guns, as well as swords from past centuries.
In Boise I even had time to get my hair done so that was quite the treat, and got to visit my happy zen place, Whole Foods. My three wishes for the world would be peace, an end to animal cruelty, and for Australia and New Zealand to have Whole Foods.
Jean and Duke also got a tune up at a Triumph dealer for their 18,000 mile service.
We ended up hiring out an AirStream caravan through Air BnB for our Boise visit and it was like luxury for us! The guy whose backyard it sits on ended up going to Austin for a music festival so we got to take his beautiful dog Jena for a walk and keep her company. Jackpot! What a cool guy and dog to match.
The nightlife in Boise was pretty lively. We checked out The Record Exchange, a vinyl shop that’s a city institution, which was celebrating its 40th anniversary with various local bands playing songs from 1977.
And being ultra nerds, we found the ultimate bar for us which had old school arcade games as well as Nintendo’s, Atari, board games and heaps more stuff. We hung out with two awesome locals, Jason and Eli – and bonded playing Nintendo 64’s Goldeneye – a funny night.
Boise also has what’s known as the ‘River Green Belt’ – 25 miles (about 40km) of tree-lined parks along the Boise River. The trails actually follow through the middle of the city as well as parks and is perfect for cyclists and runners. Back in the 1960’s the riverbank was a dumping ground for rubbish, sewage and industrial waste, but the city council had a vision to turn it into the space that it is today.
Boise is a city on the rise – apparently a lot of people from California are moving here because of its affordability, and house prices are starting to rocket.
During this road trip we’ve come across a few places where we could see ourselves living and Boise is definitely one of them.
Thanks Lynard Skynard for bringing it to our attention!
‘Till next time …
For the Ride with Jean & Duke 