Boise One Day Itinerary | What to do in One Day in Boise
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Good morning, Adventurers!Welcome to Boise, Idaho, the capital of the state. That’s the Capitol Building right there if you couldn’t tell. I love a good symmetrical building; you know, perfect.
Boise Capitol Building
Since Boise is the capital of Idaho, we decided to start our journey here at the State Capitol Building. It’s over 100 years old and a massive building made of stone. We definitely recommend heading inside and checking out the crazy architecture. This is pretty incredible, huh? There’s so much… I don’t know if it’s granite or stone. It’s just so ornate. It’s kind of like a marble pattern and is everywhere. It’s very thick and very grand, very echoey. Definitely worth coming in here. It’s one of those things that looks much bigger on the inside than the outside.
Culinary Adventures
Ice Cream Potato
We have one day here, but we want to see as much of the city as we can. Sadly, it’s winter, so it’s a little chilly out. We think we’re going to spend most of our time indoors eating as much as we can.
First off, we found a dish that might be the most Idaho thing you could possibly imagine: an ice cream potato. Yes, I think it’s exactly what it sounds like.
We came to Westside Drive-In because we had to try an ice cream potato. I’ve had sweet potatoes with cinnamon and sugar on them, but never a baked potato. How freaking crazy is this? Only in Idaho would they make an actual baked potato with ice cream, Oreos, and chocolate syrup on top.
Is it actually a real potato? It’s not. I fooled you all, and they fooled you all. From all the photos, I thought it was a real baked potato with ice cream toppings on it. It looks so real. No, it’s an ice cream potato because this is ice cream. It’s not a potato. It’s molded ice cream rolled in cocoa powder to resemble a russet potato. They put whipped cream, Oreos, peanuts, and chocolate sauce on it. I don’t want to mess it up; it looks pristine. It almost looks like a little plastic model.
Get some of that… it really looks like you’re digging into a potato. This is so weird. I wonder if anybody actually does this with a baked potato. I was kind of excited to try that. The chocolate, peanuts, a little bit of everything. It tastes like an ice cream sundae. It’s absolutely delicious. It’s just nice, rich vanilla ice cream. Having the Oreos, peanuts, and chocolate on there gives it a bit of the sweet, savory, and salty. It is an absolute delight and maybe the cutest way to serve ice cream I’ve ever come across.
Also Read: Pros and Cons of Living in Boise, Idaho
Steak Fingers
While the ice cream potato is delicious, we cannot just start our day with pure ice cream. So we got something savory as well. This might actually be the unofficial food of Idaho. You think it’s potatoes, but it’s actually these little suckers: steak fingers. They’re sliced-up pieces of steak that have been tenderized, rolled in seasoning, breaded, and deep-fried. It’s essentially like a pre-sliced chicken-fried steak.
They look better than I ever thought they would. They’re so pristine, man. Look at the batter fry on there. It looks like delicious fish and chips, but it’s steak. Well, it is completely delicious and tender. You can see there’s the littlest bit of steak in there and a ton of batter on the outside. It’s basically like savory funnel cake with steak on the inside. I’m surprised just how tender the steak is. I thought it was going to be kind of stringy for some reason, but it’s actually super tender and delicious, very crunchy too. It’s a delight.
Apparently, this diner was started in 1957. The original location is super adorable. It’s still just a drive-thru, or you can sit outside, but sadly it is closed for renovations today. So we came a little south of town to this location, which has indoor seating and also still looks like an old-school diner. They’re playing 50s doo-wop music. What a great way to start a day: weird little steak fingers and ice cream potato. Welcome, Idaho.
Exploring the Boise Greenbelt
This is the Boise Greenbelt, a really nice path that goes all along the river. It stretches 25 miles, so there’s a lot of it. If you’re up for just a casual little morning run, you can easily knock out 25 miles down here. It’s really cool because there’s tons of water access. You can get into the water in the summer. We saw an area with an actual beach, change rooms, and everything. You can come down here and have a whole day on the water. You don’t even need to be close to an ocean; just come to Boise. You can do it all here. It’s nice when a city’s river isn’t just disgusting and polluted, more for looks than for actual use.
There’s a river up in St. Louis near us, but you do not want to get in that thing.
Surfing in Boise
This thing’s pretty sweet, huh? That would get you anywhere you wanted to go, and in style. This is when I get jealous because Ruby can go anywhere, but it’s not like this. I wouldn’t like actually living in there. I like standing up inside of Ruby.
We came upon the Whitewater Park, and I was really wanting to scope this spot out. I didn’t think anyone would actually be here, but there are people surfing out there. It’s like below freezing, almost barely above 32°, but I guess they change the way the water flows over here during different days of the week. Some days are better for surfing, some days are better for kayaking. In the middle of Boise, who knew you’d find surfers?
Apparently, in the summer, there will be tons of people out here. This place will be packed. Right now, there are four lonesome surfers. There’s actually a surf shop right over there where we saw that van we were admiring. I don’t think I could do it; it’s just too cold. It looks kind of scary because it looks like you could fall and bonk your head on the concrete over there.
Do you remember that last time we surfed in Bali? We got our pride handed to us on a platter—a bloody, sandy platter. Oh my God, you guys, I got pummeled. Can you see that? I got thrown on the ground and I was like, “Ow, that sucks.” We were like, “We’re not going to give up. We’re going to go again. I got this one.”
Yeah, so now I’m just sitting here watching everyone else die from the safety of the sand. It was really embarrassing because everyone was watching.
Push and Pour Coffee
This is the place we were looking for: Push and Pour Coffee. It came very highly recommended and is right next to the greenbelt. Very, very, very excited for this. Three berries. It’s pretty good.
This coffee shop is skateboard-themed. They have pictures of skaters doing epic tricks in unique landscapes. Are these tricks just like what you used to do when you were skateboarding?
Yeah, I used to skateboard if you didn’t know that. But it’s been a long, long time, and you know I twist my ankles all the time. That’s how it all started. I would do stuff like this. No, I could never actually do anything like that. It was more like on a rail that was a foot above the ground.
Say, he would try to do that and then break his ankle in half. I had a mean heel flip, a mean kick flip, and a pop shove it. That’s about all I could do, but it was enough to impress her.
I was very impressed.
Most importantly, the coffee comes highly recommended. Of course, I got a latte. No matter how cold it is outside, cortado is my jam. It is pretty delicious. Currently above freezing, sir. Well, okay, above freezing latte. Below freezing, you still get a latte. Doesn’t make a difference, but this is exactly what we needed to continue taking on Boise.
Enjoying Nature
A bunch of the river here is frozen, and there are these little frozen spots where you can throw rocks across and they make this really cool sound. Science, man, how does that work?
Same way magnets work. I don’t know that either.
Well, you guys, I think I’m in love. Look at this beautiful Wagoneer. It blows that van right out of the water. This is actually one of our favorite vehicles of all time, and we really want one. This is probably the nicest one I’ve ever seen in my life. They came out with the new Wagoneer, and they’re abominations. They don’t look anything like this, and I’m very angry about it.
If any of you have one of these sitting in a garage, you know, like a parent or grandparent had one and it got passed down to you and you’re not using it, let us know. We want to restore one, so we don’t care about the condition. Let us know. Oh my, you can smell how old it is even from here. I can smell the car. That’s a familiar smell for us though; it smells just like Clementine. Oh my God, it’s so pretty.
Freak Alley
We’ve just been moseying around the streets of Boise, and I love it so far. The downtown is adorable. They have all these historic buildings, and a lot of them have been updated but they still have the original facade.
We ended up at Freak Alley, which is this whole section of murals in an alleyway. I think you can probably guess where they got the name from. It’s fun to come to these places in the winter because you have them all to yourself. It’s still gorgeous. It does seem like a cool place to come in the summer, though, when the weather’s a bit more predictable and you can actually stay out here for a while.
You can tell they’re always changing because some of the walls are freshly painted. That one looks new. They keep putting new artwork over the old ones. It’s kind of a fun thing to have an ever-changing spot. The city’s always adapting.
Yeah, it’s fun to come to places like this because I feel like it brings out the character of the city and it’s a good way for artists to kind of show what they’re all about.
Freakin’ Good Pizza
I think we’re hungry again. We weren’t able to eat all of our steak fingers and ice cream potato. We should have. It’s time to eat something savory and we found a local spot to try: Pie Hole Pizza. They’re known for their unusual pizza toppings and crazy, funky atmosphere. It’s a pretty popular spot among locals.
They have all sorts of pizzas, including some really unique flavors like potato bacon and even a s’mores pizza. We’re going to give it a shot.
Alright, I have to try the s’mores pizza. Look at that marshmallow, graham cracker, and chocolate goodness. It’s weird, but I like it. It’s actually pretty delicious. The crust is still crispy, and the toppings are sweet and gooey. It’s like a dessert and a meal all in one.
Conclusion
We had a blast exploring Boise today. From the historic Capitol Building to the quirky Freak Alley and everything in between, this city has so much to offer. We hope you enjoyed coming along with us on this adventure. If you did, make sure to give this article a thumbs up, and don’t forget to subscribe for more travel vlogs.
We’ll see you in the next one. Bye!
