Treasured Valley

Posts Tagged ‘Off the Beaten Path’

-by Amy Pence-Brown

The Old State Pen is one of my most favorite places in Idaho. I love the drive out on Warm Springs Avenue, where the passage of time is evident through the architecture of the homes on that historic boulevard. I love making that left turn toward the old prison, where you are so quickly reminded of the dry high desert beauty of our city, with Table Rock looming and the botanical gardens just ahead. I love the stoicness and rough Westerness of the rocky barricades marking the prison walls. I love the Bishops House and the smell of dried dirt and sagebrush. But the thing I love most about the Old Pen is the raw humanness that lingers there – sadness, fear, anger, frustration, love – that is still evident in the items that remain: the writing on the walls, the flaking turquoise paint, the dust, the toilets, the bunks, the artwork, the showers, the personal items taken from inmates in the yard, the barber shop. You can feel the Idaho sun beating down on your shoulders as you stand in the middle of the concrete basketball court, or the rose garden, or the women’s ward, and breathe the same air as those inmates and staff did one-hundred years ago.

The Old Idaho State Pen was built by hand in 1870 by the inmates themselves. It operated as a working prison for over 100 years and housed some of Idaho’s most notorious criminals, including numerous women. It ceased operation in 1973 and became a museum for the public after that. It’s open all year pretty much daily and costs $5 (or less) per person to get in. They give you a map of the site, as it’s usually a self tour (with the exception of during special events), and you start with an introductory video and informational panels. The grounds consist of numerous buildings, including cell houses, the guards and warden’s houses, solitary confinement, dining hall, and a shirt factory, where inmates laundered clothing for local

military folks. I appreciate that the museum isn’t over-curated – the prison mostly stands in the exact state is was left in in the mid-70s when it ceased operation. The fragments lives lived there make a strong enough statement and allow for interpretation. Several display boards, signage and labels give some background on the history of the place and are accompanied by stellar photographic documentation from the Idaho State Historical Library and Archives. There are also some very interesting exhibits on prison tattoo art, the hanging room, and old West transportation, where you canfind an elaborately carved black horse-drawn hearse.

You can easily spend an entire afternoon there, and I also highly recommend the quaint little Idaho Museum of Mining & Geology that sits right there on prison grounds as well. The kids will love the shiny rocks and minerals on display. While they might not grasp the severity or concept of the prison grounds, my girls loved running around outside, smelling flowers and climbing dark and narrow flights of stairs and exploring tiny cellblocks. There are picnic tables and grass on the grounds, so pack a lunch to eat there or take a break down the road at Quarry View Park. Take my word – it’s a hauntingly beautiful piece of history; you won’t be disappointed.

Read Amy Pence-Brown’s blog Doin’ It All Idaho Style here.

-by Amy Pence-Brown

When we moved to Boise three-and-a-half years ago we immediately began searching for fun free family activities. For us, part of the excitement of moving to Idaho from Minneapolis was the easy access to nature. This was especially important to Eric and I as parents, as we had birthed a little bird lover in Lucy, our oldest daughter. What a thrill it was to discover the Greenbelt, the plethora of city parks, and the Foothills Learning Cente, but it was learning about the MK Nature Cente that was really the most thrilling for our little family.

The Morrison Knutson (MK) Nature Center was started in 1990 and celebrates its 20th anniversary this year. The four-and-a-half acre site lies on the Boise River Greenbelt next to the Idaho Fish and Game Department off of Walnut Avenue and next to Municipal Park. The main building offers hands-on exhibits about Idaho wildlife and a great little shop with one-of-a-kind items (that make unique birthday gifts for kids, by the way). Inside you’ll also find a large room the staff use as an auditorium or classroom depending on the need. The rest of the site is a tranquil nature preserve filled with native birds, bugs, butterflies, plants, and fish. There’s a path to wander along and a pond and stream with bridges which offer easy viewing of the geese and ducks. There are also underwater viewing areas to watch the fish in their habitats. The Center’s lovely flower garden is a popular spot for weddings. Our family has spent many memorable afternoons and evenings wandering around the MK Nature Center; the admission is free and while the interpretive center is open during your regular daytime hours, the outdoor portion is open from early in the morning until sunset. It was the place we took Alice on her very first adventure out of the house as a newborn, and their nighttime October program, Creatures of the Night, is our favorite Halloween activity in the city. It’s the place that Lucy first saw a deer in the parking lot and where she first got stung by a wasp. Our most memorable experience thus far at the Center, though, has to be our time spent there this past Saturday for International Migratory Bird Day.

The event was free (with a suggested donation of $1) and by the time we got there in the afternoon, there was no crowd. Each of the kids was given a passport activity book that they were to get stamped at each activity stop. Of course, the face painting booth was our first stop; Lucy picked a robin and Alice a spider. They made prints of bird feathers, homemade binoculars out of toilet paper tubes, and did nature sketches of birds. The highlights, however, were the biologists’ presentation of a live Short-eared owl and a Swainson’s hawk and the owl pellet dissecting station. Lucy got so into the matching up of mouse bones she found in the pellet that the educator let her take one home at the end of the day. She parked it at our dinette set as soon as we got home, found my facial tweezers in the bathroom, and set right to work. After, of course, she hung up her new poster of migratory birds in her bedroom. Eric came home with three different types of native sagebrush from the Center’s native plants sale. I came home satisfied with the opportunity to offer my budding naturalists with such a great opportunities and a wildlife experience so very close to home. We all came home a little smarter, a little more relaxed, and a feeling a little luckier that we have such a great resource in Boise.

Read more Amy Pence-Brown at her blog Doin’ It All Idaho Style.

-by Amy Pence-Brown

I’m pretty sure I was born with the pickle lovin’ gene, as my dad is as big of a fan of this side dish (or is it a condiment? A meal of its own?) as I am. As long as I can remember, we’ve had numerous jars of pickles in the fridge, and they always accompanied any dinner or lunch plate.  It was a recent visit to my Dad’s house, in fact, that inspired my current journey to find the best pickle in the Treasure Valley.  When browsing the fridge in his eastern Oregon home I came upon a gigantic sized jar filled with the familiar pickling ingredients: brine, cucumbers, dill. There were also a few exciting extras in there, like hot peppers and garlic.  Of course, I helped myself to the contents and was thrilled to taste a very crisp, spicy, homemade pickle unlike any I’ve ever tasted before.  Apparently, my dad’s dear friend from high school raises all the ingredients for these amazing delicacies in his garden each year and has a big pickling party in late summer, inviting all his friends to bring their own homemade goodness to trade for his secret pickles and teaches them to make their own.

Now, I tend to get a bit obsessive about food and am constantly on the search for the best Bloody Mary or key lime pie.  In fact, I made my friends organize a donut tasting from all the best bakeries in their West Los Angeles neighborhood one Saturday morning not long ago.  So, for the past week I’ve been on a hunt. First stop, my own fridge.  I just bought a jar of Heifetz® Kosher Dill Spears at the Grocery Outlet on Fairview in Boise.  We always try a different brand of pickles, but they usually have to be dill (I’m not a fan of the sweet kinds).  This particular brand seems to be mostly sold in Missouri and Tennessee.  I like spears because they fit nicely in my Bloody Mary and we all want to make Mama happy.  They weren’t as crisp as I normally like, but they taste was pretty good.

Next, the new SmashBurger out by Cabela’s just opened and in a brilliant PR move, invited numerous local social media-

ites to their press opening.  As a newbie, I was excited to be considered among this prestigious group, but even more excited when I learned they had DEEP FRIED PICKLES ON THEIR MENU. Seriously, people, they sounded so yummy and photos from the event made my mouth water more.  In reality, though, they are a bit salty for my taste and after popping about three, okay maybe five, of them in my mouth, I was done.

My final pickle pit stop this week was the new Jimmy John’s in the old Pioneer Tent Building on Main Street downtown Boise.  The girls and I picked up some sandwiches and a bucket of Jimmy Pickles for a park picnic with our playgroup today.  That’s right, I said a BUCKET OF PICKLES.  These dill spears are normally served on the side with each of their sandwiches, but for $4 you get a whole jar filled with about 17 of them.  I think we devoured 7 of them in the car on the way to the park, and the other pickle lovers, younguns and their folks, also agreed, these things are wonderful.  Crisp, salty goodness.  My favorite so far.

Now my friend Brooke tells me about this pickle relish served as a side at local Indian restaurant Bombay Grille that is too die for.  And I’m still hunting for that perfect jumbo dill at the gas station that blows my mind.  What brands do y’all recommend? Any other local joints that serve up a mean pickle?

Check out Amy Pence-Brown’s great website, Doin’ It All Idaho Style.

-by Amy Pence-Brown

Garden City is full of sweet little surprises and some spectacular Treasure Valley treasures – The Stagecoach, the Ranch Club, Visual Arts Collective and the Woman of Steel Gallery, to name a few. But it’s the Reuseum, tucked in a small strip of worn-down warehouse spaces near Garden City Tattoo on Chinden Blvd. that has truly stolen my heart.

The Reuseum is a technological surplus outlet/electronic gadget haven for geeks. They accept all sorts of donated mechanical contraptions and offer a workshop, classes, and even host an annual robot competition for the reuse and resurrection of these castoffs. The idea is genius in my book; I’m a firm believer in fueling creativity through recycling. I’m embarrassed to admit, however, that I just visited the place for the first time, after following the Reuseum on Twitter and being their Facebook fan for nearly a year now. It’s been on my to-do list for a while, but dealing with the whole post-layoff depression thing coupled with my new holy-shit-I’m-a-full-time-stay-at-home-mom gig, time got away from me. So, last week we spent a lovely, rainy Saturday afternoon in Garden City and met the darling and helpful owner of the Reuseum, David Gapen. He had posted earlier that morning about some new merchandise that had just come in, including a vintage label maker that I’ve been scouring garage sales for for years. He was kind enough to find it for me and make me a deal that I couldn’t refuse. (And it came with faux wood grain tape. Are. You. Kidding. Me?@!@#! I thought I’d died and gone to heaven with all the other obsessively organized kitsch lovers). Of course I snatched that baby up, and I plan to label everything but the kitchen sink with it. Well, maybe that, too.

My husband, Eric, and the girls accompanied me on the journey. Eric, a chemistry professor, was thrilled to find all sorts of familiar gadgets and gizmos that he’s come to know and love through his laboratory research. The girls thought the shiny silver and gold bolts and latches and adaptors and such were pretty cool things to collect and whined for them all. I was drawn to other quirky oddities, including a large stack of paper shooting range targets. My daughters got a kick out of the revolving dark room door that’s for sale and I laughed out loud at the yellow sticky note that read, “TIME MACHINE RIDES $1.” A sense of humor, an environmental consciousness, a killer inventory, a dedication to technological and scientific creativity, and a really nice guy that runs the place? What more could you ask for? Get there soon.

Amy Pence-Brown wants a robot that can knit and wash dishes…

-by Amy Pence-Brown.

The poor cigarette has gotten a bad rap lately, with the Americans getting all environmentally conscious and uber-health driven.  Many of our old favorite divey bars have gone smoke free, and entire cities are following suit.  That hasn’t always been the case, however.  Popular culture reminds us of the “good old days” when smoking was a way of life, like in the acclaimed AMC series Mad Men, whose sets are continually fogged by Lucky Strikes. Maybe it’s this nostalgia for the once accepted vice that drew me to the collection that graces the walls of the Old Pioneer Tent & Awning building, or maybe it’s just my love of quirky displays.  Probably both.

The Old Pioneer Tent & Awning building (PDF)  is part of the Old Boise Historic District and graces the corner of 6^th and Main Streets downtown Boise.  If you’ve driven past, you can’t miss this big white horse perched on the rooftop.  Likely many of you have been inside, as the place hosts yummy eateries like Jenny’s Lunch Line and Chronic Tacos.  It also boasts interesting events, like Santa at the holidays and the N’Scale Model Railroaders often set up their miniature world and run their trains much to the delight of children and adults alike.  I also really shopping the Idaho Indie Works Etsy Street Team artisans on First Thursdays.

The building itself was constructed in 1910 and the company, as you may have guessed by its name, housed the manufacturer of canvas wagon covers, tents, awnings, automobile tops and some leather goods.  One floor was devoted to production and seamstresses and the other to offices and a display showroom.  The place operated as such until around 1972, when it was purchased by the current owners, the Carleys.  At that time it was turned into a mini mall type atmosphere housing numerous tenants and has continued as such ever since.  The owners have taken great care to preserve the historical nature of the original building, as well as others within the Old Boise Historic District.

Like many historic structures, the Old Pioneer Tent & Awning building has many stories embedded in its old walls.  And, in this case, hung on them.  A curious display of hundreds and hundreds of packs of vintage cigarettes graces the walls of the first floor of the building.  There is little signage or information to help one decipher the artwork, but I found myself draws to these little packages of the past.  The cigarettes have been collected from around the world by Boisean Chas Allen, a relative of the Carleys, and have been hanging in the building for at least 25 years.  Mr. Allen collected cigarettes for a large part of the 20^th century, and many of the packs appear to be quite antique.  And their names are just plain fabulous – some of my favorites include Black Death, Buz, Go to Hell, and, of course, Horse Shit Cigarettes, manufactured in Shitville City.  (I know, I know, it’s a dirty habit, but at least someone’s got an equally dirty sense of humor about it.)  Each tiny box is an artwork in and of itself; the brand marketing on each package is a history lesson in graphic design of the past.  So, next time you find yourself in that neck of the woods, pop into the Old Pioneer Tent & Awning building for a quick “smoke break.”  One puff and you’ll be hooked.

Amy Pence-Brown likes her cigarette art with the soup du jour from Jenny’s Lunch Line…

-by Amy Pence-Brown

We are always looking for affordable and interesting cultural places and events to take our girls.  Lucky for us, the Treasure Valley is full of young families and, as a result, offers great educational and fun options.  This has become increasingly important with my new gig as a stay at home mom, as the days can be lllllllllooooong if we are stuck at home, especially during the winter months.  This past week turned Boise into a winter wonderland, and while we spent hours outside sledding and playing in the snow, the single digit temps were not bearable for long.  Because of the cold coldness, the kindergarteners didn’t get recess all week, so by Saturday we had plenty of pent up energy racing around out small home.  So we braved the storm and headed up to the Foothills Learning Center for one of their free Saturday events for kids.

The Center is run by the City of Boise Parks & Rec and is an environmental education center devoted to teaching about and preserving our high desert landscape and the Foothills.  They offer a variety of classes for kids and adults, but they are quite popular and fill up fast.  This past Saturday was their Second Saturday free program on making recycled Christmas crafts, something our family has been avidly doing this past year, so we were excited.  The drive up to the Foothills was gorgeous (from our home on the Boise Bench we headed down Vista Ave. turned Capital Blvd. and took 8^th St. past the Boise Co-Op as it winded all the way up into the Foothills), as the snow was falling slowly.  There were plenty of mountain bikers and people hiking with their dogs in the fresh snow.  We were surprised to find out that tons of other families had braved the weather (or had simply been driven crazy by their children like we were) to attend the event.

The tiny educational center was crammed with kids, the smell of fresh pine and coffee, and holiday cheer.  There was a wreath making station, using wire coat hangers and Christmas tree cuttings, and a pomander making table, using clementines and cloves.  Lucy made a Christmas treasure box out of an egg carton, Christmas light bulbs, some hot glue and some fabric as well as a tree ornament utilizing a recycled Christmas card.  The girls stamped their own wrapping paper using large, recycled architectural plans donated to the Center by a local firm.  Free bagels and coffee we also provided and my husband and I stood around watching, helping the girls when needed, and had a lovely, leisurely morning.  We stayed for probably an hour, but those with older kids were surely there longer.  I’m so excited that we have such a wonderful resource here, and look forward to their next Second Saturday course on planting native landscapes come January.  And I’m certainly signing my daughter up for one of their summer nature camps sooner rather than later, just to make sure we get in this time.

Amy Pence-Brown rocks out to records and wins Christmas window decorating contests…

-by Amy Pence-Brown

For the past four years the Downtown Boise Association, in conjunction with local businesses, has offered artists the opportunity to decorate windows in a winter or holiday theme. The “exhibition” kicks off on the First Thursday in December, which happens to be tomorrow. Traditionally, the artists are instructed to paint their designs onto the glass, and they are unique and fun. This is my first year participating as one of the artists, and since I am not a painter, I inquired as to whether any business might be interested in working with an artist who works with three-dimensional found objects.

Bandanna Running + Walking at 504 Main Street jumped at the chance to, well, take a chance on my non-traditional design. I created a proposal for them, which, much to my surprise, they were totally jazzed about. My window theme is “Walking in a Winter Wonderland,” inspired by the holiday song of the same name as well as the mission of the shop, which specializes in running and walking gear of all kinds. And, since I work mainly with found or recycled objects, I decided to create a display made entirely from objects found in my home.

I hope you’ll stroll by the shop, which is right across the street from Addie’s and next to Ceramica, and take a look at my different take on the traditional winter window. While you’re at it, check out the other fantastic artist windows in the area as well as my friend Jason Sievers new show at the Flying M Coffeehouse. You might want to grab a warm beverage there while you’re at it, which is what we plan to do, before hitting Macy’s for my girls to see Santa. If you’re not up for walking, the link above to the Winter Window Gallery map also has the free trolley schedule, which will take you by all the great art sites this First Thursday and is a hoot for the kiddos. If you can’t make it out tomorrow night, be sure to take some time this month to stroll around downtown Boise at night, as the windows and art shows will be up throughout the month of December.

Amy Pence-Brown likes recycling and downtown strolls in the winter snow…