The key to understanding a place is often found in its social center. For many communities, that means downtown. Boulder’s Pearl Street Mall is an excellent example of this, with probably a couple of hundred thriving businesses along its route, and along neighbouring streets. After my visit with @ BoulderChristina and Salem, I headed downtown, purchased a one-hour parking pass from one of the kiosks that line Broadway Street, left the Kia in a lot, and headed for lunch.
After the chicken salad panini and bhakti chai were a pleasant memory, I left Walnut Street and headed a block north to Pearl Street, and lots of company. The Mall’s energy belied the dismal weather. People, thankfully, don’t let a few clouds wreck their weekends here. There are a wide variety of shops, from Old Tibet to several independent bookstores. I chose Boulder Bookstore from which to purchase a couple of hiking guides.



Pearl Street, and the surrounding area, are a genuine historic district, from Boulder’s beginnings as a frontier town.


North of the mall, there are some intriguing homes.



I will likely be back in Boulder this afternoon, after visiting my uncle, in nearby Longmont.
HIGHLIGHT: Boulder Books
What a beautiful place! Did you always have a love of hiking?
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I went on my first “solo” from my house to my Grama’s, when I was three. Man, did I get a whuppin’ for that one.
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LOL! Ok, it’s in your blood, then!
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