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