Warm Springs Avenue

I love old things. Well, OK, I'm actually pretty enthusiastic about a lot of things of various ages and provenances; if you know me well you know I get excited about ideas. But one of my interests is in older buildings, so when I had a chance to drive through Warm Springs Avenue in Boise, I knew I had to come back on foot.

So what is Warm Springs Avenue? Well, the photo below might give you some details but basically it's where all the rich people in the early days of Boise decided to build their mansions.

Well, they aren't all mansions, and some of them have definitely been restored or altered. But overall, it's a street full of unique and beautiful buildings, each interesting in its own way.

Lucky for you, my phone was giving me problems. That's lucky for you because you would get sick of looking at these houses much faster that I would get sick of taking photos of them, and even so I'm holding back from posting them all.

Even the lamps on this street are pretty!

This house just randomly decided to use a vintage ice cart as a lawn ornament. Sure beats garden gnomes.

There are so many beautiful old oak trees that I couldn't always get a good shot at the buildings. I could hardly complain, though -- I think some of them date back to the  1800s and they are wonderful.

Like I said, a few of the houses are more conservative in size, though still elegant and charming  with Victorian details. But on the other hand, one house on this street is a freaking castle.   

I understand it's for sale right now for the low, low price of six million dollars. And, no, they won't let you tour the property unless you can prove you have the money.

Still, in the meantime it's a gym in Pokemon Go, and a great place to catch Evees.

It's a plant!

Most of my clients are reasonably close by, living in Boise, Eagle, or Meridian. But once a week I do get to drive north for forty-five minutes to a small town called Emmet, to work with a client up there.

In early August, on my way to the appointment, I saw a sign for a plant sale. Now, ever since I've succeeded in keeping my third attempt at a Venus Fly Trap alive for four months straight, I've been wanting to try my hand at a bit of urban gardening. So I decided to check it out.

Following the signs led me to a farm house a ways out of town. No one was around except for a sign listing prices and telling you where to leave the money--in a metal box on the table. I'd just managed find a self serve plant store that worked on a trust system.

And there were some lovely plants for sale.

With such a huge selection, I was stuck for a while. But I could only afford to get one plant. After some consideration, I chose one that seemed useful, interesting, and reasonably easy to not kill.

Since bringing this little lady home, she's turned the rest of the way green and seems to be doing well.

Boise Train Depot

There is an old train station up the hill from my first Idaho apartment. Frequently it's reserved for weddings and such, but when I heard that they were offering free guided historical tours on a Thursday night I jumped at the chance.

The tour guide dressed up like a conductor.

The inside features beautifully decorated vaulted ceilings and some other interesting decor.

Outside one of the old trains is still on display. I knew my Dad would like pictures, so I took a few. 

Back inside, they had a local brass band playing everything from Count Basie to the Beatles for everyone who was waiting for the tour and looking at the historical displays.

But before that, I took the elevator up to the belltower.

Mesh net aside, it's a lovely view of Downtown Boise.

This building went more or less out of use with the death of passenger trains, but it was restored more recently. Pat of that restoration included installing an elevator, but they put it in by taking off the roof and the top floor and then lowering the elevator in with a crane. They put the roof back on, but the top floor is still missing.

Right, so those displays.

The Depot is used fancy parties now, but it's also a small museum to various relics of twentieth century trains.

I couldn't help getting a little excited about the 1920s convenience stand.

I found this painting on the back wall--my relatives (ie most of you trading this) might find this a familiar sight.

I guess the train arriving in Boise was a pretty big deal. For a long time the nearest train went to Kuna (where's that? Exactly) and travelers would take a stagecoach the rest of the way to Boise. This didn't do the tourism industry any favors, and made shipping products to and from town a challenge. So when the railroad was finally extended to Boise in the 20's, the entire town stopped to celebrate. They had a big parade of girls in togas leaving the train into the station, the president of the railroad company was treated like royalty, there were fireworks shows all over town.

After the tour, I spent some time exploring the gardens on the grounds in front of the depot. It's a pretty little garden, complete with koi ponds, and I frequently see people taking photos there for weddings and quinceñeras.

All in all, I had a lovely time. The building is usually open to the public Monday afternoons and I'd suggest a visit if you like history and/or trains.

As for using it for a wedding venue--not that I'm in the market as such but anyway--it's beautiful but expensive and you have to reserve it a year in advance. My Dad, who I told about this during the apartment hunting crisis (when everywhere I went it seemed like nothing would be available until September) said, "It takes a year to get into a building? That must be Boise."