Even though we’ve been in Denver for over two years, and my husband works in Boulder, we really hadn’t spent much time in the city. We decided to take a full weekend and spend some time exploring. It’s such a quick and easy drive from Denver, and the perfect spot for a little staycation.
We checked into the Marriott Boulder (gotta get my Bonvoy points!) on a Friday afternoon. It’s about a 15 minute walk from Pearl Street, and has great restaurants, like The Buff, in the same parking lot. We actually liked being a little bit off the main drag – it was great to get up and make the walk to Pearl Street in the mornings, and feel a little separated from the action at night. Plus our view wasn’t bad!
We started off our afternoon with massages at the Dragontree Spa on Pearl Street. After over a year of COVID, we hadn’t gotten massages anywhere, and Dragontree came highly recommended both for the quality of their services, but also for the safety measures they had in place. After so long without a massage, this one was INCREDIBLE. We went with 90 minutes and I honestly never wanted it to end.
After our massages, we decided to stop at Silver Vines Wine Tasting Room, which is right off Pearl Street next to the Bohemian Biergarten. There was no one in the tasting room, so we got to sit right at the main bar, and taste some fun wines from Colorado. If you choose to do a flight (which I recommend) you can actually choose from any of their wines and make your own. If you decide you want to buy a bottle after your tasting, they waive the tasting fee. And the wines are not super expensive! There were bottles starting at around $15. It’s wine from Colorado, so don’t be expecting a Napa quality Cab, but they were fun and a nice way to start off our weekend!
After some wine tasting, we popped next door to the Bohemian Biergarten for some German food and beers. They have a great selection of both German/European beers as well as local craft beers from Boulder/Colorado.
The food was also incredible. I expected your typical German fare, but this spot kicked it up a notch, with a bunch of European options. The best thing hands down was the Polish Pierogies appetizer. We went with the fried option (because everything is better fried) and we almost ordered a second batch.
We decided to really continue on the beer train, and to just hit up as many of the other local breweries as we could before we had to turn in for the night. Our next stop was the Oskar Blues Taproom on Pearl Street. The great thing about Pearl, is that everything is super walkable. The whole street is blocked off for pedestrians only, so it’s easy to get around. The other great thing, is that almost every restaurant and bar has outdoor seating on Pearl. The weather in Colorado is so fantastic – we were visiting in early March, and during the day with the sun out, we were perfect in short sleeves outside. We each did a flight so that we could try 8 beers between the two of us. The food looked great, but we were still full from too many pierogies.
Pro Tip: Definitely keep in mind that as great as the daytime sun is in Colorado, when that sun goes away, it can get cold fast.
Our last stop for the day was West Flanders Brewing Company. They also have a great outdoor patio on Pearl, and we grabbed some spots and ordered a few flights to share. By this point, we were definitely ready for bed. We really crammed a lot into our Friday afternoon, and luckily the walk back to the Marriott helped sober us up a bit.
The next morning we got up and walked across the parking lot to The Buff Restaurant for breakfast. This spot was on all the recommendation lists, and is a huge hot spot for locals, so we were really glad it was just steps away from our room. There is definitely a long wait on weekends, so Eric was kind enough to pop over and put our name down while I (very slowly) finished getting ready. The highlight of The Buff is their 99 cent Bloody Mary deal, which is just amazing. The glasses are a bit small, but really that’s better because your refills are always cold!
The other item they’re known for, are their saddlebags, which are pancakes filled with either bacon or sausage, and then topped off with two eggs. We ate SO MUCH and had enough Bloody Mary’s to get rid of the slight hangover from too many IPA’s the night before.
After eating so much, we really needed to walk around a bit. If y’all know Eric, you know he’s a huge plant guy. Boulder has this amazing spot called Terracotta, that has an incredible selection of beautiful plants. We spent a ton of time walking around, and picked out a few items to pick up on our way back to Denver the next day.
On our walk down Pearl, we ran into The Laughing Goat for some coffee. It’s the most adorable coffeeshop, and their coffee was incredible.
No trip to Boulder is complete without spending ample time at the Boulder Bookstore. I seek out independent bookstores in every city I visit, and this is one of my favorites. The outside looks normal, but the inside feels massive! There are multiple floors, great staff recommendations, and great sales.
We had one remaining brewery on our list, the Post Brewing Company. We stopped in for a few beers and some snacks to tide us over between our late brunch and our early dinner.
On our way to our second bookstore of the day, we ran into a little touristy gift shop called BOCO where they also sold Saints stuff! Apparently the owner of the store is from Louisiana, and so he has a small section of Saints gear. It kinda blended in with the gold from the Colorado gear, but we were still able to find some goodies, including the decal that is currently adorning my laptop as I write this.
Red Letter Secondhand Books was our second bookstore stop. It’s a small used bookstore, which I always love. I really enjoy trying to find old/original copies of the books I read as a kid, and I ended up finding a ton of the Dear America originals here. Luckily we didn’t have to fly home, so I could grab as many as I wanted!
Worth a stop on your trip is the Hotel Boulderado. It’s a super historic and beautiful hotel, and you feel transported back in time as soon as you walk through the doors. We spent time just wandering the lobby, checking out the very old elevators, and enjoying the fireplace.
Even better yet, there is a speakeasy in the basement of the Hotel Boulderado that is a ton of fun. It’s called License No. 1, and its a collection of connected rooms with lots of spaced out seating and tiny nooks and crannies to explore. The drinks were incredible – lots of handcrafted cocktails, and bartenders that can make anything based on what you like and dislike.
For dinner on our last night, we made reservations at the Flagstaff House Restaurant. It’s a beautiful restaurant on the top of a mountain overlooking the city of Boulder. We had great seats near a window, and got to watch the most gorgeous Colorado sunset.
On top of that, the food is INCREDIBLE. We did the tasting menu, which I highly recommend, and got to try so many amazing items. It was pricey, but definitely worth it for both the ambiance and the food. This is absolutely a place we’ll go back to when we have another weekend free in Boulder.
The next morning, we got up and packed our things and loaded up the car before heading to our last stop, breakfast at the Dushanbe Teahouse. The teahouse was a gift from Dushanbe, Tajikistan, as a celebration of their sister city ties to Denver. Every inch of the teahouse was handcrafted and designed in Tajikistan before being sent to Denver. Both the exterior and the interior are absolutely stunning, and we spent a lot of time walking around the building and admiring the details.
The teahouse has a wide selection of delicious loose leaf teas, but the best known for standout is their chai, which we both had multiple cups of. Additionally, they feature a breakfast/brunch menu with specialities from around Asia and the Middle East. It was the perfect pick me up before the drive back to Denver.
Our weekend staycation in Boulder was a much needed success. We’ve done some other quick weekend trips to spots like Fort Collins and Pueblo. What are your other go-to weekend trips within driving distance of Denver? Anything we should make sure to do next time we do a weekend in Boulder? We’ll need some new ideas for 2022 – let us know in the comments!
