As we seek to align our calendars with the Earth’s journey around the sun, 2024 has been blessed with Leap Day. That’s 24 extra hours to explore, eat a leisurely meal or sip a cup of tea very, very slowly.
Boulder Weekly staff each used their extra day to try out a classic Boulder County or Colorado offering. Now, we offer you a taste of our adventures. May they inspire you to spend your time as wisely as we did.
Will Matuska
Dushanbe Teahouse, 1770 13th St., Boulder
Few destinations are as iconic to Boulder as the Dushanbe Teahouse. The structure was a gift from Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan and one of Boulder’s sister cities. According to Visit Boulder, 40 Tajik artisans hand-built and painted the nearly 2,000 square-foot structure, and it was reassembled in Boulder in 1998.
After living downtown for nearly two years, I took this year’s Leap Day to finally enter the Tajikistan teahouse in full bore: with a session of afternoon tea. Afternoon tea isn’t just pinkies up sippin’ — it’s a daily occurrence featuring a three-tiered tower of pastries, artichoke purses and other snacks, a small cup of creamy soup, and, of course, a pot filled with one of a plethora of teas on the menu. It begins promptly at 3 p.m., and a reservation is required in advance.
I wasn’t alone in this adventure — the entire editorial team (four of us) paid the delectable establishment a visit to indulge in food and drink, but also to enjoy the trickling Fountain of Seven Beauties and art-covered walls.
Jezy J. Gray
The Spot, 3240 Prairie Ave., Boulder
I’ve lived in Colorado for a couple years now, but I’m still not very good at it. For evidence, see my total lack of connection to many of the state’s most beloved pastimes and subcultures. Skiing? None of my business. The Dead? I must respectfully pass, but I’m glad y’all are having fun.
Climbing was among these Front Range staples I had written off as simply not for me. But then, in the name of journalism, I spent a snowy Saturday morning in February at The Spot. Greeted upon entry by the warm sounds of last night’s Boulder Theater headliner Yo La Tengo and a besweatered lab pup named Murphy, I instantly felt at home.
That feeling carried through as I explored 15,000 square feet of one of the oldest bouldering gyms in the country. After a couple hours of artlessly pawing at jugs, slopers, pinches and crimps, pushing my 30-something frame to its gravity-defying limit before plummeting to the pillowy ground and setting off to do it all again, I started to see what all the fuss was about.
“We set problems for all abilities, so it’s great to have a new experience during whatever phase of your life you’re in,” employee Isabella Monaco told me after my session, very kindly celebrating my puny V3 limit. “You get a combination of really cool characters from all walks of life — all kinds of people, all kinds of bodies, doing all kinds of climbing.”
I ended the day with a couple blisters and the deep soreness of a low-grade fever, but I loved the mix of technical and physical challenge and I’m honestly excited to go back. Perhaps this prairie chicken is not, to borrow from Boulder Weekly’s own Whole Foods Daddy, one of “the un-sendable among us.”
Kaylee Harter
Village Coffee Shop, 1605 Folsom St., Boulder
I made my first pilgrimage to the Village Coffee Shop on a sunny Wednesday morning with a fellow Village virgin. Before I arrived, she texted me “this place is PRECIOUS” and remarked that it felt like she’d gone back in time.
Perfectly golden hash browns sizzled on the entire back row of the grill, and people of all ages chatted merrily over coffee and heaping portions. The orange dining booths and old newspaper clippings transported us through the 50 years the diner’s been open, though not all the way back — “Get Low” by Lil Jon and East Side Boyz played over the speakers at one point, and gluten-free toast and pancakes are available.
I ordered the #3: two eggs, bacon, hashbrowns and wheat toast. I also ordered a pancake that was both crispy and fluffy — the perfect pancake.
I’m a sucker for a diner breakfast, and Village checked off all the boxes and more. It’s a greasy, down-to-earth haven in a town full of healthy bites and sanitized, upscale establishments. As its website puts it, the Village is “890 square feet of reality, surrounded by Boulder.”
P.S. When you pay the Village a visit, don’t forget to mention you’re a first-timer.
Shay Castle
Ras Kassas Ethiopian Restaurant (802 S Public Road, Lafayette)
Carnegie Library for Local History (1125 Pine St., Boulder)
BMoCA (1750 13th St., Boulder)
It has been eight years since I wrote about Ras Kassas’ search for a permanent home in Boulder County. Displaced by Google, they were (at the time) holed up in the Broker Inn, where I met owner Tsehay Hailu for an interview.
Despite the tantalizing scents wafting out of the kitchen as we talked, I was all business: I never tried the food. That mistake was rectified this year. I headed to Ras Kassas’ new-old home in Lafayette (802 S. Public Road) with a group of friends whose personal hygiene I trust enough to share the fingers-only cuisine.
The meat and vegetarian Feast #2? Satisfying. The mead? A must. The chocolate cake? Umatched. Still on my to-try list? The Ethiopian coffee ceremony.
It was work that finally got me through the doors at Carnegie Library for Local History, where I spent a happy afternoon researching North Boulder lore. The research assistants had helpfully pulled files and files of old newspaper clippings and photos (even with my very unhelpful prompt of “North Boulder” to guide them).
It was fun. It was fast. It was free — a testament to the power of taxpayer funded services. Schedule your own magical visit via this simple online form.
To my shame, even the $2 ticket price wasn’t enough to overcome my overpacked schedule. Twelve years I lived here — 12! — without a visit to the Boulder Museum of Contemporary Art (BMoCA). It took about 12 seconds for me to realize my mistake, once I was in.
I would regale you with tales of the artworks that entertained me, but BMoCA will no doubt have another new and interesting exhibit up by the time you read this. Learn from my blunder and make time to go.
Breaking out of the Boulder bubble
Not everything worth doing can be done in Boulder County. BW staff had these memorable out-of-Boulder experiences, too:
Skiing in the moonlight
There’s something energizing about sitting in a stranger’s tailgate, legs out the side, as he makes a hairpin turn up Loveland Pass — especially when a masked skier to my right yells “Lift up your legs!” just before a two-trailer FedEx truck rumbles past us in the opposite lane.
Once at the top — which is just under 12,000 feet of elevation — the riders jump out of the tailgate and ski back down to the road where another truck awaits for the next tow to the top.
This is full moon skiing at Loveland Pass, a tradition ski bums and shredders flock to once a month. And despite this particular night being overcast with flurries and low visibility, there was still a large crowd. My friend, a moonlight regular, says you can always count on people showing up as long as there’s snow.
It’s not all about skiing either. There’s a parking lot party at the base with neon lights, music, drinks and a toasty fire. — Will Matuska
Boot scootin’
I spent a memorable Friday evening at Grizzly Rose (5450 Lincoln St.) in Denver, a massive country-themed bar. There are half a dozen bars, a full kitchen, a billiards area, a back room where you can lasso a fake steer and — most importantly — a main stage and dance floor where you can follow along with employees and regulars as they boot scoot and boogie. — Shay Castle
