This is the second 4th of July that we spent in Boise. My brother moved there a couple years ago to be with his girlfriend, and this summer they got MARRIED! My whole family flew to Boise early and made a vacation out of it. Between the 4th of July and the wedding on July 7, we spent a few days exploring Boise. After the wedding, my mom, Aldo and I went to Yellowstone.

Boise is such a nice city. It is very clean, there is plenty of parking downtown, and the people are so nice and polite – basically everything New Jersey is not. While we were in Boise we explored downtown, Freak Alley, and the Capitol building. We also went to the World Center for Birds of Prey, and took a tour of the Old Penitentiary. We went to see the Swan Falls Dam and the Snake River Canyon, and we tubed down the Boise river like locals!

One of my favorite things about being in Boise for 4th of July is the fireworks, or mostly, the lack of crowds during fireworks. Sure, the NYC Macy’s fireworks over the Hudson are amazing with the background of the city behind them, but the crowds and the traffic to get in and out of Hoboken or Jersey City are just INSANE. In Boise, however, you just drive to a parking lot, park your car, set up a bunch of chairs for your family, and hang out setting off your own fireworks while waiting for the official ones to start. So much more relaxing than looking for parking for 40 minutes in NJ and then getting stuck standing behind some tall guy and barely seeing fireworks anyway.

Oh, and if the cops show up and ask what you’re up to? Just invite them to join you for a soda. They’ll even let you get into their cop car and take some pictures. How crazy is that?!

I enjoyed the low key 4th of July and the fireworks with Jeannelle’s family, and I hope we get to keep the tradition going next year and celebrate the 4th of July in Boise next year!

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