Built to Spill | Jensen Family

The Visual Arts Collective (VaC) is having a show on September 13th, celebrating the 15th Anniversary of Built to Spill's, "There's Nothing Wrong With Love". Several local bands will each perform a song from the album. Ticket sales go to benefit the Jensen Family.

Built to Spill is playing a couple of special shows in Boise Idaho, they will be at the Neurolux on September 17th with The Very Most and Disco Doom, which is also a benefit show for the Jensen family. BTS will also be playing at the Hyde Park Street Fair on September 18th.



Built to Spill starts touring next month, and their new album "There Is No Enemy" will be released in October. Check out Stereogum's article for track listings and tour dates.

Weekend Fun

We spent this last weekend at some local events and spending time with family. I wanted to share some pictures to show what a great time we had.

Basque Museum Wine Festival
This is an annual event we usually attend, in the Basque Block. Its was great to try wine from local wineries and distributors who have Basque and other wines. There is also great food, such as solomo sandwiches from Bar Gernika, Chorizos, and also food from Bardenay. We had a great time trying different wines and visiting with our friends, from Indian Creek Winery. After the festival we headed to our favorite hangout, The Front Door.


Basque Dancers, performing during the festival.


Mike from Indian Creek Winery showing off their delicious wine.


Beers from the Front Door.

Saturday with Jaiden
We picked up our Neice on Saturday and had a full day of fun. We went to the Boise Zoo where we saw many different animals. Then it was to McDonalds (of course) for lunch, Camels Back Park, and finally Goody's for some Ice Cream. We did a lot of fun activities that day, but I think she liked going down all the slides the best.



Sunday at the Winery
We attended the Indian Creek Winery, Man’s Best Friend Malbec Release Party. We brought our dog Gertie, and our family. There were several dogs at the winery and their owners, which made it a fun event. Their grounds are a perfect setting to buy some wine and have a picnic on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon.

Mountain Brewer's Festival

We had a great time in Idaho Falls this weekend for the Mountain Brewers Festival. Wanted to share some pics from our trip. Also please take a peek at Treasured Valley, since we traveled together with them on our trip.

First stop was in Pocatello at Portneuf Valley Brewing, where I had one of their tasty pizzas along with some of their Krystal Weizen. They have great artwork for all of their beers and very catchy names.

See pictures above for our visit to Brownstone which is a Brew Pub along the river in Idaho Falls. Each person at the table had a sampler, I thought the Amber Bock and Nut Brown were okay. The interior was a great use of an older building, and a perfect space for a brewery.

Picture of a vintage sign on our way to eat at Snakebite on Friday night. Their food was pretty delicious, and it was our second time there. When we left the restaurant we had to run to the car through a huge rainstorm. As you can see in the picture above only 1.5 hours earlier the weather was perfect.

Beer Tent #1 (of 2), Huge tent full of thousands to people trying some great brews. My favorite new small brewery to win awards this weekend is Barley Brown's from Bakers City, Oregon. Also some great beers from Utah and Montana where in the list of brewers pouring. Check out this link for all the winners.

Images above show the storms which came and went all day. There were many mud puddles which formed, we avoided them while some people decided to mud-wrestle. But the rain nor the mud stopped us from having a great time!

In all it was a great trip. We got to spend time with friends, try new beers and food. I am excited to try it again next year!

Mountain Brewers Beer Fest | 2009

File under: Things to look forward to in the coming months.
June 6th, 2009 (Saturday) in Idaho Falls, Idaho | Sandy Downs Racetrack

The best and largest beer festival in the state of Idaho. The beer fest is put on by the North American Brewers Association, this will be their 15th year.

The festival features breweries from Idaho, the northwest, and beyond. You can get your taste of your favorite local brews: Sockeye, Highlands Hollow... and even your domestics. Last year there were more than 80 microbreweries scheduled to pour hundreds of beers.

There is a bus system for the event that stops at the downtown Red Lion, so any hotel within walking distance is a must. There is also a cab system that runs back and forth from the park. Get your hotel reservations soon, since they sell out quickly.

We have been to this festival two times, this will be our third... and we looking forward to every minute of it. Hope to see you there!