5 Things to Do on Memorial Day Weekend in Boise: Bogus Basin, concerts, water rides
1. Rock out, outdoors
The live music calendar is starting to pick up. Here are highlights.
▪ Longtime Built To Spill frontman Doug Martsch will perform for fans on the hillside mini-amphitheater outside Kin restaurant, 999 W. Main St., on Saturday, May 29. It starts at 6:15 p.m. Tickets to the two-hour performance are $85 at kinboise.com, but that includes a three-course meal for one (with snack), a cocktail, a bottle of water, tax and gratuity. Can’t go Saturday? Martsch will do the same thing Tuesday, June 1.
▪ The stage at The Riverside Hotel’s outdoor Sandbar, 2900 W. Chinden Blvd., Garden City, will be nonstop local musicians. Located along the Greenbelt and next to the hotel pool, it’s a fantastic place to sit, nosh, sip and enjoy. Friday: Innocent Man (6 to 9 p.m.); Saturday: Brett Reid (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.), Critical Hits (2 to 5 p.m.), Trials & Tribulations (6 to 9 p.m.); Sunday: Doug Brown (11 a.m. to 1 p.m.), Porterdog (2 to 5 p.m.), Cliff Miller Band (6 to 9 p.m.); Monday: Jazz Monday with Pamela DeMarche & Friends (5 to 8 p.m.).
2. Relax at Bogus
Bogus Basin Mountain Recreation Area opens for weekend-only fun starting Saturday, May 29. (It goes to daily operations beginning June 19.) The mountain is still wet from rain, so things to do will be limited to the Glade Runner mountain coaster, chairlift rides and gem panning. Bring a picnic or grab food and drink from the Double R Ranch BBQ Smokehouse outside the lodge. Trails are too muddy for hiking and biking, so please stay off those. But you can can sneak down to lower elevations. Intermediate-level Stack Rock Trail — always excellent for a day hike — is in “great shape,” according to Bogus.
3. Remember Dennis the Cat
OK, Primus fans, you’ve heard of Tommy the Cat. Now meet Dennis the Cat. Beloved by prisoners and guards, he roamed the Old Idaho State Penitentiary for 16 years until his death on May 30, 1968. The Old Pen will celebrate its annual Dennis the Cat Day from noon to 5 p.m. on Sunday, May 30, with history presentations, food trucks and Dennis the Cat merchandise. Admission is $8 adult/$5 youth and a donation of at least one unopened pet food item. Donations benefit the Simply Cats Adoption Center and the Idaho Humane Society. Tickets and more info: history.idaho.gov.
4. Swim at Roaring Springs
Local temperatures are forecast to hit the 80s on Sunday and Monday. Two words, kids: Roaring Springs. Meridian’s massive water park at 400 W. Overland Road recently opened on a limited basis for summer. And guess what? Roaring Springs goes to seven-days-a-week action starting this weekend. Hours: 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Check out the new $1.3 million Snake River Run, a double corkscrew water ride with two flying saucers
5. Hit a theater
Sure, movie theaters are open. But you also can support community theater — as in live actors.
▪ Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” opens this weekend at Boise Little Theater, with performances at 8 p.m. Friday, May 28, and Saturday, May 29. There’s also an opening night after-party Friday. Get tickets at boiselittletheater.org.
▪ Watson’s Mystery Cafe & Spirits, 8001 W. Fairview Ave., will get you laughing with a packed bill of entertainment, not to mention food and a full bar. (All shows Memorial Day weekend are free for veterans, too.) Friday: Adult comedy starting at 8 p.m. with Improv Insanity. Saturday: Comedy troupe Insert Foot Theater does shows at 8 and 10 p.m. Sunday: Pin-Ups on Tour will bring their vintage, burlesque-style show. Details and tickets: playhouseboise.com.