The Downtown Boulder Fall Fest

This weekend Fall Fest takes place on the Pearl Street Mall in Boulder. My sister Susan and I drove to Boulder Friday evening, and the place was packed with students, seniors, families, you name it. The restaurants were filled as well. We tried to have dinner at Post Chicken and Beer, but when we walked in the hostess asked if we were there for the wedding. And when we said no, we were informed that they were closed to the public for a private event. Really? The entire area crowded with people, a major festival going on along on nearby Pearl Street, and they were closed to the public? They must be getting a huge pay day to be doing that.

But since I don't own stock in the company, we moved on and had dinner at a place called Pedro's Tacos and Tequila, which is located right on the mall, a few doors down from the Boulder Bookstore. The food was good, the prices not unreasonable, and so I can't complain. Pedro's is located in what was once the first location (I think) of BJ's Restaurant and Brewhouse, which moved years ago to a stand alone location a few miles away. As for the Boulder Bookstore, it seemed to be as crowded as ever, and as far as I am concerned, the best independent bookstore in Colorado. 

It has been a long time since I have visited the Pearl Street Mall on a Friday or Saturday night during the summer, and although a lot of the restaurants and shops are different, it still seems to be the place to hang out up there. It is definitely a great place for people-watching. A really fun thing to do is catch a University of Colorado Buffalos football game in the afternoon, sitting in the stands with a view of the Flatirons in the background, and then walking down the hill to the Pearl Street Mall to spend a relaxing Saturday night. I did that once, but these days, a seat costs hundreds of dollars. For a college football game, no less. I checked the price the other day for a game against Kansas State. Most of the seats were $220 or $330, although you could get a ticket for $153 in Zone 5, which I could not find on the stadium seating chart. I suspect Zone 5 is actually in the parking lot. Seriously, who in their right mind would pay those kind of prices to see a college football game? It boggles the mind.