For my birthday I took the day off of work and so did Britton. We wanted to take a little mini-vacation in our own state. So we went out to Farmer’s Inn in LaSalle at lunch with some of my family, then Britton and I headed over to Boulder to take a tour of Celestial Seasonings.

3 Generations-Me, My Mom, and her Mom-Grandma

Celestial Seasonings

The tour was nice and completely free! We were shown a short video and then we toured the facilities. We went into the tea room and learned how tea (like coffee) can be decaffeinated and then we went into the mint room which was overwhelming in its mentholated way. Just going in there and you could clear out your eyes, nose and sinuses! We saw how the tea was made into the little sachets and then boxed and wrapped in the cellophane. We even learned a little about the “international” sized teas which come 10 in a box instead of 20 as they are in the U.S. Unfortunately I couldn’t take pictures on the actual tour, but got a few before and after.

We got to sample all sorts of their teas both hot and cold. I even tried Kombucha tea which was sort of strange. It’s a fermented tea that tastes kind of vinegar-y and has bubbles from the natural carbonation that occurs. Interesting stuff.

Outside of Celestial Seasonings in Boulder

After our tour and various samples, we went to a lake just near/behind IBM and walked around it. It was definitely like a dog park/lake. Everyone had big labs and they were throwing frisbees and balls into the lake for the dogs to fetch. It was fun to hike about and watch the silly wet dogs.

At the lake

Dog fetching from the water

Then we decided to cruise over to Pearl Street in Boulder. We like visiting Boulder as there is always something happening and it’s so very beautiful there. We stopped into Foolish Craig’s which is a cute hole in the wall diner with friendly staff and a fun “Cheers” atmosphere.

We actually met Craig of Foolish Craig’s on our way to Puerto Rico this last time. He was our seat mate to Newark and on his way to a golfing vacation in Scotland! We told him that the next time we were in Boulder we’d stop into his place. Foolish Craig’s has even been featured on the Food Network! We just missed Craig by about 15 minutes, but we plan on stopping in again the next time we’re in town.

Finally we headed on home and Britton bought me an ice cream cake. He’s been teasing me about my “lemonade stand” at the garage sale. So this is what he put on the cake:

At least I’m young at heart! 🙂