I’ve been to Boulder several times over the past two years (as I write this) – having discovered the Colorado Shakespeare Festival which takes place every summer. But I’d always arrived just in time to see a play and driven home immediately afterward.
Boulder is a beautiful city, though, nestled right against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and I’d often thought, as I’d been driving away from it, that sooner or later I really should visit it specifically for exploration purposes.
This last Saturday I had tickets for an evening play in Boulder. The Boulder Ensemble Theatre Company’s (BETC) production of Tiny Beautiful Things, at The Dairy Art Center, to be precise.
I was going with a friend and I suggested that we spend the day exploring the city before going to the play.
She did some research and found out that Boulder is the headquarters of Celestial Seasonings, the well-known tea company. They offered free tours, tea-testings, and there was also a cafe!
I don’t drink tea (or coffee) myself, but I thought it would be interesting to see what goes on behind the scenes in a tea factory, so that was our first stop.
The sign leading to the Celestial Seasonings headquarters
Celestial Seasonings is located at 4600 Sleepytime Drive, in the Gunbarrel neighborhood of Boulder, just off of CO-119 (the road you take from I-25 to get to the city).
As you drive toward the headquarters, be careful, as there’s a prairie dog town right across the street from it, and the prairie dogs can be found on the roads as well as in their little town.
Celestial Seasonings Tea Shop – tea and gifts
We bypassed the Tea Shop gift shop initially – although it was calling to us with a siren call – and went to our left to the wing of the building, called the Tea Center, where the tea tours are given.
We entered the Tea Center and I was immediately enchanted. A full-sized Sleeptytime bear was taking a nap in a little alcove, and there was a teacup-shaped nook where people could sit and have a selfie taken – or perhaps read a book for a few minutes while waiting for the next tour.
Teacup-shaped nook
My friend, a tea drinker, immediately went to the Tea Bar and began taste-testing the day’s offerings, while I wandered around the room taking photos of all the tea-related knickknacks and paintings on display in the several alcoves available for visitors to relax and drink tea and eat snacks.
The tea-tasting bar
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A history of teas and of the company on placards around the room
The tour starts here
I thought we were going to see a brief movie of the history of Celestial Seasonings, but actually we (about 30 to 40 of us) sat in this room while our guide told us a brief history of the company, handed out hairnets, and gave safety instructions.
The doings of the actual factory are proprietary, so we weren’t allowed to take photos once we left the “theatre” room. But we were led past room after room stacked with pallets and pallets of tea and herb ingredients. (Celestial Seasonings most popular teas are actually more technically called “herbal infusions” or “tisanes.” Only 20% of their market is actual tea – white, black or green.)
We walked past a robotic arm moving pallets around, and then past several conveyor belts boxing up and wrapping the familiar Celestial Seasoning boxes – over ten thousand boxes a day go through these conveyor belts….
It was a fun tour, and we exited into the Tea Shop, where my friend and I bought a few souvenirs.
We then drove to historic downtown Boulder, which is situated around Pearl and 11th street, for the annual Fall Festival. There were musicians, street performers, and a lot of food trucks. And Pearl Street is chock-a-block with used book stores, souvenir shops, clothing stores, art galleries and so on.
A big boulder in Boulder!
History of Pearl Street
Pink high-wheel velocipede
Rent a bike and ride through Boulder
Carnegie Library
Museum of Boulder
Banjo Billy Bus Tours -we were walking on Pine Street back to my car when this tour bus stopped by us – I presume to talk about a few of the historic houses on the block.
We then drove to the Dairy Art Center, at about 5:30 pm, had dinner at a burger joint called Good Times that had delicious onion rings, and then attended an excellent play – Tiny Beautiful Things.
This is where the “Sympathy” of my blog title comes in, as the play features an advice columnist empathizing with and giving advice to a lot of hurting people. Well done, with lots of humor to leaven the emotional gravitas of the thing.
So if you’re driving through Colorado, check out Boulder for a scenic city with lots to see and do.
