I am suffering from the summertime sickness. I caught it on accident, when I went to the Twenty Ninth Street Mall in Boulder to get a brush at MAC.
I parked my car, just like any normal spring day, but as soon as I stepped outside, I could feel it in the air. This certain warm, mountain breeze wrapped around my body and crawled into my nostrils and drifted upward until it had completely blanketed my brain.
By the time I reached the doors at MAC, I was lost to it. All I wanted was a margarita on the rooftop at The Roost in Longmont, some new strappy sandals, a Frisbee and a donut. Well, the donut because I always want a donut. That had nothing to do with the summertime sickness. But the others were sure symptoms that I’d contracted the plague. I knew I would need an extreme amount of cold brew to rip myself from the outdoor mall with its cruel windows of flowy dresses taunting me. I knew it was time to reinstate my summer office: the white wooden chair on my front porch.
Aimee Heckel’s summer office.
That’s where I live now.
Summer in Boulder is so hardcore relaxing that even the locals feel like we’re on vacation as soon as we look at the Pearl Street Mall. It’s impossible not to defer to vacation brain when everyone around you seems to be on one: the University of Colorado students on break, the out-of-state families strolling down the mall with nowhere to be and no articles to write, and the teachers with few months off to (try to) regain their sanity.
In an outdoorsy city like Boulder, warm weather means no one goes indoors, unless absolutely necessarily, and as quickly as possible because eww. The restaurants roll out their patio and rooftop seating, the breweries and warehouse gyms crank open their garage doors and even the entertainment scene touches nature. There are outdoor concerts at the Boulder Amphitheater and Red Rocks, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival under the stars and one of the highlights of the season: the Chautauqua Summer Concert Series.
This musical series is set in the Chautauqua Auditorium, which is also known as “the barn” for its rustic indoor-outdoor vibe. Although technically you get a roof here, it’s located in Chautauqua Park at the base of the Flatirons and is entirely heated and cooled by Mother Nature. The large space is punctuated by exposed beams and windows that let in natural light, making it the perfect way to enjoy live music and still pay respect to Boulder’s perfect summers.
This column originally appeared in TravelBoulder.com.