Chief Niwot at the Boulder History Museum
Chief Niwot, the leader of the Southern Arapahoe tribe of Native Americans, is one of Boulder’s most important historic figures. He was there to meet the first white settlers when they came to the area in search of gold. When gold was discovered, he tried to peacefully co-exist with the settlers who came to Colorado in search of riches. As you might guess, that did not really turn out to well for Chief Niwot or his people.
Chief Niwot is one of the people we talk about on Banjo Billy’s Boulder tour. If you want to learn more about him than we can tell you on our tour, the Boulder History Museum is opening an exhibit devoted to him on May 25. The Boulder History Museum is also a stop on our Boulder tour. It is located in the Harbeck House at the corner Read the rest of this entry »
Congrats to the Grads
The University of Colorado at Boulder will be holding Commencement ceremonies this Friday. Banjo Billy congratulates these grads, and graduating seniors everywhere.
Banjo Billy has a relationship with CU students that can best be summed up this way: Banjo Billy loves the CU students, and the students love Banjo Billy! The Boulder Banjo Billy Bus tour visits the CU campus, and passes through “The Hill”, the neighborhood where many students live and play (and the neighborhood where a visiting Leader of the Free World recently had yogurt spilled on his pants!). As the bus travels through the campus area, we are usually greeted enthusiastically with cheers, yells, waves and an occasional afternoon sighting of the moon. We thank the CU students for enlivening our tours. And we look forward to the many private tours we will do this weekend for celebrating grads and their families.
Boulder gets much of it’s character from the presence of CU. The University is Boulder’s largest employer,and being a college town means Boulder has a highly educated, free-thinking population willing to try new ideas. And the 30,000 students at CU keep Boulder from having to worry about losing its sense of humor.
Banjo Billy’s Boulder tour has an attitude that is greatly influenced by the University. On it you will hear stories full of humor, intelligence, and strange and daring ideas. On campus, you will learn of some of the achievements of CU grads and faculty, as well as a rather chilling crime story. And, as you would expect in a college town, all of our Boulder guides are over-educated.
Boulder is a town that is proud to be weird, and the folks at CU help keep it that way. And Banjo Billy’s is a bus tour company that is proud to be different. We hope to see you soon.
Life’s Special Moments on the Banjo Billy Bus
The Banjo Billy Bus is more than just a bus. It is a participant in many of life’s most important milestones.
Last weekend our entire fleet of Banjo Billy Buses (Rosie and Daisy) was in Boulder taking kids to the Boulder High prom at the Boulder Theater. Kids love taking the bus to the prom, as it has comfy seats, a great sound system, and they can wave to their friends arriving in less cool vehicles.
Prom is not the only special moment in life that Banjo Billy takes part in. During the wedding season we stay busy driving wedding parties to ceremonies and receptions, doing private tours for the out of town guests, or for bachelor or bachelorette parties. And the wedding photographers love the Banjo Billy Bus too. Wedding albums are full of shots of the wedding party waving out the windows and the loving couple on the couch in the back.
Turning 50? 80? 21? Sweet 16? Pick an important birthday, and you can be sure that it has been celebrated with a private tour on the
New History Colorado Center To Have Banjo Billy Approach
The new History Colorado Center will open on Saturday at 1200 Broadway in Denver. We welcome another addition to the many interesting and fun things to do in the great city of Denver. The museum will feature interactive exhibits, a “Time Machine” and a 5000 square foot re-creation of the 1920′s farming town of Keota.
The new museum will be taking an approach to history similar to that found on Banjo Billy Bus Tours for the past eight years. The Denver Post reports that the new museum will “loosen up, let the stories keep their drama”, and will “allow a sense of humor”. That’s the same way you will find Denver’s and Boulder’s interesting history presented on one of our tours. We salute their attitude.
Other examples of the fun approach the new $110 million museum will take are a barn that has chickens who will lay eggs on demand, Read the rest of this entry »
Molly Brown Didn’t Sink
Unless you have spent the last month under the sea, you are likely aware that the 100th Anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic was last Sunday. Perhaps the most famous person who lived through this disaster was a fascinating woman known today as Molly Brown. Mrs. J. J. Brown was a Denver resident, and the house she lived in, now known as the Molly Brown House Museum, is one of the stops on the Banjo Billy Denver tour.
If you have seen “Titanic” you will surely recall Kathy Bates’ lively portrayal of Mrs. Brown. The Molly Brown House Museum also has a person who portrays Molly Brown. Her name is Janet Kalstrom, and last week she took part in a Titanic memorial cruise on the MS Balmoral.
If you take the Banjo Billy Denver tour, or if you visit the Molly Brown House, you will learn a very surprising thing about Mrs. Brown’s name. We won’t spoil it for you here. You will also learn the story of an active, caring woman who was well Read the rest of this entry »
Boulder Brew Bus starts this Sunday!
What could be better than riding on the Banjo Billy Bus, AND drinking great beer?
This Sunday starts the third year of the Boulder Brew Bus, which is organized by the West End Tavern in Boulder. The brewery tour starts at 5:45 at the West End Tavern, where the thirsty customers board the Banjo Billy Bus and are taken to three of Boulder’s outstanding craft breweries. We spend about an hour at each brewery, where guests enjoy a tour of the brewery along with some of their fine beer. The West End’s Catering Van provides a meal at the second stop.
The tour this year will visit two of Boulder’s newest brewers, and one of its oldest. Avery Brewing Company Read the rest of this entry »
Wow, That’s Really Boulder!
Fresh Produce at the Boulder Farmer's Market
Boulder is no ordinary town, which may explain why Banjo Billy’s Bus Tours got it’s start here. Boulderites love the outdoors, bikes, and the beautiful views of the Flatiron Mountains from their windows. They also love fresh produce and expressing opinions, and great opportunities to engage in both will occur in the coming week.
The Boulder Farmers’ Market starts it’s 25th season this Saturday on 13th Street between Arapahoe Ave. and Canyon Blvd, it’s location since 1987. You can enjoy locally produced fruits, veggies, meats and cheeses. You can also get a meal from one of the catering vendors, and enjoy it while listening to live music. Our Boulder tours usually go down 13th Street, but we don’t mind taking a detour for the market. In fact, on Saturday morning you might find one or more of our guides there enjoying Green Eggs and Ham for breakfast. The market takes place on Saturday mornings until mid-November, and on Wednesday evenings from May through October.
Boulderites take pride in thinking globally (Boulder has a foreign policy), and there is no greater evidence of that than the 64th Annual Conference on World Affairs, taking place April 9-13 on the CU campus. This unique event brings together people from Read the rest of this entry »
NCAA Women’s Final Four Comes to Denver
The NCAA Women’s Basketball Champion will be crowned (with Championship baseball caps) on Tuesday in the Pepsi Center in Denver. On Sunday at 4:30 Notre Dame plays Connecticut in the first semi-final game, followed by Baylor and Stanford. The winners play at 6:30 on Tuesday for the Championship.
There is more to the Final Four being in town than just the games. There will be a variety of events taking place throughout the weekend all over Denver. The is a 4K run at 9AM Saturday to benefit the Kay Yow Cancer Fund, thus making it the 4Kay run. There will be youth clinics at several high schools in Denver during the day, and all day “Tourney Town” takes place at the Convention Center, a place that is also famous as the starting point of Banjo Billy’s Bus Tours in Denver. At 5:30 Jewel Read the rest of this entry »
Banjo Billy has Spring Fever
The Crew who rode Rosie in the Boulder St. Patrick's Parade
Ah, Spring. That time of year when the days grow longer, flowers bloom, birds sing, and that damn pile of brown snow across the street finally melts. And, of course, the time of year when the windows come off the Banjo Billy Bus.
Here in Colorado, Spring weather can mean anything from sunny and warm to snowy and cold, with maybe some rain and high winds thrown in just for fun. Sometime, all of that happens on the same day. This leaves the Banjo Billy guides a tough call: What do we do about the windows today.
Our buses, Rosie and Daisy, have windows that can be removed in about 10 minutes. We prefer to run with the windows off, as it connects the passengers with the action on the street, and gives our guest the chance to respond to a yell of “Hey Banjo Billy!” with a hearty “YEEEEE HAAAWW!”. In the summer, windows are always off, and in the winter, always on. But come Spring, we have to think. And sometimes we have to change our mind in the middle of a tour, as the weather changes. Or, perhaps we will leave half the windows on, and let our guests decide whether the weather is more than they can weather. Read the rest of this entry »
Check Us Out on the Travel Channel!
Adam from Man Vs. Food took a ride on the Banjo Billy Bus during his visit to Boulder. Check out the video and see how much fun he had!
Video
Adam rides the Banjo Billy Bus!
Pictures
Pictures from adam’s visit to Boulder
