Day Pass in Eagle

Entertaining a Child for the Entire Day – Without Losing Your Mind

It happens to all of us, sometime or another. As much as we try to avoid it, sometimes it just happens.

Saturday. Nothing special going on; too late for Eagle Fun Days, too early for the Western Idaho Fair.

A child. Maybe your own, maybe a grandchild, maybe a neighbor’s kid you’ve offered to watch.

And within moments, there’s that plaintive “There’s nothing to do.”

Sure, they can play the Nintendo Wii all day, but you’re not going to put up with that. Sure, you can assign them to clean the house, organize the garage, and weed the garden, but *they’re* not going to put up with *that*.  You really don’t want to have to drive all the way into Boise and face the crowds and the parking challenges – not to mention gas prices.

So what do you do?

Here’s what.

Start out by hitting the Saturday Market, located at Heritage Park. Open from April to October from 9 am to 1 pm, by now you should be able to find cherries, as well as early summer stone fruit such as peaches and apricots, says Dean Burrup, who’s been market manager for some time but who is now moving on. In addition to fine art, jewelry, crafts, herbs and flowers, local produce, and gift items – from locations such as Eagle, Emmett, Weiser, and throughout the Treasure Valley – each week’s market also includes entertainment, ranging from high school students to professional musicians, he says.

The Saturday Market came about around ten years ago, from an idea by the Eagle Arts Commission. “It’s grown every year since then,” Burrup says. The market not only pays its own way, but sometimes provides a little extra that the Arts Commission can use to fund arts-related items such as art grants to the schools, he says.

And don’t even feel obliged to buy anything – it’s fine to just come and hang out, without the crowds and pressure of the Boise City Market, Burrup says. “The original intent was to create a local market to encourage local citizens to come downtown and shop, visit, and frequent local businesses,” he says. “It’s to have a gathering place for the community, even if they don’t buy anything.”

Next, wander down Second St. and Plaza to Penny Lane Books. Open from 10 to 5 on Saturdays, as well as 10 to 6 on weekdays, the bookstore specializes in toys and games, as well as books, for children. “We also sell educational gift items, games, science kits, novelty toys, and arts and crafts,” as well as the ever-popular Webkinz, says co-owner Christy Leslie.

The store, which celebrates its three-year anniversary in September, is especially popular in the summer as people are looking for items to amuse the kids while on road trips or plane rides, Leslie says.

In particular, Penny Lane is known for being the go-to place in Eagle for kids’ birthdays, Leslie says. “We’re really well known for being a birthday store,”  she says. In addition to having a gift registry called the Birthday Bin that lets the birthday boy or girl can make suggestions for presents, the store also does free gift wrapping, she says.

After that excursion, grab a bathing suit, sand pails, and the sunscreen, and head down Chinden to Linder, where you can turn into Eagle Island State Park. There’s a $5 entry fee per car (or pick up an annual state park passport for $35 that lets you in free for the entire year – though it goes up to $50 on July 1). You can’t camp, but it’s a great place to spend a few hours. It includes a protected (though un-lifeguarded) swimming area with a sandy beach for making sand castles, as well as a water slide ($1 per slide, $7 for 10 slides, or $12 for all day, open weekends Memorial Day through Labor Day) and a playground. Non-motorized boating is also allowed, as is fishing.

When you’re hungry, nab a picnic table – some of them have grills next to them – and eat outdoors. Or if you’re bringing a big group, you can use the shelter.  If you’re not the barbecuing type, there’s also a snack bar. There’s also changing areas and flush toilets.

It’s great to have a constitutional after eating, so take a hike along the nature trail. There’s an 18-hole disc golf course that’s only open October through April, but you can see it as you go by. Check out birds, plants, and mysterious holes – Snake? Gopher? However, be sure to apply bug spray before you go; remember that mosquitoes are “nature,” too. The 545-acre park west of Boise has a total of more than five miles of trails for those looking for a place to ride horses, hike, or walk the dog.

Also check out the buildings from when Eagle Island was a prison, between 1930 and 1977. After entering on Linder, go straight instead of going into the parking area. While you’re driving along the irrigation ditches, see whether you can spot a giant blue heron. Wetlands restoration is part of the park’s current plans.

Finally, make a stop at Cold Stone Creamery on your way home from the park. The Arizona-based franchise offers super premium ice cream, or ice cream made with approximately 12 to 14 percent butterfat, that is made in the store. On top of that, you can get various nuts and candies mixed into your serving of ice cream. (The mixing happens on a frozen granite stone – hence the name of the store.) All ice cream is made in-house using natural ingredients; the waffle cones and bowls are baked daily.

Cold Stone helpfully provides a chart of examples of how to use the mix-ins – German Chocolate Cake has pecans, coconut, brownie, and caramel mixed into chocolate ice cream, while a Mud Pie features Oreo cookies, peanut butter, roasted almonds, and fudge mixed into coffee ice cream, for example. There’s three sizes: Like It, Love It, and Gotta Have It. In addition, you can get ice cream and mix-ins “to go” in sizes ranging up to three pounds of ice cream and six mix-ins, or prepacked quarts in eight flavors. The store also provides ice cream cakes in flavors such as Midnight Delight, which includes devil’s food cake, chocolate ice cream, chocolate shavings, fudge, and fudge ganache. Also offered are milk shakes, malts, and iced coffee drinks, as well as pies and ice cream cupcakes.

On the other hand, if you’re not eating ice cream these days because of its fat content, you can also get smoothies made with yogurt, soymilk, or fruit sorbet – a bonus if you’re lactose intolerant. Examples include the Berry Trinity with yogurt, raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries.

End the day with a stroll along the Eagle Greenbelt. It runs all the way from Garden City, where it connects with the Boise Greenbelt, to Ballantyne Road, on the north side of the north channel; there’s another path on the south side of the north channel that goes from Eagle Road to just past Merrill Park. The Greenbelt goes under Eagle Road through a tunnel. Altogether, it’s about five miles long, ranging from 8 to 12 feet wide, and is paved between Ballantyne and Merrill Park, with compacted trail for the rest of its length. It’s multiuse, meaning you might find bicyclists, runners, and even horses, but no motorized vehicles. The Greenbelt has a 20-foot easement that is maintained daily by city staff and it’s lit through the tunnel.

As development proceeds westward, the Greenbelt itself will be extended with it, paid for by the developers, says Michael Echeita, public works director for the city of Eagle. Some subdivisions, such as Island Woods, are adjacent to it already; while some homeowners put up fences for security, they typically include a gate so they have access to the Greenbelt too, he says.

Eventually, the Greenbelt is intended to reach to the city limits at Linder Road, meaning there’ll be a continuous path from Garden City to Eagle Island State Park, Echeita says. And that’s not all. “Star has the same process we do, so as they develop, they’ll tie into the path we have,” he says. Eventually, the Greenbelt will reach all the way from Lucky Peak to Star – and perhaps even beyond, to the Snake River. “It’s a huge plan, but it’ll be many years from now,” he says.

But meanwhile, what’s going on with that bored child who had nothing to do? As the sun sets, you’re driving the sand-encrusted kid home to bed, nodding off over the pail full of “really pretty rocks” that started a new collection, maybe with a new book on rocks and geology that will help identify them tomorrow. You’re still sane, and the kid’s still alive, albeit with a new collection of scratches, scabs, and grass stains.  The best part is, you went the entire day without having to resort to something electronic, and you were able to do it all without leaving Eagle.