One Lap

Date: 9/28/2013

Day: 2

Location: Ashland, Oregon

Miles Today: 19

Total Miles: 369

Ashland is a quiet place. 

There is a wristwatch on offer in town that in place of hours has Eat, Sleep, Play, Nap, Drink in random order.  Not too far from the reality.  And what's not to like, at least over a long weekend.  Since this is Oregon, there are spectacular farmers markets presided over by people who make their counterparts in Oakland look like Blackwater mercenaries. 

 

Shopping is far from the Colonel's favorite activity, but they do a good job on this too in Ashland, with a minimum of tacky Tee shirts.   Four book stores, a plethora of candy and coffee shops and some seriously good places to eat.  All conducive to wandering about for a day or two.  AND there is no sales tax in Oregon; pretty cool for those from the land of 8 3/4%.  Governor Brown, please note.

New Sammy's Cowboy Bistro

This is one of the Colonels favorite places. Vern and Charlene Rollins own the place.  Charlene is the seldom seen genius in the kitchen, Vern the gracious host who can always be trusted to put the right wine on the table.  When we first went there in the 80's it looked like this:

New Sammy's  no longer looks on the outside like a shack hidden behind a bush on the dark road between Ashland and Talent, Oregon, with a defunct "please buy your used car here" arrow on the roof.  It was fun taking people to such a unprepossessing place, because even thirty years ago, when you had passed through the mud room, the inside looked like what the Colonel imagines a French country bistro would look like, immaculate, warm and inviting; complete with black and white cow wallpaper.

Now even your GPS can find the place and the name is announced to the world in iron letters three feet high, not on the 3 x 5 inch card you can just see thumbtacked to the front door on that old picture.  When you get there it will look like this:

The food is the same, altogether wonderful.   There is an astonishing wine list; ask Vern to see the big book.  We always just ask him to recommend something and wind up with a treasure for about $45, but the high end stuff is immediately available.  The restaurant is surrounded by gardens, which Alice Waters cannot manage in Berkeley:

This place would be successful across the street from Chez Panisse.  If you are ever within a couple hundred miles, it is worth a journey.

Last night the Oregon Shakespeare Festival gave us Cymbeline, rarely performed and with good reason.  There are lost princes and an evil queen, a Roman invasion and parted lovers.  It all works out in the end.  A powerful lot of plot for one play to manage.  The Colonel likes the obscure Shakespearian plays, they are so hard to come by, and enjoyed it mostly.

Wellington Boot, Col