Willamette Valley Wine Country... a home tour!

We'll be sipping wine about 5:30 this Saturday afternoon because visitors to the inn will be the home owners that have just spent the entire day "showing off" their homes to hundreds if not a thousand or more Historic Home Tour goers.

Every summer, Albany gets a chance to remind folks that we do boast the most in number and most varied styles of historic homes in the entire state of Oregon! We do like showing off but we really don't have to do much to get noticed. It's not unusual to look out my window and see someone stopped to look at the architectural details of our Robust Craftsman Bungalow or to see a photographer angled just perfectly to catch the details of a huge Queen Anne just around the corner with his or her camera. And it's not unusual to be mentioned in some magazine or blog that we do put on quite a show here in Albany. We do like to show off our lovelies and why not...we have so much to brag about!

We have the distinct pleasure of hosting Joan Tapper this weekend at the inn. Joan has written several books and most recently released "The Most Beautiful Villages and Towns of The Pacific Northwest!" I personally got my signed copy as a gift from our local visitors center because when Joan and her photographer Nik Wheeler were researching their book a few years ago, they stayed with us. Joan will be signing her book at the visitors center this Saturday so when you are buying your Home Tour ticket, you can purchase Joan's book and meet her as well.

Another gorgeous weekend is planned for this years' home tour and as always, we hope you can join us. Walk, drive or be taken by trolley to see and experience some of Albany's most beautiful homes. Also, join us downtown for lunch and/or dinner and see what else Albany does so well!

See you all this weekend in the Willamette Valley Wine Country and for more details about this tour, click here!

It was good day...a very good day!

Thanks to all my friends and family for making my 50th birthday so much fun! Ray and I spent a few days in Portland playing tourist and enjoying our loft in the Pearl. Then, dinner last night in Albany was like the icing on the birthday cake! A very fun week so turning the big 5 0 wasn't so bad!

I missed those of you that could not make it to Oregon. Thank you too for the gifts the cards and birthday wishes! I missed you all!

Now...what's on the list for the next 50? Well, hopefully more fun, new experiences, great health, lots of travel and time to spend with the people I love. I have a long list of things I want to do...a sort of bucket list I guess. That's what people are calling it these days and as long as my bucket gets slowly emptied, it will all be good!

One of the few things I want to accomplish this year are on top of my bucket list and it looks like we'll be kayaking in September! Being a Facebook admin for the AVA is fun and has a few perks as well. An avid kayaker saw that I was wanting to learn to kayak on the Willamette so guess what...we get lessons the first weekend in September! They say once you do it, you get hooked. Well, I hope so because that would be a very fun hobby!

A couple of other things I would like to do this year involve truffles and fly fishing. I want to go foraging! I want to truffle hunt! There are places to do that here in Oregon and so just finding out where and when then planning that short trip is right up there. Now for the fly fishing. I don't like fish, I hate looking at them and I will never touch one. I am not sure why I have this aversion but I am sure it has something to with the eyeballs and slimy feel they have and the weird way they look at me through the glass at the aquarium. I know I'm weird! I think the whole idea of standing in those fashionable waders with that fisherman hat with the lures all dangling off it has something to do with it. Not really, I am pretty sure it's the quiet, the waiting, the beauty all around and the sounds of running waters that entice me to want to step into a river with a pole just to see what happens. Ray has promised me that if I do happen to catch a fish, he would take care of it for me. I think that means throwing it back when it comes to fly fishing.

Besides this short list, we have added a few more trips this year too. Sherry comes up for her 24th birthday so we will take the coast road up to Seattle and enjoy the views, do some hiking, sight seeing and just being with our baby girl. She has never been to Seattle so it should be fun showing her around and just like her mama, we'll back to Albany in time to celebrate her birthday with some family and friends.

Ray also came up with the idea of going to Chicago for our anniversary in October. Our gift to each other was our trip abroad but we decided that nice little get away via a romantic train ride would be fun too. I am looking forward to that ride and checking out the sleeper car. I am even more looking forward to touring Oak Park and seeing some of Frank Lloyd Wright's homes. We'll be enjoying a little road trip outside of Chicago too. I want to go to Sheboygan on our way to Door County Wisconsin just to say I went to "Sheboygan!"

In between running the inn, our trips, play time in Portland and spending fun time with our friends and family, we plan to rest! Although living in Oregon, rest means hiking, city trekking, discovering more delicious restaurants, finding more wineries we love, beer tasting and having way more fun than anyone should be allowed to have. But, it's all good and at times seems unreal. So, if this is one long freaking dream...please don't wake me...I'm having a perfect sleep!

COME TO OREGON TO ESCAPE THE HEAT!

What an awesome marketing tool! And yes...we do look good in gray and even though we get the occasional day of gorgeous sunshine, the PNW tends to just be this way!

For those of you looking for a good excuse to escape the heat, let me tell you what our last few days have entailed. If that doesn't entice, well then...nothing will!

We took the Pink Bus Tour all over Portland, ate lunch and drank beer on 23rd, soaked in a hot tub for an hour while watching TV and listening to music and waterfalls. We ate dinner at Tin Shed, enjoyed a salted caramel at Moonstruck, took the MAX to the zoo, hiked to the Rose Garden, then city trekked to 11th and Johnson, ate a delicious lunch OUTSIDE, had a lovely hot and cold stone massage, enjoyed banana cream pie and a latte' at Lovejoy Bakers and have plans to enjoy dinner at Toro Bravo in a bit then we're off with Portland Walking Tours for a Ghost Tour of Portland!



Enjoy the photos! Whether you are coming for the wine, the Rose City or just to hang with friends...it's all cool...seriously!

An Oregon Country Trail Event...Aug. 6th!

From Bridget:

Willamette River Country Trails Event

August 6th

Take a drive and visit an array of local sites.

Begin the day wandering the Albany Farmers’ Market, meeting the folks that grow & produce our wonderful local food. Pick up some fresh produce and snacks while you delight in the open air market atmosphere with live music. Then head out to Fry Road Nursery, take a deep breath and view all the unique plants and flowers. Ooh and ah over tropicals and exotics, including 500 different varieties of fuchsia. Step into historic downtown Albany & visit The Brass Ring Carousel Museum. Slow life down to explore the charm of one of Albany's finest historic homes, the Pfeiffer Cottage Inn. Complimentary glass of wine provided.

For the finale, wrap up your day kicking back at Midway Farms for wine, cheese & music in an enchanting country garden. Featured food by Creperie Du Lys llc., scrumptious crepes & pomme frites. Full Circle Creamery, Blue Monkey Bakery & Living Earth Bakery will be offering tastes of baked foods, cheese & other goodies. GF friendly event. 21 and older please.

Albany Farmers’ Market ~ 4th & Ellsworth ~ 9am to 1pm

Albany Visitors Association ~ 250 Broadalbin SW 10am to 3pm

Fry Road Nursery ~ 34989 Fry Road SE 1pm to 4pm

The Brass Ring Museum ~ 503 1st Avenue ~ 10am to 4pm

Pfeiffer Cottage Inn ~ 530 Ferry Street SW ~ 4pm to 6pm

Midway Farms Evening on the Farm ~

6980 NW Highway 20
Wine, Cheese and Music from 6pm to 11pm

Need a tour guide? – Contact Kenneth Self at Oregon Country Tours (888) 762-8687.

Click HERE for a list of trail events...Albany Visitors Assn.

...and I'm 50 years old!

I have had one or two people ask me how I feel about turning 50. This seemed like a strange question to me because I don't really feel like I'm turning 50. In fact, most of the people around me say they can't believe I'm almost 50. I would like to believe that is because I have a gorgeous complexion, no gray hairs, I don't ache when I walk a few miles or don't have a hard time moving after gardening or cleaning the floors. But for some reason I think they mean something else.

I refuse to grow up! I think I have way too much fun. I enjoy life to it's very fullest and want to savor every moment like a perfect bite of my favorite food...pizza! I am so afraid that I will not get to do everything I want to do in the rest of the time I have left. So, the race to do it all truly began a few years ago and hasn't stopped. I have never laughed harder in my life than I have in the past few years. And after reading this blog, if you don't remember anything else, remember that laughing cures pretty much everything so do it a lot!

I could at this point make a long list of things I have learned in the past 50 years but then I would miss out on reading my book waiting for me next to my cozy bed. In short, I have learned everything every one else has learned at this point in their lives. But, the most important things I have learned...be nice, be good, be sweet and be yourself! It's ok to be a little "off" because then it keeps people wondering. And mostly...it feels so stinkin' good to not worry about impressing anyone but myself by kicking higher than anyone else and laughing so hard I can't catch my breath and my sides are aching. Life is too good and too precious to waste not laughing especially if it's with my dearest friends and my family. Thank you all for making me laugh and a special thanks to my honey who makes me laugh the most. Looking forward to spending my 50th birthday with you!

Behind The Scenes...a food tour worth all it's praise!

I love sitting in my kitchen reading the local newspaper while sipping my "Breakfast at 11" blend and smiling to myself after reading things like, "Recently, a jerk pork slider was sampled for the Albany Nosh Tour and Pope said it will become a regular on the menu." This quote came from our new "Dining View" edition of the Democrat Herald. Chad Pope is the owner and chef at Cappies Brewhouse. He and his restaurant are on our nosh tours and he is one of many that never cease to amaze even the skeptic when it comes to finding a delicious meal in a small town like Albany.

The nosh tours began about one year ago and have grown to the point that our September tour was booked out about 3 months ago. Someone has reserved the whole ride for a group of folks developing a special tourism piece for Linn County. And as always...I am sure they will be surprised and awed by their experiences. Great chefs like Chad, like Matt, like Ruby and all the other restaurateurs here in town that know good food is really important when you have a whole town to impress let alone 26 nosh tour goers.

To me, the nosh tours are about partnering or putting together the talents, the slow delicious food grown mostly here in the valley by the way, and the people that want it so badly that they gather on a vintage trolley to taste the ride of their lives. It's important to me that everyone from chef to taster get that perfect experience.

What goes on to prepare for these tours is not really different that what goes on behind the scenes to prepare for a huge crowd coming through the restaurant doors at 5pm. Most of our chefs and restaurateurs use our locally grown food. They thrive on showing off their talents in the kitchen. The way the grass fed beef sizzles on the Traeger, the way the Farmer's Market garlic fills the entire restaurant with such a sweet scent as it's mixed with butter and salt and served with that steak or, the way the mixologist they picked out mixes that perfect cocktail. So perfect in fact, this nosh tour coordinator/amateur photographer/innkeeper and whatever else it is I do brags about it all over the place. Facebook is a great place to do that by the way and so is Flickr...because people love photos of food and drinks. What a phenomenon food and drink has become. Who'd a thunk that besides good food nourishing our bodies, food would actually become art, a design so delicious that it's photographed and posted in places to entice, affect souls and draw many in so that they yearn to see and find that gorgeous food. It all begins in our chefs kitchens here in Albany. From the Farmer's Markets, from the farm, grown in their own kitchen gardens perhaps and then created by the masters that know showing off should be a sin but how could they not when what we have here is so worthy of bragging about.

We hope that if you have not joined us on this "tour of food," the Albany Nosh Tour, that you consider it soon. We still have some seats left beginning in October.

Hope to see you on the ride, behind the scenes on this "tour of food" right here in Albany and this Willamette Valley!

Star Trek in Portland!

================================== JULY 9-31 Beam Us Up, Scotty Woodlawn Park: the final frontier. These are the productions of Atomic Arts. Its three-year mission: to showcase classic, contemporary and original productions; to act out live versions of classic Star Trek episodes; and to boldly go where no theater troupe has gone before. Yes, since 2009, Trek in the Park has transported Captain Kirk and the gang to this outdoor amphitheater in Northeast Portland, where thousands of fans have watched their renditions of episodes of the classic television show. Running every Saturday and Sunday at 5 p.m. from July 9-31, this year's presentation is “Mirror, Mirror,” the episode that introduced the world to the “Evil Spock” concept, which turns a good character bad with the simple addition of a goatee. The production is complimentary, suitable for all ages, and attendees are encouraged to bring picnics, blankets and chairs to maximize their living room-in-the-park experience. We recommend arriving early and watching the actual episode in advance — it's fun to see how true the troupe stays to the televised original. Also, while furry, four-legged friends are allowed (it's a park, after all), please leave your tribbles at home. On the deck of the Enterprise, they're just too much trouble.More info > > — John Patrick Pullen ===========oh my gosh! We have to do this for sure!

Sanctuary at Washburn Heights! July 31st!

“Moonlight & Music” at the Sanctuary at Washburn Heights

Save the Date – July 31^st

· A benefit for the Calapooia Food Alliance

· Wine Tasting from Marks Ridge Winery

· Cider from 2 Towns Ciderhouse

· Hors d’ oeuvres

· Dance Band

· Tickets $20/person – available at Keybank and the Famers’ Market

Come dance under the stars at one of the most spectacular hidden venues in the Valley – Sanctuary at Washburn Heights.

35400 Washburn Heights Drive, Brownsville, OR 97327

www.sanctuaryatwashburnheights.com/directions.html

A GREAT EVENT TO BENEFIT THE ONES THAT LIVE IN OUR COMMUNITIES! Putting it on our calendars!

Wine in Willamette Valley...we'll go wherever it takes us!

Philomath Uncorked

July 30th, 3:30pm - 7pm

"Philomath will be hosting their First Annual Wine Walk on July 30th, from 3:30pm until 7pm. Tour downtown Philomath where local businesses will open their doors and become tasting rooms for the evening. Sample local wine from Airlie Winery, Emerson Vineyards,Lumos Wine Co., Spindrift Cellars and more, as well as crisp ciders from the recently-opened 2Towns Ciderhouse.

Your $10 purchase to this event includes a "Philomath Uncorked" souvenir wine glass and ID bracelet (required for the event). You will also receive five $1 tickets good for wine or cider tastings. Save this date on your calendars - it's sure to be a great evening!

For more information, visit the Philomath Chamber of Commerce website, and follow Philomath Uncorked on Facebook"

Taken from a Visit Corvallis Upcoming Events email! Yes...we belong to Visit Corvallis and love that they send us guests all year long!

Thanks Corvallis! We love attending all of your events!

Cocktails and Grape Leaves...all in a day!

We had family visit again from Cali and when they come, we gotta put on our "tour guide" vests and find the best places to visit in Oregon! You know how much we love it here so we're pretty much always ready to go.

Finding out that our inn was totally booked for a few nights, took Ray and my sister and her family to Portland for a few nights. They enjoyed fireworks, Kenny and Zukes and all the fun Portland provides in two very fun filled days. I got the great pleasure of staying in Albany greeting our wonderful guests from Florida. We had fun too! Especially when our guests let me photograph them faking smoking Rays stogies and drinking up all his Booker's! We had a huge laugh at Ray's expense for sure.

Finding places to take our visitors to is really pretty easy. There is so much to do here in the Willamette Valley that we kept them all pretty busy when they finally made it back to Albany. Some hiking, bicycling, eating, shopping, lavender fairing, visiting the carousel museum, beer tasting, wine tasting, private dinners at the inn and more made it easy to crawl up on the sofa at nap time and snore for a bit each day too. Yeah...that's a great perk for us innkeepers. Quite often when we have family take over the inn, we take a little break ourselves to relax and visit and enjoy! Oh and that day on the coast...perfect. Not too cold, not too warm and of course the views...awesome!

I love it here in Oregon as you all know but most of all, we love it when we can show off what we love and then watch it perform it's magic on our visitors. They fall in love too and then are smitten with it all. So yes...they come back...again and again! Good thing we love our family!

IT'S GETTIN' CRAZY ALL UP IN HERE...CRAZY IN ALBANY, OREGON!

July 8 & 9, Albany celebrates, "Crazy Daze"! Our downtown merchants will be setting up the hugest sidewalk sale you have ever seen!

First of all...this weekend begins on Thursday as we get our dancing shoes on and boogy to Coco Montoya for our Summertime Music Lineup at RIVER RHYTHMS! Enjoy other great concerts in Albany every Thursday evening by Plena Libre, Lonstar (yes...I just said that!), The Crazy 8's, Sammy Kershaw...(wow!), and B J Thomas!!!! An amazing line up!

Then Friday, our MOVIES BY MOONLIGHT begins with, "The Time Machine" staring Rod Taylor. This continues throughout the summer as well!

Sweet Saturday brings us to CRAZYVILLE! (But the sidewalk craziness really begins on Friday...I just liked the way that sounded!)

Sidewalks in downtown Albany will be set up by 9am, there will be great bargains and FOOD! Our restaurants will be open as well! Enjoy a burger at First Burger or Cappies! Maybe you feel like Italian perhaps??? Whatever you feel like, bring yourself downtown and enjoy the day!

Only a few more days and it's all happening in downtown Albany! See you then!

How I Spent My Summer Vacation...in Oregon!

I was putting together a photo album today on Facebook. I looked through my iphoto library choosing all the photos that depicted what my summer was like last year. I seriously want a repeat!

We began our very first Albany Nosh Tour last June. Celebrating our one year anniversary just a week ago with another tour, the NOSH tours have been a success. Since then, the experiences have only grown. We spent the summer exploring the coast, picking wild flowers on our hike at Mary's Peak and the Multnomah Falls trail...the long one!

We trekked all over Portland every chance we got to get away. We have learned so much about that area of Oregon that we consider ourselves somewhat experts on city trekking there!

We watched as our family and friends took off and soared through the air from the airport in Salem in a small plane. And...thankfully they landed in time to wine taste at Willamette Valley Vineyards and our fav...Sweet Cheeks winery near Eugene.

We had meals including drinks and deserts at several of our NOSH stops after the tours. Promoting and supporting our local restaurants has become our personal goal and we know how lucky we are to have such great choices when it comes to our food cooked slow and so good here! We took cooking lessons and ate the panna cota served by our resident Italian chef Ruby and enjoyed watching Patrick teach our nephew how to make lasagne from scratch and then serve it to us!

We learned how to make our guests even happier by preparing breakfasts that are tastier, lighter and full of veggies, local cheese's and Farmer's Market eggs. We also learned that after hiking in the hot sun, a nice cold Ruby Pale Ale at Edgefield McMenamins works well to cool us down. We tasted all the food we could possibly taste at every food cart we could possibly find in Portland including a Full Sale veggie dog battered and served on a stick with hot mustard.

We hiked again and again while experiencing the beauty of the Hood River region. We saw pears begging to be picked and enjoyed a breakfast of French toast covered in just harvested raspberries at an inn called Sakura Ridge. We also learned there that eating is most certainly an agricultural activity as evidenced by the 40 plus acres of organic fruits and vegetables served daily to guests and friends.

We rode a horse named Lola and she took us down isles of grapes and vineyards filled with luscious reminders of why our wine is so good here. She let us fill her saddle bags with Oregon's Willamette Valley's finest so we could take it home and share it with our guests. We enjoyed the delay in leaving a friends driveway because their herd of sheep needed to be moved and we loved being lulled each evening by the sounds of music that come from our local "concerts in the park." And...we are enjoying the light in the sky that sticks around till 10pm in the summertime forcing us out to take those late walks downtown in our sweet Albany.

Yes...Oregon is that amazing. We haven't even hit the halfway point on our list of "awesome things to do in Oregon" yet. So, this summer is proving to be another hit. Hoping to mark a few more experiences off the list this year and plan a few more for next year. I just hope we have time to do it all but if not, an exact repeat would be fine with us!