Same old script, RichG, but it worked anyway...
This bed has a tractor beam!
Westin has announced they are installing 30,000+ “Heavenly beds” in all their rooms. I think I know where they got the idea. The bed at the Peerless is so comfortable that we barely make the 9:30 cutoff for the complimentary full breakfast served each morning in the adjoining Peerless Restaurant only for guests. Hunnybear announces, “This bed has a tractor beam!”
The Peerless is located about five blocks from the Shakespeare Center at Fourth and B Sts.. It’s odd that a little city like Ashland would have numbered and lettered streets, and it’s only this little patch of town that has them—the rest has poetic names like Lithia Way and Pioneer St. It has only a handful of rooms, each unique. Suite 7, which we are in, is the largest, with a nice view of the foothills and windows galore. The ladies who run the place are eccentric yet professional—Gina, at the front desk, took great pains to explain all the features of the DMX music system to us, made dinner reservations, and even wrote a long handwritten note that contained information she must tell every guest. The feeling is private yet well served, unusual for such a small inn.
Hunnybear and I relaxed after a delicious breakfast of freshly sliced and peeled fruit and Eggs Benedict. Around 11 we went for a nice jog through Lithia Park, one of the many treasures of Ashland. This park follows a stream back from the center of town for several miles with a very nice walking/jogging trail through a wooded hillside. Almost three years ago on New Years Day the stream flooded, washing out bridges and eroding much of the trail. I was happy to see it almost completely restored this year with several new bridges and nice wide bark-covered trails.
In the afternoon, we took the convertible for a spin south of town. We drove up Mt. Ashland to the base of the ski area and had a little picnic lunch we bought at Safeway (the Safeway Club Card saved us 16%, so lunch only cost a little over $10). Then we headed to the California border. I wanted to show Hunnybear how quickly the terrain changes, almost in a moment, from evergreen forest to scrub-covered golden hills, as soon as you cross the state line. But I forgot about the agricultural inspection station. California confiscates all your fresh fruit when you enter. So I said, “Let’s eat up those last two peaches, baby!” We had four miles and did a great job destroying the evidence.
When we reached the station, the guard asked us what we had, and I told him we just finished our last two peaches, and we had like half a peach that was garbage and did he want that? He said no, they don’t have trash here, but aren’t the peaches good this year? Hunnybear raised an eyebrow and asked cagily, “What do you do with the fruit?” He explained that they gather it and incinerate it to prevent the spread of fruit flies. She wanted to press him further, but I smiled and waved and drove off as HB was saying, “You eat them, don’t you? How do you know they’re good unless you eat them!" I quickly sped away, not wanting to spend the rest of the holiday weekend in some surreal agricultural detention facility.
We made it as far as Yreka, CA. Every time I go there I look for a place called the “Yreka Bakery” but I never can find it. It’s famous for being spelled the same forwards and backwards. Pretty cool, huh? We turn around and head back over Siskiyou Pass for the half-hour drive back to Ashland.
Tonight we dine at Omar’s, a steakhouse favored by locals. The food and service are great, but it’s clear they don’t spend much money on the décor. At our waitresses recommendation, I have the Top Sirloin for a laughable $13.95 including a huge do-it-yourself salad tray. It is a great steak, very fleshy—the kind that makes you grow fangs as you bite into it. Hunnybear had a superb Filet Mignon. This place is a hidden jewel, just don’t expect any more atmosphere than red vinyl upholstery, screaming kids, and men in baseball caps.
The play for the evening is Othello, and the three-hour-and-fifteen-minute production is just superb. After so many years, I continue to be impressed each time by the quality of the theater in this little Oregon town. The festival runs most of the year, from February to October, although the outdoor stage is only open in the summer. What a great place.
Next: We take dgolds's advice!
[This message has been edited by QuietLion (edited 09-05-1999).]