Midweek Anniversary Escape
Oregon Shakespeare Festival
Ashland, Oregon
August 25-26, 2010
We left soon after we got the kids to school, pointing the Mini straight up through the 109-degree Central Valley and reaching Ashland in the heat of the afternoon. Our room at the Peerless Hotel was cool (both ways), so we relaxed, cracked open the pinot grigio they had thoughtfully tucked away in the mini-fridge, and napped a bit before heading out for pre-theater 'tizers.
We had come to see Henry IV, Part 1. (Well, I had; Jen indulged me.) Hotspur was electric, Hal laconically noble, and Falstaff was funny. In fact it was nice to see how funny and fun it was, even a play that supposedly wasn't a comedy.
In the morning, we almost skipped the hotel breakfast, but that would have been a serious mistake, as it was one of the most creative and delicous breakfasts we'd had in a long time: grapefruit brulee, crispy sweet bacon, an egg scramble with red peppers. Michael, the hotel's proprietor, was also the chef. Our compliments to him, and a promise to come back.
But the best part was probably just the joy of a midweek getaway for our wedding anniversary (21 years on September 3) and the freedom to nap or wander aimlessly around, with no one to see and nowhere to be.
