by Nancy Bestor
One of Ashland, Oregon’s many small town pleasures has got to be the Fourth of July. For as long as we have owned Travel Essentials (16 1/2 years now!) we’ve set out chairs in front of our store to sit and watch the sometimes long but always entertaining Fourth of July parade. Like many other small towns across America, Ashland celebrates the 4th with a down home event, complete with dignitaries riding by in classic cars, children dancing in fairy costumes, dogs and humans dressed up in unusual garb, politically conservative and liberal parade entrants, and more. After the parade, most folks migrate to Lithia Park, where there are booths with food and crafts, and live music and patriotic readings at the band shell. The day ends with a fireworks show that is always a pleasure to watch.
There is another 4th of July tradition in Ashland however that I learned last year is not one of my favorites (to put it mildly)—that being the annual six mile Fourth of July run. Like me (before I actually ran it), you might be saying to yourself, six miles? How difficult can that be? Seemingly not so difficult, when you consider that I ran the Pear Blossom run in Medford (10 miles) several years ago, with little trouble. Granted I am no Jen Shelton (Jen is a local ultra-marathon runner, see related story here). Not even close. I’m just a recreational nine to 25-minute miler (That was a joke in case you were wondering. I’m really a nine to 24-minute miler.) But my girlfriend and I did train for the 4th run (I have to use the word train loosely, as we ran what we thought was the course several times, only to find out on race day we had missed an entire mile-long section.) There is something about this course though that makes it feeling like you are running 12 miles, not six.
The race started off well enough. I headed out with lots of adrenalin, running with the crowd through downtown Ashland. As the race begins with a nice gradual downhill, I was feeling pretty good about myself. About two miles into the race however,
the downhill was replaced by a slow and steady uphill, and I lost that loving feeling. I plodded my way through the rest of the race, thanks in large part to my two race companions, who kept up a steady chatter to keep my mind off my misery. And since the last half mile of the race goes right up Main Street, where there are already large crowds waiting for the parade and cheering the runners on, I was able to pick up my pace and look marginally better. My finishing time you ask? Let’s just say I didn’t win any awards, unless you count not being lapped (barely!) by Jen Shelton.
This year, I’ll be sitting on the sidewalk of Main Street in front of Travel Essentials, drinking a cup of coffee, eating a croissant, and cheering those runners on. Most importantly, I’ll be thanking my lucky stars that I didn’t sign up to plod my way through that six (sixteen?) mile course.
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Let me be the first to admit it. I have big city envy. Whenever I travel to a metropolitan area, I almost always come to the conclusion that it would be the perfect place to live. Cities I have wanted to move to include, but are not limited to, New York, San Diego, Portland, San Francisco, Chiang Mai, Paris, Ka’anapali….do you see where I’m going with this? Every time I visit a big city I’m ready to move out of my lovely little Ashland, Oregon. I know what you’re thinking – the grass is always greener. And I know that to be true. Big cities have more traffic, more hassles, more pollution, etc. I also couldn’t raise my daughters in a small, nurturing environment where just about everyone knows them. (Do you hear me Emily and Sarah? Everyone knows you, so don’t even think about it!) But nevertheless, I return from a big city and have some big city envy.
Our reservation at Tilth was for 9:15, admittedly late for a woman who likes to get into bed by 10pm with a good book, but with a short nap under my belt, I was ready to be impressed by good food, lively atmosphere, and exceptional service. Tilth did not disappoint. Our evening started with a wait in the outer area longer than we expected, but general manager Adam Chumas took good care of us, while a few tables of people lingered longer than expected. Adam brought us a delightful appetizer on the house, and made up a cocktail that included lime and crushed fresh ginger.
Crawfish bread….jambalaya….crawfish etouffe…pounds and pounds of crawfish and shrimp…beignets…These are just a few of the delicious Cajun dishes I sampled on my recent trip to New Orleans and the 2010 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. The Jazz Festival, which this year celebrated its 40th anniversary, happens over two weekends at the end of April on the New Orleans fairgrounds race track. Jazz Fest features fantastic music, outstanding local cuisine, and great New Orleans’ artisan booths. It’s a great musical and culinary party, which draws more than 400,000 visitors each year.
by Bob Bestor
Our family of four is just back from a trip to Kauai, flying from Medford, Oregon through San Francisco to Lihu’e, Kauai, via United Airlines. We booked these tickets with a $300 credit each after being voluntarily bumped a year ago at spring break on a flight from San Francisco to New York. United was looking for volunteers willing to wait just one hour for a later flight. We jumped at the chance, and were each given $300 of United credit, as well as an upgrade to business class on the flight from SFO to JFK. In my opinion, a great deal.