Cherry City and Irises, a Tale of Two Capitols

Situated in the Willamette Valley, Salem, and Keizer, separate towns with different governing bodies, function largely as one due to their shared border, and bus and school systems.

Salem
Salem has worked hard to preserve its downtown and most sights are roughly within this district. There are a number of fine parks and interesting historical buildings, as well as several festivals of note.

When the site of Jason Lee’s first mission proved unsuitable, due to flooding, he moved it south, helping to found what was to become Salem. Those surviving structures now relocated near a historic textile mill are preserved in a park-like setting as Mission Mill Museum.

Called Cherry City, because the Bing was developed here, Salem, meaning "peace," replaced the name Chemeketa ("meeting or resting place") in 1846, but it became a "meeting place" again when the Capitol moved to Salem in 1864. The Capitol Mall area is a series of parks with flowerbeds, sculptures and fountains. To the south lies Willamette University, the oldest university in the west.

A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village, another complex of historical buildings, celebrating the inventor of the Erector set, born and raised here, is a children‘s museum with a giant Erector set to be explored in the backyard. The village is at the north end of Riverfront Park where the pavilion houses the hand-carved Salem Riverfront Carousel. This reclaimed industrial land, and popular park, fronts the Willamette River near City Hall and one of the country’s most used public libraries. Between lies Peace Plaza’s inspirational wall of quotes.

Bush's Pasture Park, hosting a large arts festival, also has two historical homes, an art gallery, and a rose garden. Deepwood Estate, the eastern most of the two houses, is a lovely Queen Anne Victorian with a small but fine garden and greenhouse bordering on a small wild area within the park.

Keizer
Keizer hosts an Iris Festival and parade in May. Keizer is also where you’ll find my favorite restaurant -- Los Dos Hermanos.

The S/K shared minor league Volcanoes baseball team has their stadium just north of town.

Contacts: Salem Convention & Visitor Center 503-581-4325, information@scva.org
Salem Chamber of Commerce
City of Salem
Keizer Chamber of Commerce 1-888-218-4747, 503-393-9111, info@keizerchamber.com
City of Keizer

Quick Tips:

Golden Pioneer statue atop the capitol building, visible throughout much of the city, offers a handy means for orientation.
Oregon uses overlays so dial all 10 numbers when placing a telephone call.
Oregon has no sales tax.
Oregon has no self-serve gas.

Best Way To Get Around:

Most sights are near each other so walking between them is possible, however, since most accommodations are nearer I-5, you’ll probably use a car anyway. Salem’s Cherriots bus Fareless Square is bounded by Mission, Front, Union, and 12th Streets. Route 25 (in pdf), the West Salem/Downtown Shuttle loops through downtown and connects Courthouse Square Transit Mall to the Glen Creek Transit Station is fare-free. All buses have bike racks and are wheelchair accessible. For travel beyond Fareless Square Day Passes (.50) are available on any bus, or pay 0.75 per leg of your journey. Check the Routes and Schedules (interactive map and downloadable schedules) and How to Ride guide for more; visit the Information Desk at Courthouse Square, where routes begin and terminate, at 220 High Street NE in Salem, call 503-588-BUSS (2877) or 503-588-2424, or email at info@Cherriots.org. FYI the unusually configured buses run on CNG or compressed natural gas. Eventually, the whole system will be CNGs as older buses are replaced (about half have been replaced already).

Parking near the Capitol and County Courthouse is limited but there are several free public garages downtown within a comfortable walking distance.

Do you ever just eat the dessert? Or maybe you just want a treat. Gerry Frank’s Konditorei (pronounced Cone-D-Tor-Eye) is the right kind of place then. There are 35 different cakes and cheesecakes, and a variety of pastries and cookies. The cake is exceptional. My usual is "Italian Cream" with its rich flavor and texture, a yellow cake with pecans, a hint of coconut, and a maple cream cheese frosting. (Writing this is killer -- you can only presume you know the flavor described, but I can actually taste it and it just makes me want some -- right now.) The carrot cake is very fine too. In fact, I know someone who favors just about every cake on offer. The various spins on chocolate being the most popular.

Slices are $4.75 each, but they aren’t stingy slices. Cookies and pastries are mostly about $2 and if you’re there during the evening a basket near the register should hold discounts from the day at $1 each, unless they’re all sold out. Whole cakes are expensive, the cheapest being the seasonal Strawberry at $25.

Beverages are various types of teas, coffees and chocolate. Coffee is $1.25 with refills.

Place your order at the counter. The staff will deliver pots of tea, anything else you get at the counter and carry with you to the table. Sit where you’d like. You’ll probably have to flag them for refills, but the space is small and getting their attention isn’t that challenging.

The Konditorei serves breakfast, lunch, and light dinners as well. Breakfast, served until 11am, is simple fare; fruit, granola, toast, bagels, scones, cinnamon rolls, and coffeecake are your choices. Essentially the menu is the same for lunch (11am-5pm) as for dinner (5pm-7.30pm) with slight variation in items as well as in price; soup, sandwiches, lasagna, quiche, and spinach salad. There is $9.95 lunch special that includes dessert. I don’t have recommendations on the rest of the meal though because I never get past the dessert.

The décor is simple and cheerful but touches of extra effort are apparent in the fresh flowers on every table. I’m usually here with a large group, we drag tables into a configuration that works for us and they are always gracious about it. The extended business hours make it a convenient stop at almost any hour. Weekend evenings are predictably the busiest.

Gerry Frank (here’s a mini bio) wrote the book on New York City. That’s what they say. That’s what he says. And you can purchase a copy while you’re here. "Where to Find It, Buy It, Eat It in New York" is a guide to help you take a bite of the Big Apple, now in its 11th edition. It’s actually considered to be an excellent resource. Howard Koch endorsed an earlier edition while he was still mayor.

Opens at 7.30am and closes 11pm (Mon-Thurs), 12am (Fri-Sat) and 10pm (Sun).

The Willamette Noodle Company is in a building appearing only slightly larger than a drive-through coffee place. It actually seats 26! That doesn’t seem possible. The kitchen must be quite efficiently laid out is all I can imagine. There was a 50s inspired diner here for many years, which finally outgrew the building and moved further south along the street, so it has actually been a functional restaurant for a long time but this restaurant only opened in July of 2003. I wish them well. More than half of all new restaurants fail in their first year.

Located at the corner of Hood and Broadway Streets there is free parking behind the building although it can be awkward to get into and out of. Free on street parking is also available in the surrounding neighborhood.

The interior space is decorated in a minimal fashion with mismatched colors on the walls and simple furnishings. The small space is prevented from becoming claustrophobia inducing by having two walls of café-curtained windows. Tables are covered with white paper and small containers of crayons are supplied -- use them or ignore them. This isn’t the kind of place you’d find normally recommended for its ambience. That’s fine because the food is really more than enough reason to be here, prices are good and service is friendly and efficient.

The entrée is served with minestrone soup or mixed green salad and the fresh baked daily focaccia bread, but you can get entrées a la carte for about $2 less. The owners have years of experience in catering which they have applied to a menu of creative pasta and sauces such as penne with sautéed mushrooms and sage cream sauce ($8.75), a flavor I developed an immediate fondness for. Also quite good is the artichoke and mushroom penne ($9.95), which comes in a cream sauce flavored with the slightly licorice tasting tarragon and the penne with lemon garlic cream and roasted chicken ($8.95) gets high marks too. Rob’s Famous cheesy garlic bread ($2.50 a basket) is focaccia with cheese, but a warning to vegetarians -- it contains Worcestershire sauce and this is not noted on the menu.

The desserts, made elsewhere, are flavorful, especially the tiramisu ($2.95), an exclusive. Beverages include, teas and coffee, bottled soft drinks and beer, and wine.

They don’t take reservations but should you arrive to find the dining room full and the wait too long they have provided the option of "Noodles at Home," a pound of fresh pasta and a quart of sauce with a loaf of garlic bread, all for $12.95. The hard part will be getting three or four people to agree upon one of the three sauce choices.

You can, of course, order any dinner to take with you.

Opens at 11am and closes at 8pm Mon-Thurs, and at 9pm Fri-Sat.

Marco Polo bills itself a Global Restaurant. A claim easy to understand after scanning the menus. Yes, menus. There are three of them. All the vegetarian choices are collected in one, with selections like spinach ravioli (8.95) and chicken and mushroom Provencal ($9.95) in the European. The final menu has everything offered. This simplifies things while preserving the overall options. If you want to consider the vegetarian options only, why wade through a thick menu of things you won't or can’t eat? However, all menus are supplied so you can check them out, even if just to satisfy your curiosity.

Having a need for separate menus speaks to the number of dishes to choose from – there are about 75 entrées and all are excellent. The main cuisines are Italian and Chinese, but the choices are more eclectic than that: fish and chips, omelets, burgers, and salad for example. Nicole and the rest of the wait staff will patiently stand by while you try to narrow choices and decide what to actually order. Hot tea comes with the meal but there are many other beverage choices.

Jackey and Cathay Cheung opened the restaurant in 2001 after moving from Hong Kong prior to its handover back to the Chinese. Jackey is a vegetarian and wanted to have a vegetarian restaurant. She’s also a realist, so you’ll find plenty of dishes with meat: top sirloin steak ($10.95), grilled chicken burger ($5.95), curry salmon or shrimp ($9.95), or raspberry pistachio chicken ($10.95) to cite only a few choices.

There’s a broad range (see partial menu below) of vegetarian choices, many including textured soy protein "meat" in various flavors. A number of dishes offer a choice between "meat" and cubes of deep fried tofu (which I really like, thank you) and a few dishes actually include both.

Being a big fan of hot and spicy I highly recommend the Kung Pao tofu dishes ($7.95-8.95) or the veggie curry fried rice ($6.95), which can be had with tofu or "meat." I’ve found ordering "hot" satisfies my expectations, but you can ask for "medium" with extra sauce on the side for making your own adjustments.

I love their sauces; not just the accompaniments like the wonderful olive oil, garlic and herb dipping sauce for bread, but the sauces in which the dishes are served as well. I’ve found many Asian sauces fairly tasteless with a slick texture that seems to merely hold the vegetables into a kind of gelatinous mass -- but that’s not true here. Everything has distinct and pleasurable flavor.

For lunch there’s an extremely popular buffet ($5.95), with a large number of clearly labeled dishes.

You could easily envision Marco, or yourself, happily encamped along the Silk Road with the Cheungs as camp cooks. And with its oh so varied menus you could make that journey partaking different dishes each day without becoming bored or being disappointed.

Open: Mon-Thurs 11am-9pm, Fri/Sat 11am-10pm
Brunch: Mon-Fri 11.30am-2pm
See map below for location.

Obvious Statement #1: Travel makes you aware of the many differences between your home and other parts of the world.

One difference I’ve noted is that we have an awful lot of drive-through coffee shops in my neck of the woods. In some places, there literally is one on every corner. Dutch Bros. Coffee is one of the best of them. Actually, there are currently nearly 40 of these (most of these are franchises) throughout western Oregon and Northern California, so you might find other convenient Locations.

Obvious Statement #2: The fresher the coffee, the better the taste.

This special secret blend coffee is roasted daily, ground daily, and prepared by the individual cup. Coffee, lattes, mocha and specialty flavors like: Almond Joy or Kahlua Kicker. Sizes are 12, 16, and 20 ounces. Prices start at $1, $1.25, and $1.75 for a basic cup, black or white. Anything can be iced, and you can add soy or an extra shot for $.25.

There are basically three areas of separation on the menu; Dutch Classics, Kick Me, and the completely mystifying "Panty Boy." I don’t know what that means and I’m having too much fun not knowing. Sorry, but it’s true. I almost swallowed my tongue the first time I saw that. It’s worth the cost of a cup of coffee just for that little wake-up. And did you notice under the size designations in the picture below (yeah, I know it’s really too hard to see that detail) there are descriptions: Start the Windmill, Wake Up and Big Dog. Welcome to your new day, hope you have a sense of humor.

Hot chocolate, chai, smoothies, and Italian sodas can be had instead of coffee. There are all the prerequisite coffee shop scones, and muffins for about $1.50 each.

This regional chain began in Grants Pass, Oregon in 1992, started by a pair of brothers, Dane and Travis Boersma, of Dutch heritage, hence the name. When their father decided to turn the dairy farm into a golf course they decided to start up a coffee cart to go with it. And it went well, obviously. They have adopted the "Optimist Creed" restyling it the "Dutch Creed." I can attest to the positive attitude of the employees at this location.

Other communities with Dutch Bros. Coffee
Oregon: Albany, Ashland, Brookings, Central Pointe, Coos Bay, Corvallis, Eugene, Grants Pass, Gresham, Keizer, Klamath Falls, Lebanon, McMinnville, Medford, Newberg, North Bend, Roseburg, Shady Cove, Springfield, White City
California: Chico

And for the curious:
Dutcher Creek Golf Course in Grants Pass.

One striking thing about children on a carousel is seeing the difference in riding style each one adopts. Some cling to the pole their arms wrapped tight as if they were afraid the horse would suddenly leap from the platform and gallop away with them. Some ride with arms held wide in that "I’m king of the world" posture with attitude to match. Yet the choice of mount doesn‘t seem to correlate to riding style. Watching kids make their choice can be as interesting as their ride itself. The Salem Riverfront Carousel has 42 hand-carved horses, a covered wagon and a chuck wagon to choose from. Each horse is very much an individual. Rosinante, Jazz . . . the names are posted above each horse in the rafters supporting the top of the carousel.

This is only the second hand-carved carousel to be constructed in the US since the 1920s. The other is in Missoula, Montana. It was upon riding that in 1995 that a woman named Hazel Patton determined to have one where she lived. Upon seeing a carving demonstration by Dave Walker, she realized her enthusiasm would not be enough to see the project realized. Her enthusiasm would have to spread. As you can tell, she was eventually successful. All horses, and other carved decorations, were "adopted" by local families, which basically means that the funding to pay for each came through donations from the community. Volunteers, taught by Dave, did all the carving. The carousel finally opened to the public June 1, 2001.

Originally the, about 20-minutes of, music was played off paper rolls like a player piano, by the 7-foot-2-inch band organ which weighs in at 700 pounds. Since this method had a limited lifespan (the paper disintegrates with use) these rolls were replaced with MIDI, a far more durable system but a less interesting idea to muse, although the real instruments still play.

This article from the Statesman Journal on the Riverfront Carousel has a complete listing of music played as well as photos and "bios" (under Horse Tales) for each horse and information on carousel.

The gift shop has a large stock of horse and carrousel related items some of which you can purchase online. If you should be here around Christmas you’ll find a variety of unique and charming tree decorations.

The carousel is located in a pavilion in Riverfront Park (my entry)pretty much opposite where State Street ends upon intersecting with Front Street. A Map and directions are available by scrolling down this page. There’s lots of parking adjacent to the pavilion. At the north end of the park is A.C. Gilbert Discovery Village (journal entry)with its Children‘s Museum and giant erector set.

Open: (Winter) Mon-Thurs 10am-6pm, Fri-Sat 10am-7pm, Sun 11am-5pm; (Summer) Mon-Thurs 10am-7pm, Fri-Sat 10am-9pm, Sun 11am-6pm. Closed Thanksgiving.
Rides: $1.25. Free rides Christmas Day 12pm-5pm.
Contact: 503-540-0374, (fax) 503-763-0630

The many parts of Salem (Overview entry) from where the statue atop the Oregon State Capitol Building is visible makes it useful for orientation. A man standing, left hand gripping a coat thrown over his shoulder while the other dangles a large axe, body facing north and head looking west, the piece's official name is "Oregon Pioneer." Even though it's hollow, the statue weighs 8.5 tons. Often called the "Golden Pioneer" or "Gold Man", the 23K gold sheathed bronze statue stands 22-feet atop a 23-foot marble plinth placed 140-feet above the ground. For his last re-gilding, the donated funds were mostly collected by school-kids around Oregon.

With limits on the height of buildings, allowing sunlight to reach the street (called Day Light laws), this is what passes for a tall building. A 121-step spiral staircase rising from the building’s fourth level gives access to an observation deck and some of the best views available in Salem with tours there every 30 minutes on weekdays from Memorial Day through Labor Day. Something else you will see are the solar panels on the roof that made this the first State Capitol to power its lighting through alternative energy. They also provide the nightly illumination of the Gold Man.

This white marble (Capitol History) building replaced one that burnt in 1935, replacing the original which burnt in 1855. The interior is decorated with several types and colors of marble and murals depicting scenes and personages from Oregon history; including 33 stars commemorating its admittance order to the Union. At Christmas time free concerts are given in the rotunda by school classes from throughout Oregon. All students are included unless they wish otherwise. South of the rotunda are gallerias where changing monthly art and history displays will be found and the Gift shop with Oregon and Salem themed items. Café Today can be found on the ground floor.

Favorite detail: Most metal doorknobs (the originals) have the state seal molded into them.

The grounds contain artworks, including 5 large relief carved panels depicting moments from Oregon history by sculptor Ulric Ellerhusen, designer of the Oregon Pioneer; a raised pool with fountain, gazebo, lots of squirrels (I once counted 50 on a brief walk through the grounds on my way elsewhere), and broken Corinthian columns survivors from the fire of 1935. To the north is the Capitol Mall (pdf map) with it's fountains and plantings, and two-blocks beyond at Union and Summer Streets is Waldo Park the world’s second smallest park, a Redwood in a 12 x 20-foot plot of land.

Public viewing galleries abut both senate and house, but the Oregon Legislature only meets biennially in odd years. Citizen’s Guide to the process.

Capitol: Monday-Friday 8am-5:30pm, 503-986-1388, directions, Floor Plans
Gift shop: 8am-4.30pm, 503-986-1391
Café: 8am-4pm, 503-585-4266

Alfred Carlton Gilbert could have been a doctor, but instead was a magician, an Olympian, and an inventor. Born in Salem in 1884 he showed an early proficiency in performance of magic and athletics, as well as an interest in inventing things. At the 1908 London Olympic Games he won a gold medal. Instead of going into practice after medical school he co-founded the Mysto Manufacturing Company to make and sell magic sets. At 29, he created the Erector Set. By the time of his death, in 1961, he held 150 patents.

Most of the buildings in the A.C. Discovery Village have been relocated to this place from elsewhere in the city to create this neighborhood in miniature. The core of the Village is the only remaining house in Salem once belonging to a Gilbert family member. A.C.’s uncle Andrew built the Queen Anne style Victorian in 1887. There are exhibits about A.C., his toys, and other local history on display.

Actually a Children's Museum, more than a venue for local history, with many hands on activities and exhibits spread throughout the various buildings. And then outside there it is, that weird construct you could see when you arrived; the world's largest Erector Set tower. Over 6,000 volunteers constructed it in the "backyard" using over 20 miles of lumber and 2 tons of fastenings with 346 businesses contributing, in 19 days. Wow! Explore and have fun.

A.C. believed learning should always be fun. The activities fall into several broad categories (my invention) meant to instruct and entertain:
--"Tests" by building earthquake proof structures, take astronaut physical challenges, solve puzzles and brain teasers.
--"Sets" for children to play at being somewhere else: a forest, a Maasai village, outer space.
--"Exploration" with optical illusions, light, airflow, color, physics.
--"Multi-cultural Exposure." The newest of these rotating exhibits is the Russian/Ukrainian folktale room. This also fits under sets.

Other activities and Events:
--Mondays 11am-11.30am is storytime.
--Download the current calendar (pdf) at the Events page.
--In summer they run science camps.

The National Toy Hall of Fame was also here until it outgrew the location and moved to the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York. If you’re ever in that area check it out.

A.C. Discovery Village is located (Map and directions) next to the Marion Street Bridge at the northern end of Riverfront Park (my entry) where the Salem Riverfront Carousel (journal entry) is located.

Open: Mon.-Sat. 10am-5pm, Sun. 12pm-5pm. Closed New Year's, Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas Days.
Contact: 503-371-3631, (fax) 503-316-3485, info@acgilbert.org, (form) http://www.acgilbert.org/contact.htm

Riverfront Park covering 23-acres along the Willamette River in downtown Salem is a success story for the community. The land was part of the Boise Cascade paper mill operations for a long time and then sat unused for years, long enough to become an eyesore. It took years from when the idea of converting it into a park was first put forward to the point where it actually became usable as such. The land had to go through a major and totally unexpected decontamination of industrial waste and poison, which almost derailed the project. The concept of what the park should contain, how it should be laid out, even the amount and location of parking and pedestrian access were discussed again and again. The vision kept changing. Today, it’s a popular hang-out, has been voted the best community park, and contains a number of places that are destinations of their own.

Also in the park:
--Amphitheater: Generally used as part of some other event.
-- Eco-Earth Globe: An old industrial acid-ball, 25-feet in diameter, painted as a globe. This solution to the last vestige of previous industrial use in the park was brought about by popular agreement.

The gently rolling terrain is laced with paths and sprinkled with benches. Open green spaces are an invitation to romp with dogs or kids or toss about a Frisbee. The riverside is dotted with overlooks and picnic facilities. The river hosts an interesting variety of wildlife, lots of water birds both transient and permanent, as well as the occasional human variety in a canoe. On my last visit I watched a beaver cross the river and saw a flock of seagulls visiting from the coast.

Events:
--Events vary throughout the year and are posted in the Statesman Journal.
--The World Beat Festival takes place the last weekend in June. This is a multi-cultural festival representing 5 continents. It pretty much takes over the park, they need all that space. There are more than 100 demonstrations, and performances from a wide range of cultures: Bonsai creation and care, tea ceremonies from a number of nations; drums, dances, and storytelling of the Native American cultures; step dancing, tap dance, martial arts, mahjonng, taiko drummers, chamber music, klezmer music (Jewish soul), belly dance, fencing, didjeridu and percussion, and folk dancers from Nepal and Laos are just a sampling of what’s offered. Also enjoy the foods, games, activities -- too numerous to mention. There are even several parades including a Parade of Nations. You’re sure to see old favorites and just as sure to discover something new all for a suggested donation of $2. All proceeds go to benefit cultural programs at AC Gilbert Discovery Village .

The park is bounded by Front and Marion Streets, and by the Willamette River.
Contact: SalemParks@open.org