Articles

This year, there has been a flurry of activity, including the opening of Two Dogs Taphouse, the relocation of Hopscotch Toys to Third Street, and the announcement of Bierly Brewing moving in this winter. Now there’s yet another new kid on the street albeit for a limited time only; you can visit Beaux Frères at their satellite tasting room this fall.

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McMinnville’s art galleries are for everybody. Snobbery is nowhere to be found, and hospitality is abundant. You’re in Oregon, remember.

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You can only stay cooped up so long with your classroom of distance learners before it’s time for a breakout session. I’m talking about a trip out into the community where you can pair your children’s online learning with some real, hands-on education at a place not so far from home.

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This time of year, most people are blazing trails toward one adventure or another. Weekends are often so full of exciting plans and experiences, that before we know it, we’ve run ourselves ragged. Now that August is coming to a close, it’s time for a welcome change of pace. You’ll find it ten minutes from downtown McMinnville, on Oldsville Road (a road less traveled), where history and fun unite to create an easy sense of well-being.

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I can’t help but smile as I speed past vineyards along North Valley Road. The undulating road with its short, steep rises would require some effort on a typical bicycle. On this e-bike, it is laughably easy.

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COVID-19 has temporarily closed our theaters and concert halls, but like a balloon you try mashing to the floor, music and plays are popping up elsewhere — outdoors, namely. Masks and social distancing notwithstanding, local arts continue to find new modes of expression.

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Picnics are the tiny traveler’s dream since they represent everything good about the tiny traveling lifestyle: Easy moments drawn out for maximum momentous pleasure.

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Art finds a way.

That’s been my mantra this spring, a riff off Dr. Ian Malcom’s line in Jurassic Park, “Life finds a way.” Not even pandemics can keep painters from painting, singers from singing, writers from writing, or dancers from dancing. They may find their audiences, and even new audiences differently — but art clearly does find a way.

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The roads throughout McMinnville and Yamhill County are waiting to be explored and now that some businesses are reopening, it’s possible to stop along the way for a coffee, a cold drink or a bite to eat. Tasting rooms can again provide a sip of wine.

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I’ve never been much for a meander. I prefer a walk with purpose. But the purpose of most of our family walks these days has more to do with preserving our sanity than anything else. Lately, instead of our regular basic loop through the same old neighborhoods, we’ve been walking to visit the new public art sculpture by Travis Stewart, “Coyote,” which has taken up permanent residence in the roundabout where Northwest Baker Creek Road meets Northwest Hill Road.

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