A Perfect Saturday in Eugene

July 21, 2008

Photo: Spencers Butte, by Sean Patrick Hill

By Sean Patrick Hill

Editor's Note: Sean Patrick Hill is our newest blogger from Portland. He has previously written for The Oregonian and The Source Weekly in Bend. Check out his first Travel Oregon blog entry below!

My wife and I, who live in Portland, decided to make a day of Eugene—easy enough to do, since a lot can be compressed into a single day, and especially on a summer Saturday.

The trip paid for itself by selling thirty dollars worth of books to Smith Family Bookstore. We visited both stores, one at 768 East 13th in the University area, the other downtown at 525 Willamette, and easily spent a few hours browsing poetry, art, and history. It took over thirty years for the bookstore to go from a few boxes of books to the chaotic shelves and piles of today. Best thing about the store is you can find some rare tomes, and cheap.

Photo: My wife at Saturday Market, by Sean Patrick Hill

Next, I showed my wife around the Eugene Saturday Market on the downtown Park Blocks, browsing the handmade clothing, jewelry, drums, and recycled art. We then skipped across the street to the Farmer’s Market, in their full height of summer harvest selling not only fruits and vegetables, but bread, honey, cheese, and potted plants.

Photo: Eugene Farmers' Market, by Erynn Kinchloe

Being a sunny day, we decided to climb 2,054-foot Spencers Butte, the best view this corner of the state offers, clear enough this day to see from the Three Sisters and Mt. Jefferson to the Coast Range. Though we had to gingerly pick our way through poison oak at times, we got close to a wheeling flock of turkey vultures and a juvenile rattlesnake digesting something.

Photo: Hendricks Park, by Sean Patrick Hill

By mid-afternoon, the heat picking up, we went for the shade in the Hendricks Park Rhododendron Garden, 12-acres of rhodies of all sorts, plus wildflowers and stately trees such as white oak, western maple, and Doug-fir. By July, the rhododendrons are long past flowering—April is the best time—but there’s still plenty of shade and people watching. We drove by nearby Pre Rock, a memorial left for Steve Prefontaine on a small basalt outcrop.

And though my wife says I never try anything different, I can’t leave Eugene without going to the 5th Street Beanery. Housed in an old brick building once used for chickens, it has character; and anyway, I love their mocha with Mexican chocolate. It keeps me awake for the drive home.

For more great ideas on things to do and places to see near Eugene, please visit our Willamette Valley section.

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Comments (3)

Nancy Brown:

I love Eugene! As a former U of Oregon J school graduate, I have fond memories of the Saturday market. If I close my eyes, I can awaken my taste buds to Lulu's smoothies and Rita's burritos.

Fun walk down memory lane reading your post. I'm a Northern California travel writer who is currently vacationing in SunRiver. We've jumped off Harper's Bridge into the Deschutes, plunged in Paulina and we'll take on the Big Eddy rapids later this week.

By the way, I found the Traveloregon blog via Twitter. What a Trip.

Posted by Nancy Brown | July 22, 2008 8:02 PM

Shawn Sorensen:

Awesome-looking and sounding entry and blog overall, Sean. I have family in Eugene and will have to get them to that Saturday market as I think it would be super-fun for the kids. Uber-fun, and healthy as so much focus is on fresh fruit and vegetables. It would behoove me to have more of that around my house, practically daring me to eat it. Anyway, I really enjoyed your poetry performance at Barnes & Noble Vancouver and think your stuff translates very well to the page. I look forward to your upcoming poetry book. Cheers, Shawn

Posted by Shawn Sorensen | July 23, 2008 11:10 AM

Steve:

Great read. Congrats to Sean Patrick Hill on joining the Travel Oregon blogging team - and congrats to Travel Oregon for landing him!

Posted by Steve | July 23, 2008 11:30 AM

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