Walla Walla: A Quiet Monday in Town

This is one in a series of posts about our recent trip to Walla Walla over a long weekend to celebrate Ann's 60th birthday. It covers the morning and early afternoon on Monday, the day before our departure and the day after our big celebration dinner for Ann's 60th.

We had scheduled Monday to be a quiet day after the late night celebration the evening before. We started our morning at a coffee house just a couple minutes from the Wesley. Upon sitting down with our coffees, we were astounded to see Visit Bend's marketing at work: a Bend Visitor's Guide was on the table. After drinking our so-so coffee (we never did have a decent cup in Walla Walla), we wandered back to the Wesley.

Back at the Wesley, I took advantage of the lovely gray light of the day that was becoming cloudier and cloudier by the minute to take some additional photos of the grounds. Throughout the day, the clouds were building and building in the west with rain forecast for Tuesday.

Having worked in the wine industry and knowing that we are right in the busiest part of harvest, I just knew that the local wine growers would be busting their behinds to pick fruit before the rain set in. I am quite certain that this Monday, while I lolled about happily on vacation, would be the busiest harvest day of the season.

After coffee, Ann wanted to continue with her slow day and I wanted some exercise and to see what I could see in Walla Walla. So I left Ann to her Netflix at the Wesley, grabbed my camera, and headed off in the direction of Pioneer Park, the place that we learned about at breakfast on Saturday.

Pecans! In Washington?!?

Pioneer Park dates to 1902 and it's a safe assumption to guess that many of the park's massive trees date to that era as well. As I approached the park, I was astounded at the size of the many vast sugar maples that I could see along Alder Street. A really beautiful urban space, Pioneer Park has many flower beds, even more massive trees, a gazebo, lots of play space, several water features, and an aviary.

Finger Deep Crevices in Cottonwood Bark

Pioneer Park Aviary

The Local Squirrels are Fox Squirrels

Black Walnut Leaves on the Pond

As I was leaving the park near the rose plantings, I feel fortunate to have met a gentleman tending to the rose garden, pruning spent buds and corralling foliage with powdery mildew. His name was Dick and both his father and grandfather were superintendents of the park, his grandfather the first super. We chatted for several minutes about the history of the park, of Walla Walla itself, and how the valley morphed from wheat production to fruit and grape production.

During the walk back to the inn by a different route than I came by, I reveled in the fall color that we miss so much in Bend.

Back at the Wesley and after vegging for a while, at noon, we set back out to see if we could find some lunch. It being Monday in a small town, there are very few choices of restaurants that are open. After failing at our first couple of choices, we gave up and went into a place that was open. It turned out to be pretty miserable, despite the good looks of the food. To quote Ann, "It was sustenance."

Looks Can Be Deceiving
This is a Miserable Plate of Food. No Lie.

Lunch in our bellies, we went back to our room to get ready to drive down to Milton-Freewater for our final act in Walla Walla, a tasting at Holocene Wines.