More Medford and Ashland, OR

Susie was the best personal tour guide you can imagine!  She took me on a drive through the farm country where she grew up and showed me her favorite wander spot through the woods and hills.  We visited Harry and David's, a Medford fruit and gourmet food shipper since 1934.   (Remember those Christmas catalogs.)  Mike's mother helped publish the catalogs for many years.  We sampled a local chocolate makers offerings next to the Rogue Creamery and spent even more of the morning sampling cheese.  As I gazed at all the wonderful cheeses and their descriptions one marked 'Grayson' caught my eye.  Sure enough it was from Meadow Creek Dairy in Galax, VA.  (About 3 miles from the cabin).  After a long chat about the Galax area, the cheese buyer said he had discovered their cheese 10 years ago in NY and had ordered it ever since because of it's rich taste and golden color.  Handmade cheese is indeed a small world!

In the beautiful hills just south of Medford, the town of Ashland is like a tiny San Francisco.   It's major claim to fame is the Shakespeare Theater that has been there since 1935.  The outdoor Elizabethian theater sits on one of many little hills that the town covers.  Below it is the fantastic Lithia Park designed by the same architect who designed Golden Gate Park.

The roof of the theater is just above the trees.  The Park winds along the creek for a few miles and was decked out for us in fantastic colors.  Every curve along the walks gave a perfect view!

After a walk in the park, a gallery visit and some shopping we had supper at a Brew Pub before our theater show.  Our theater was in a restored church, the newest of 4 theaters in town.  It serves dinner before the show or dessert at intermission.  Our play was 'Dancing Backward in High Heels', the early life of Ginger Rogers.  The music and dance was wonderful and the dessert delicious!  What a fine afternoon and evening in a very unique town!!

Of note, Ginger Rogers retired on a ranch just north of Medford.  She said about her many movies with Fred Astaire,  " I did everything he did just dancing backward in high heels!"  Go, girl!!