McMinnville Downtown Association

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The Word On the Street

A blog for the McMinnville Downtown Association, proud stewards of "Oregon's Favorite Main Street."

WHO'S ON THIRD? WE ARE
Holy smokes, summer is almost over, and that means two crucial things: I will soon not have children tugging on the legs of my jeans and whining, “What are we going to DO today?” (short answer will soon be, “GO TO SCHOOL!”). And Who's on Third?, our annual festival, is happening next weekend. What is Who's on Third?, you ask. Screenings and panel discussions, maybe, of Abbott & Costello Meet Frankenstein? Lou Costello look-alike contests? (our mayor would win). Random pies in the face?

No, none of the above. Who's on Third? is actually a retail festival on Third Street -- (did we mention that this is “Oregon's Favorite Main Street?” We copyrighted that slogan, so we mention it often) – with lots of fun events happening downtown next Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 4 & 5, from noon to four p.m. each day. More than two dozen shops will be open and offering discounts and promotions; nearly as many restaurants, wine bars and tasting rooms will be serving up their delicacies and libations; and there will be live music throughout each afternoon.

And such live music. Both days feature several acts but the one I'll be rushing back to see is Michael “Shoehorn” Conley, a Portland musician who manages the rare daily-double of playing a mean blues saxophone AND tap-dancing like Gregory Hines. The guy is equally adept at both, and his show is a great deal of fun to watch and hear, as he trades bluesy riffs and heel-cracking combinations. I dare you to find another tap-dancing sax player performing anywhere in the entire state of Oregon on those days.

Another unique quality of this year's Who's on Third? fest will be the presence of hundreds of lean, fit people who will be in serious need of major carbo-loading and re-hydration, thanks to the first-ever Oregon Half-Marathon that is being run on Sunday morning in the neighboring town of Carlton. To get the runners off their feet and downtown where they belong, there will be a free trolley service running on both days. On Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 4:15 p.m., the Trolley will drive a circuit from the Allison Inn in Newberg to the old fire station in Carlton to Third Street and our adjacent Granary District. On Sunday, a runner's bus will depart from several McMinnville hotels beginning at 5:15 a.m. to transport race participants to the starting line at Stoller Vineyards, returning to Mac at 11:15 from the finish line in Carlton. The bus will then do loops from Carlton to McMenamin's Hotel Oregon on Third Street until 4 p.m.

Put together, it sounds like a great weekend to be in wine country and enjoy our vibrant community. You can save your Abbott & Costello movie fest for another time.
IF THIS IS WEDNESDAY WINES, WE MUST BE IN MCMINNVILLE

Okay, I admit it. I'm guilty. You've got me. I went into Wednesday Wines?ON A TUESDAY!...and I'm very glad that I did. Because Wednesday wines aren't just for Wednesdays anymore. I can explain?

This all starts with Kathy Campbell, a transplanted Californian (“I like heavy reds,” she confessed under duress) who opened Wednesday Wines on Third Street almost exactly two years ago. As Kathy explains, “We're not an Oregon Pinot shop. We want people to experience a wide range of wines.” And furthermore, Kathy added, she wanted to carry wines that people could enjoy during the week, and were priced accordingly. Wednesday Wines, then, refers to a wonderful little find of a wine, typically priced at under twenty bucks, that you'd pop open mid-week before traipsing down to your wine cellar on the weekend to uncork the hundred-dollar Chateau de Blah Blah.

To that end, Kathy carries some wonderful wines, all tasted by her before she sells them, that include Sauvignon Blancs from South Africa, Cabernets from Chile and lots of intriguing things from all parts in-between. Including Oregon: The delightful Three Wives wines made by McMinnville's own Remy Drabkin are big sellers at Wednesday Wines (and in fact, a case of Remy's hard-to-find Pinot Gris arrived as we were talking to Kathy), and Maysara is represented with a number of bottles and varietals. Kathy breaks her under-twenty dollar rule for wines from the McMinnville AVA, which allows her to carry gems like Youngberg Hill's delicious Jordan Block Pinot Noir. And as of a month or so ago, Kathy became the only wine shop in the world to carry the private-label Third Street Flats Pinot Noir, which is made for the eponymous lodging (located directly above Wednesday Wines) by Solena Estates' Laurent Montalieu and is an absolute steal at $20.

Besides the selection of wines, Kathy stocks a nice line of food and gift products like flavored olive oils and vinegars, mustards and beers from local brewers Heater-Allen and Fire Mt. Brewery. And a room in the back of her shop houses Abbie & Oliver's artisan cheese shop, with a fine selection of exotic cheeses that come from nearly as far away as the wines.

You can see why it's hardly fair to punish me for not waiting until Wednesday rolls around to sneak into her place. Tuesdays, Thursdays?even the odd Sunday afternoon is okay for Wednesday Wines now.
UP ON THE ROOF
My nephew Christopher was in town; he had just turned twenty-one, so naturally I took him to the highest spot in town and began to educate him on some subtle points of fine living. This peculiar rite of passage came courtesy of McMenamin's Hotel Oregon, whose building has been a fixture on Third Street since practically before there even was a Third Street. Thanks to some clever design and remodeling, the Hotel Oregon's Rooftop Bar is just about the perfect place to watch a summer sunset and dine al fresco, particularly with pints of the housemade Hammerhead and Terminator beers in hand, the better for which to make points about how craft beer is all about quality, not quantity.

The outdoor patios on the roof have tables with umbrellas and chairs, and a series of steps lead upwards to several more platforms, until you're at the very top of the building, with a 360-degree view of town, rolling hills and the Coast Range mountains to the west. Sculptures of spaceships serve as reminders that the hotel is the official headquarters of our annual Alien Daze parade and UFO Fest. Christopher was impressed, but then, when you've just turned twenty-one, pretty much anything that involves good beer is impressive.

The rooftop is but one of many great surprises inside the four-story Hotel Oregon, which dates back to 1905 and has done time as a Greyhound bus depot, Western Union station, beauty parlor and soda fountain. The Portland-based McMenamins brothers specialize in snapping up old buildings (their Kennedy School in northeast Portland, built from a decommissioned grade school, has long been a favorite of mine), sprucing them up, filling them with art and opening their doors again to serve as gathering places for visitors and the community.

To that end, the Hotel Oregon offers forty-two guestrooms, each named after a famous personage, with hand-painted quotes and notes about the person written on the walls. The hallways are a riot of murals, artifacts and photos of old-time McMinnville; even the elevator is painted from floor to ceiling. The Cellar Bar is a dark, low-ceilinged place with live music; the first-floor pub has a gorgeous, wooden back bar and a menu of good salads, pastas and burgers; and the Paragon Room has two full-sized billiards tables.

Like McMinnville itself, it's a fine place to explore. But on sunny days, that Rooftop Bar is in a class of its own. I'm going to grab what's left of summer from a table at the top.

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