June is one of our favorite months- with so much to do and see, coming up with a “Top Picks” list for this month was not easy.    Now that school is out- June is the perfect time to explore the many family friendly destinations located through out our capital city and surrounding areas.

Here are a few family suggestions we found via Travel Salem.  Make sure you visit TravelSalem.com to plan your Salem Oregon vacation and you will find a complete list of events and attractions throughout the summer. Also, when you arrive here- stop by the Travel Salem’s Travel Cafe: 181 High St. NE, Salem, Oregon 503-581-4325

Top Family Friendly Ideas for June

• Learn about Oregon and American history at the Mission Mill Museum 1313 Mill St. SE Salem, Oregon
• Root for the home team at a Salem-Keizer Volcanoes minor league baseball ballgame!  6700 Field of Dreams Way NE, Keizer, OR
• Check out one of the hands-on exhibits at the A.C. Gilbert’s Discovery Village in Salem, one of our most precious treasures.
• Visit the nearby Oregon Capital for a valuable lesson on our the state’s government process.
• Take a trip to the unique amusement park, Enchanted Forest, modeled after an authentic English village and your family will feel as if you have landed in the center of a wonderful fairy tale.
• Take a ride on Salem’s historic Riverfront Carousel , 101 Front St. NE, along the banks of the Willamette River and enjoy the wonderful children’s play area adjacent to the carousel.

Don’t miss some of these other events coming up this month:

Salem’s First Wednesday
Downtown Salem
503-480-1111
www.gofirstwednesday.info

Wednesday Farmer’s Market
Downtown Salem
503-585-8264
www.salemsaturdaymarket.com

Wine, Chocolate & More Festival
Oregon State Fairgrounds, Salem
www.winechocolateandmore.com

Salem Saturday Market
Downtown Salem
503-585-8264
www.salemsaturdaymarket.com

Silverton Farmers Market
Town Square Park, Silverton
503-390-7276

Independence Farmers Market
Sterling Bank Parking Lot, Independence
503-838-5424

Salem-Keizer Volcanoes Baseball
Salem-Keizer Volcanoes Stadium, Keizer
503-390-2225
www.volcanoesbaseball.com

Annual Garden Tour & Plant Sale
Mission Mill Museum (Plant Sale location), Salem
503-371-3631 or 800-208-9514
www.acgilbert.org or www.missionmill.org

All American Soap Box Derby
Bush’s Pasture Park, Salem
503-705-8402
www.salemsbd.org

French Prairie Gardens Strawberry Festival
French Prairie Gardens, St. Paul
503-633-8445
www.FPGardens.com

Mount Angel Abbey presents the Festival of Arts & Wine
Mount Angel Abbey, St. Benedict
503-845-3066 or 800-845-8272
www.MountAngelAbbey.org

Champoeg Bluebird Day
Champoeg Visitor Center, St. Paul
503-678-1251 ext. 221
www.oregonstateparks.org

Santiam Heritage Foundation Garden Tour
Stayton/Sublimity Area
503-769-5863
www.brownhouse.org

Silverton Hills Strawberry Festival
Coolidge McClaine Park, Silverton
503-508-9591
www.davenportdays.com

World Beat Festival
Salem’s Riverfront Park, Salem
503-581-2004
www.WorldBeatFestival.org

Annual Strawberry Social
Old Aurora Colony Museum, Aurora
503-678-5754
www.auroracolonymuseum.com

Garden Wine and Food Festival
Historic Deepwood Estate, Salem
503-363-1825
www.historicdeepwoodestate.org

The Reed Opera House

We were thrilled to see a recent article published on Oregon.com that highlights the Pringle Creek Tour- a wonderful walking tour that highlights the rich history and beauty of downtown Salem, Oregon.  In his article, History, Nature and Workout, Patrick Johnson gives some excellent tips to taking full advantage of this on-foot adventure.

The Pringle Creek Tour can be downloaded from the Salem Heritage Network site (a wonderful source for information on the history and culture of Salem, Oregon) along with several other walking tours.  The self guided tour starts at our hotel, and makes its way through beautiful downtown parks, and past historical landmarks such as the Reed Opera House and more.

Now that the weather is warming up- we hope you will find some time to take this tour during your next visit to Salem, Oregon!

From the Oregon.com article History, Nature and Workout:

About the walk: Pringle Creek and Sheldon Ditch walk takes a route that is 2.8 miles long and starts from downtown Salem and winds through several of the parks and historic areas of the city. It literally has something for anyone who enjoys the outdoors, from Oregon birds, to nice park settings, to unique architectures of bridges and buildings. The walk also goes through the several of the historic districts of Salem, so if you take a script with you there are many lessons to be learned about how the area developed.

What to bring: It’s Oregon and it’s outdoors. Make sure you bring weather appropriate clothing, comfortable walking shoes and water. While 2.8 miles doesn’t have a lot of difficult hills, there are one or two stair cases along the way – but this walk can be navigated by bike, wheelchair or even stroller. To get the most out of the walk, make sure to print off the self-guided tour script where you can also find more history about Salem. There are many picturesque settings, so bring that digital camera for some wonderful shots of Oregon no matter what time of year you visit.

Season: You can take the walk year round – depending on your tolerance for being in the weather. If you don’t mind getting wet or cold, this tour can be taken any time. I went on the tour during a crispy February day between rain showers and it was very pleasant and informative.

Looking for something to do this week for St. Patrick’s Day?  I have 2 words: Bentley’s Grill.  Bentley’s Grill is hosting THE St. Patty’s Day Party of parties and we are so excited!!

So if you find yourself in Downtown Salem this Wednesday, March 17  -wear your best green duds and get into the Irish spirit because you are going to love what Chef Derek and his staff has in store for you.

In addition, the Salem Professional Firefighters will be back with their pipes and drums at 5:00 PM to kick off the festivities with a LIVE unforgettable performance until 6:00 PM.

Check out their special Irish dinner menu just for March 17- if the occasion calls for it, order a shot of Irish Whiskey and Guinness Stout to go with the Irish selections!

There are several St. Patty’s Day events happening in and around Salem this Wednesday.  Be sure to check with Travel Salem to see the latest event info so you can plan the perfect St. Patty’s Day!  Enjoy!

By the way, you are invited to be a “Lounge Lizard” each Monday from 4-6 as Bentley’s Grill “Lounge Lizard Monday”.

Come howl at the moon and celebrate the Equinox in the Eola Amity Hills!  This event sold out two weeks before the date last year and the guests loved the chance to taste wines and discuss the vintage with most of the key principals of the Eola-Amity Hills winemaking community.

They have assembled 22 wineries from the Eola-Amity Hills AVA and even a few from outside the AVA who make wines from Eola-Amity Hills fruit.

Enjoy fantastic sweet and savory bites to complement your wine tasting experience from some of the best restaurants and caterers in our area!

When: March 20th 7:00PM to 10:00PM

Where: Zenith Vineyard 5657 Zena Rd NW Salem Here is a map.

Wines: 22 amazing wineries will be pouring including: Amity Vineyards; Antica Terra; Argyle Winery; Bethel Heights Vineyard; Brooks Wines; Calamity Hill Vineyard; Carter Vineyard; Cherry Hill Winery; Cristom Vineyards; Cubanisimo Vineyards; Domaine Serene; Dukes Family Vineyards;Evesham Wood Winery; Holloran Vineyard Wines; Lewman Vineyard; Methven Family Vineyards; Redhawk Winery; St. Innocent Winery; Stangeland Vineyards; Toluca Lane; Witness Tree Vineyard and Zenith Vineyard

Gourmet Food by: Extreme Chocolates; Loustic Catering, Olive You Events & Catering, Red Hills Provincial Dining, Joel Palmer House, Silver Grille, Vibrant Table Catering & Events and Willamette Valley Cheese Co.

Tickets are $35 per person, buy your tickets online - print and keep your receipt as your entry to the event.

Special overnight rates available for all attendees of this event- including shuttle for hotel guests to and from Zenith Vineyards.

Join Our Facebook Page and Invite Your Friends!

Experience a night of Grand Romance in Salem, Oregon! This wonderful evening includes overnight accommodations for two in your choice of Suite, champagne or cider delivered to your room, fresh flowers, and our complimentary extended hot breakfast buffet. Top off this package with a late check out of 1 pm.

Book NOW

Oregon State Fairgrounds – January 23 & 24, 2010
2330 17th St. NE
Salem, OR 97303
Hours: Saturday 10-5 & Sunday 11-4 

Fashion Shows at 12:30 and 3

SEE YOU THERE!

Her work has earned Bentley’s Grill and The Grand Hotel Salem/Phoenix Grand Hotel the Marion County’s Earthwise Certification.  It has also been recognized with an excellent rating with iStayGreen.org (an green hotel review site).  Congratulations and thank you to Kristi Reed for her hard work!  Enjoy her profile published in the Portland General Electric Newsletter last month:

When Salem’s Phoenix Grand Hotel formed a green team, Sales Director Kristi Reed was the obvious choice to lead it. Reed was thrilled to use her passion for sustainability at work.

Bentley’s Grill Wine Steward Brian Kemmerle spent much of 2009 researching and tasting some the best wines in the region.  He is an active local wine connoisseur- this year he reprised his role as Judge for the 2009 Oregon State Fair Professional Wine Competition where he evaluated over 200 local wines. In addition, he participated in the 2009 Oregon Pinot Camp, an industry only event hosted by 50 of the top wineries in Oregon.  He brings his vast knowledge and passion for wine to Bentley’s Grill guests and hopes you will enjoy his new “by the glass” menu:

Wine Notes From Bently’s Grill Wine Steward: Announcing the New “By-the-Glass” Menu

With forty wines to choose from and a combination of vintage changes, out of stocks and seasonal preferences the “by-the-glass” menu starts to look a little tired about five or six times a year. This revision features some subtle and drastic changes to the selection.

First, what’s gone and why:

Lemelson’s 2008 “Tikka’s Run” Pinot Gris – already sold out. One of Oregon’s best Pinot Gris each year and becoming harder to get because of it.

Moet “White Star” is now Moet “Brut Imperial”. Moet has finally depleted the special American cuvee “White Star” and will now be shipping to us what they ship to the rest of the world the “Brut Imperial”. Merci!

In the “so many good wines and not enough time” category the Adelsheim Pinot Blanc and the L’Ecole Semillon have been exchanged for two new exciting wines.

The Erath Oregon Pinot Noir and the Witness Tree “Chainsaw Vineyard” Pinot Noir have been “dueling” for a couple of months now and the winner, by a substantial margin” is still on the list.

As good as the Boedecker 2006 “Athena” Pinot Noir was, it did not command enough commercial success on the menu as it did as the “Featured Pinot Noir”. It will remain on the bottle list and may return at a later date as the “FPN”.

Fortunately some of you got to try the Waterbrook 2006 Reserve Cabernet. It made a nationally publicized wine magazines “Top 100 wines of the year” list and promptly sold out. The replacement is not too shabby either.
At 188 cases of total production it was no surprise to me that the Three Angels Avery Vineyard Zinfandel had sold out. We had already seen the 188 cases of the Les Collines Vineyard come and go away. The last couple of bottles will be available on the main wine list.

Onto the new!
The ultra-rich Four Graces Pinot Blanc replaces the crisp and lively Adelsheim. The winery writes:
White peach, honey and butterscotch combine on the nose with lightly toasted hazelnuts. An invitingly fresh zest of lime flavor is followed by Asian pear, jicama and grapefruit. This is a full bodied wine with a long finish.

Also new to the list is a newcomer to the local wine scene J. Scott Cellars, a boutique winery, out of Eugene, Oregon. The 2008 Viognier was made from purchased Rogue Valley fruit and has lovely floral aromatics and a touch of residual sugar to balance out the nice acidity. I’ll look to match this wine with the Chefs many forays into Asian cuisine.

To prove that good wine doesn’t have to cost a lot of money I have added the 2008 Jovino Pinot Gris to the menu. At $6.00 a glass it delivers plenty of Oregon Pinot Gris goodness for very little cash. This wine should be very popular with the “Happy Hour” crowd.

Cherry Hill winery has finally released their 2006 “Estate” Pinot Noir. It met with rousing success as the “Featured Pinot Noir” and hopefully that success with continue now that you can have it anytime you want. This wine, in combination with St. Innocent, Witness Tree, Willamette Valley Vineyards, Mystic and Bethel Heights means that you can now support six local, Salem area, wineries with your wine buying dollars.

Usually when a wine changes vintage I remove it from the menu however in this case the Seven Hills 2007 Merlot is just as good as the 2006. So it stays. Enjoy.

The replacement for the Waterbrook ended up being the 2006 Kestrel Cabernet Sauvignon. Kestrel Vintners have a vast and somewhat confusing selection of wines and they are usually a couple of nickels more expensive that their nearest competition however this wine stood out during my weekly tastings. Pretty black fruits, floral notes and a bit of structure to this wine will appeal to classic Cabernet drinkers and match well with our various steaks.

Apparently I was on a bit of a Northwest Italian varietal kick lately. I re-tasted a new vintage of Nebbiolo. Scored a Sangiovese blend at a unbelievable price and added two Barbera to the menu. To pour by the glass I picked the 2006 Waving Tree Barbera out of Washington has striking dried black cherry notes and a lift of acidity to match nicely with the chefs new Pork Tenderloin special and mushroom ravioli dish with braised boar ragout.

The last item on the menu is a returning special. The 2006 Andrew Rich Coup d’Etat is a Rhone-style blend with Grenache, Mourvedre, Syrah and usually a touch of Counoise. I poured the 2005 until it ran out and when I tasted this 2006 it was a bit rough around the edges. Well, today is has softened up nicely and should pair nicely with Lamb dishes and other richly flavored red meat entrees, especially ones cooked on the grill with a bit of char on them.

Cheers!