Mother's Day Weekend Retreat to Walla Walla - May 2010

Walla Walla Farmers' Market

Our first stop was the Walla Walla Farmers' Market (4th & Main). Onion World was grilling up their famous Walla Walla sweet onion sausages as we walked into the market. We checked out the produce and crafts while listening to the live music and purchased a few bottles of sparkling apple cider from Sheffield Cider for our youngest son's upcoming graduation BBQ. We also noticed that Schreiber & Sons, one of the CSAs that serves the Tri-Cities, was here. We spent a little over an hour at the market.

Note: we couldn't believe the number of people that were present downtown both days we were there and finding a parking spot was challenge. The weekend we were there was considered a "non-event" weekend so just imagine what this place would be like during a major event.

Lunch at Olive Marketplace and Cafe

Photo by Cory T.

We decided to eat lunch at the Olive Marketplace and Cafe after we left the Farmers' market. We had an assortment of soups, salads and sandwiches.

ArtWalla - Windows on the Past

ArtWalla "Windows on the Past" Project

We drove to Heritage Park after lunch to view the the Windows on the Past project and to rest a bit since most wine tasting rooms don't open until 1 pm. The "Windows on the Past" project had been completed a few months earlier.

Downtown Wine Tasting, Art Galleries, and Specialty Shops

We left Heritage park after we rested a bit and started exploring the downtown art galleries, specialty shops, and wine tasting rooms. Visit the Downtown Walla Walla Foundation for a map and a complete list of downtown businesses.

The Marcus Whitman Hotel

Lobby at The Marc

We had reservations for the weekend at the Marcus Whitman Hotel (Six West Rose). We checked in around 3:30 pm. Several of us decided to go separate ways to continue our exploration of the Downtown before meeting as a group for dinner at 6 pm.

My wife and I went to Hot Poop (210 E Main) which is the oldest independent record store in Washington and called our oldest son at home about a particular CD he had been searching for. Unfortunately, Hot Poop didn't have it in stock.

Then my wife and I went to the Book & Game Co. (38 E Main) and bought a few books. My mother walked in as we were leaving the book store and mentioned that we should check out the 35 oil paintings that depict the life of Marcus and Narcissa Whitman in the Art Gallery on the second floor of The Marc. So my wife and I went back to The Marc. I ran into a co-worker and his wife as we were walking through the parking lot who also came to Walla Walla for the weekend - what a small world!

Dinner at the Backstage Bistro

I made dinner reservations a week in advance for the Backstage Bistro (230 E. Main). We arrived there at 6 pm and each of us had a delicious meal complimented by local wine.

Evening Entertainment

We spent the evening listening to the Blue Mountain Spanish Sound perform at one of the wine tasting rooms. Blue Mountain Spanish Sound occasionally performs at Bookwalter in Richland. We finally decided around 9 pm that we were done for day and went back to our hotel rooms for the night.

Breakfast at The Marc

We enjoyed the complementary delicious hot & healthy breakfast buffet at The Marc in the morning and then we checked out of the hotel.

Klicker Store

We visited the Klicker Store (3300 E Isaacs Ave.) which is home to Klicker strawberries. The store has a bit of everything including antiques, fresh produce, a butcher shop, local canned fruit, candy, and used industrial strength wine bottle openers (I bought one and it finally broke at 7 pm on 11/10/2012). For my wife's upcoming birthday, I bought her a wall mountable wine bottle display rack for our dining room to hold the bottles of wine that she purchased the day before - with room for the one bottle of Gewurztraminer I purchased from Sleight of Hands.

Fort Walla Walla Museum

We then visited the Fort Walla Walla Museum (755 Myra Road) for a few hours. The museum size had increased significantly with the addition of several new buildings since the last time we were there. Afterwards, we drove back downtown.

Onion World

We were getting a tad bit hungry so we decided to get a quick bite to eat at Onion World (2 S 1st Ave). They have a sidewalk window where you can place your order. I bought several packages of their frozen sausages to take home for our son's upcoming graduation BBQ.

Mill Creek Brew Pub

The ladies decided they needed to make a pit stop. The best place to go that ensures that you have to make frequent pit stops is a brewpub! So we drove over to Mill Creek Brew Pub which makes several hand crafted beers. I sampled a few of their brews while waiting for the ladies and then purchased a growler of their IPA to take home with us.

Kirkman House Museum

We then visited the Kirkman House Museum (214 N. Colville St.) after our pit stop. It was getting late in the afternoon by the time we finished the tour so we decided to go back to the Olive Marketplace and Cafe for an early dinner before heading back home.

L'Ecole No 41 Winery

We stopped off at the L'Ecole No 41 Winery while drving back to the Tri-Cities so my backseat and sideseat drivers could sample some wine and purchase a few bottles of Merlot. I didn't get to participate since I was the designated driver. The winery and wine tasting room is a converted schoolhouse that was built in 1915 and wine prices are written on chalk boards. They also have a small chalk board on their bar so you can write, "I was here!"