Carousel Horses, Chocolates, and Hairballs
As empty nesters with no family nearby, Mother’s Day looks a little different than it did a few years ago when my girls were little. Because of that, instead of the usual brunch or breakfast in bed, we head out for the weekend to see the often-overlooked parts of Oregon. Last year it meant visiting the North American Bigfoot Center in Boring, while this year it would involve a carousel, the world’s largest pig hairball, monastery chocolate, and a ferry ride across the Willamette River.
This meandering Mother’s Day trip began as usual, with a bag full of snacks and drinks and lunch at Killer Burger in Eugene. The peanut butter pickle bacon smash burger may not be everyone’s ideal Mother’s Day cuisine, but it’s my day, so I make the rules. We passed the time on the road easily, playing an ever-expanding game of slug bug.
To begin, we decided to forgo the Historic Albany Carousel and Museum, one of my favorite stops in Oregon, in favor of a new experience.
Salem’s Riverfront Carousel sits in Riverfront Park along the Willamette River. After scoping out the wooden menagerie for a trusty mount, I hopped on a flying unicorn aptly named Magic, while my husband chose a cougar-saddled steed named Cloud Walker. He was a little leery at first due to his not-kid-sized frame, but hand-carved carousels are built to last. Accompanying the ride was what I assumed to be recorded music, but when prompted by my husband to look up, I saw a band organ nestled into a balcony.
The organ in its balcony cubby is my favorite part of this carousel
With the last notes still echoing in my ears, we climbed back into the car and headed through the rolling countryside to our next stop, the Benedictine Abbey Museum in the Bavarian town of Mt. Angel, home to a roadside attraction too unique to ignore.
As we drove to the Abbey Museum, we saw people strolling the walkways and sometimes pausing for reflection or prayer at the Fourteen Stations of the Cross, which line the entrance road.
A great American road trip tradition is finding the largest of all things, and we knew that the world’s largest hairball taken from the stomach of a pig was somewhere on the premises. As we searched, we saw wonders of all kinds: art, ceramics, a wall of taxidermied mounts of various species, and our target, the hairball, nestled beside the stuffed figure of a tri-bodied calf. The collection seems random, but that is exactly the point.
An eclectic (and slightly disturbing) display at the Mt. Angel Abbey Museum including the porcine hairball.
Although we left Mt. Angel, we were not done with religious institutions. We needed a sweet treat and went in search of chocolate. Located approximately five miles from Amity, the Brigittine Monastery Chocolate Shop is not on the beaten path. The route took us through farmland and past vineyards to a road that we weren’t sure was a road, to a driveway that we weren’t sure was a driveway, to the holy grail of all chocolates. A sign along the path around a nondescript building directs visitors to be silent out of respect for meditation and prayer, but once we rang the doorbell, we were greeted with a friendly smile, words of welcome, and an offer to sample as much as we liked.
Even with the free samples, it was hard to decide
The truffles are rich and true without being overly sweet, and the chocolate is perfectly tempered, with a slight snap before melting smoothly on the tongue. We settled on a box of six with our favorites, three white and three dark. We had chocolates, and now we needed wine.
Yes, I am wearing a carousel shirt while enjoying a glass of rose
All day, we had driven by wineries and tasting rooms, tempting us in, but we had resisted. It was now approaching 4:00, and most winery tasting rooms close at 5:00, so after an internet search, we settled on Domaine Willamette. On one of the first warm spring weekends, the restaurant and tasting room were full of life. With crisp glasses of rosé in our hands, we relaxed on the patio near the water feature and looked out on the rolling hills and talked about our favorite part of the day. Looking back, we realized that we had ridden a unicorn, searched for a pig hairball, eaten monastery chocolate, and sipped wine while looking out over the valley. Not bad for a Saturday.
The next day was Mother’s Day; we woke up early, ate the continental breakfast, and planned our route. We had set out yesterday with a clear plan in mind, but today was more about the wander. When the girls were little, Mother’s Day was all about homemade cards and kids jumping into bed with us; now it celebrates me as a person. I knew that the perfect end to this adventure would be a crossing of the Willamette River on the Wheatland Ferry, so we used that as our starting point for planning. The holiday weekend had us backtracking, but so much beautiful country, we didn’t mind.
Our first stop of the day was Erratic Rock State Natural Site near McMinnville. I wasn’t sure that a rock out in the middle of nowhere deserved its own park, but curiosity won out. A short walk up a paved path lined with blackberry brambles takes visitors to the top, where a large rock transported from the Rocky Mountains has been left by the same glaciers whose passage created the Willamette Valley’s rolling landscape and rich soil. While there, I took some time to sit and contemplate Oregon’s beauty; my husband circled twice and declared it a rock.
Its a rock with a view
After having confirmed that the erratic rock was indeed a rock, we got back in the car and plugged the ferry address into our GPS. We usually use paper maps as a backup for our journeys, but this time we had left them at home. Of course, the navigation took us completely in the wrong direction. Twenty-four years of marriage have taught us that it does no good to get snippy with the navigator (whether human or device), so we turned around, found our way, and carried on, passing through the tiny town of Dayton and the Courthouse Square without a courthouse. While the town may have lost its bid to be the county seat of Yamhill County, the square is home to an original military fortification from Fort Yamhill.
Dayton is definately worth a stop
We had spent two days seeking out places that many travelers may just drive past, but we still had one more adventure before we could call it a day. Neither of us knew what to expect of a ferry that had been in operation for 175 years and was named Daniel Matheny IV, but we pulled up and watched the river as we waited to board. By the time the ferry unloaded, six other cars had arrived. We paid our $3.00 fee and crossed. The trip was quick, and it made for a memorable last stop on our Mother’s Day journey.
We probably could have walked across, but a ferry is more fun
Not all seasons of life are easy, and I approached this one with much trepidation, but if it continues to be as full of adventure and wonder, I can’t wait to see what is next.
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