Shopping

Sometimes the best finds are ones that are off the beaten path.

Nye Beach in Newport is one of those finds.

While hundreds of thousands of tourists and locals scour Highway 101 for the perfect spot, one of the best places to enjoy everything from dining to shopping to beach access is just a few blocks off the highway.

“A lot of people know about us,” said Berniece Hammon of the Nye Beach Merchants Association. “But folks from out of town might not get down here and they will really be missing something if they don’t.”

Like any good entrepreneur,  DK Smith had an idea around 40 years ago, one that people weren’t sure was going to work.

Kites.

“When he opened the store, a lot of people laughed at him when he opened his shop,” said John Fraser, owner of Once Upon a Breeze.

The name of the shop, which opened in 1975, was the product of a naming contest in the small coastal city, Fraser said. The shop has the distinction of being the oldest kite shop on the Oregon coast, and for good reason, Fraser and his staff are experts at anything attached to a string that catches the wind.

The fact of the matter is there just aren’t that many woolen mills – or any other type of textile mills – left in the United States.

With cheaper labor abroad, more and more companies send the work off-shore, where they can hire several workers, to one American worker. 

However, there are still a few places left in the U.S. where you can see production of wool being woven into blankets, such as Pendleton Woolen Mills.

From Hippy to Hip at the Portland Saturday Market

By Bonnie Caton
For Oregon.com

Family owned local florist serving McMinnville and surrounding area for over 60 years, world-wide delivery available for any occasion creating fresh or silk floral arrangements.

410 NE 2nd St.
McMinnville, OR 97128

503-472-2135

Cities like Amsterdam and Leipzig may compete for the title, but Portland, Oregon, claims the prize itself: the City of Books.

Proudly anchoring the west end of the tony Pearl District, it has grown and flourished along with Portland: when Walter Powell opened his shop in 1971, this was Skid Row. Now this landmark is considered the biggest, best and greatest bookstore in the world.

I had 45 minutes to get the kids to a friend’s birthday party at one of those corporate pizza, arcade, bowling places, and we hadn’t bought a gift for the special birthday girl.

What I found, in my search for the appropriate gift, was a wonderful place to take a break, get a unique gift and pet a llama.

Rain Dance Marketplace started as an art fair on a farm outside of Newberg. The fair continued to grow, so the organizer, Celia Austin, decided to take it one step further and make a marketplace out of the show.

Take a deep breath.

That is Red Ridge Farm’s specialty.

We all know that travelling on vacation can be more work than, well, being at work at times. Connecting flights, rental cars, strange towns to navigate and depending on how busy your itinerary, travelling can create more stress than it relieves.

Making the perfect cheese isn’t just about finding the right ingredients.

You have to have the perfect humidity levels, the proper setting, but most of all, you need time.

Since1935, cheese makers at the Rogue Creamery, along North Front Street in Central Point have been perfecting their skill – picking up world-wide awards for what many call the perfect blue cheese.

Local market offering deli, wine shop, bakery, fresh produce, grocery items, and meat and seafood departments.

1595 Baker St
McMinnville, OR 97128

503-472-3158