By Eliza Ridgeway

Photo Courtesy of Jackson WellSprings For the last century Oregonians have bathed in the Jackson Hot Springs just north of Ashland. Today, visitors can enjoy massage, yoga and other activities, and even stay the night in a wooded setting that provides a hospitable escape from the hustle and bustle of city life.

One activity still going strong as the summer wanes is the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, a nearly year-round celebration of theater in Ashland, Ore.

Selecting shows to see isn’t too tricky - many visitors make a marathon out of squeezing in every offering during the week they visit. It is hard to go wrong with the Shakespearean and contemporary offerings at the festival’s three theaters.

Nine plays continue their run through October, in addition to backstage tours, lectures and the free evening music and dance shows. “The Two Gentlemen of Verona” in particular is a standout performance. Director Bill Rauch has transformed one of the bard’s least popular plays into a Great Gatsby-esque romp through adolescent coming-of-age, with keen humor and best of all, a charming dog co-star.

Even for those with the dedication to weather two full plays each day, a trip to Ashland still leaves much time outside of the theater. Probably thanks to the theater’s 75-year influence, the small town has evolved dining and lodging experiences worthy of their own article.

Ask around town for a preferred breakfast spot, and 10-to-1 you will be directed to Morning Glory, a modest restaurant with stellar food that nearly merits a trip north in and of itself. Owner and chef Patty Groth worked in Berkeley and San Francisco after graduating from the Culinary Institute of America before she opened her own place in southern Oregon. The restaurant is filled with whimsy, with colorfully painted murals on the walls. It doesn’t accept reservations, so dedicated fans will wait in the garden and sip coffee for an hour or more on busy mornings.

The menu highlights fresh, whole ingredients, not fussy but spun with an artist’s touch. The wholegrain pecan waffle with walnut butter and the cranberry hazelnut French toast with lemon butter both demonstrate the subtle, surprising bursts of flavor Groth achieves. One unexpected superstar on the menu is the bacon Belgian waffle. Aromatic slabs of Wisconsin apple wood-smoked bacon are diced into a delicate batter, and the resulting balance of salty, savory and sweet provides a truly well-rounded meal.

The huge egg dishes, such as the gorgonzola omelet with toasted walnuts and caramelized onion, come with an abundance of side dishes that deserve special attention of their own. The muffins that accompany each dish marry a perfect golden crisp exterior with a light, moist inside. Groth said that the secret to her muffins is nothing surprising- just fresh ingredients like butter and buttermilk. She pairs the muffins with a marionberry jam so tart and tangy you wouldn’t believe it comes from a store (Groth special-orders it from Washington State).

“Breakfast is a whole different art form - I think it’s been highly underrated,” Groth said.

For a less intense gustatory treat, escape the afternoon heat at the Lithia Fountain and Grill for an old-fashioned fountain soda. The phosphates, floats and sundaes dished up from behind the historic counter have changed little in decades. Another restaurant that seems charmingly unchanged by the years is Omar’s, a steak and seafood house that is one of the area’s oldest dining spots. Patrons can sink back into the deep red vinyl chairs and ponder a (nicely modernized) array of meaty offerings.

Alex’s Plaza Restaurant still has the country décor and antique bar of yesteryear, but its distinctly a la mode menu offers an Oregonian twist on California cuisine. Just down the street from the festival’s theaters, Alex’s tiny front balcony is the perfect place for a cool drink before a show.

A well-informed diner will order liberally from the bar and dinner menus. While the entrees are excellent, two items from the lunch/bar menu merit repeat visits. The balsamic-pomegranate molasses drizzled over the eggplant “sandwich” could inspire poetry, paired as it is with layered eggplant, basil, grilled onion, provolone and goat cheese. The homemade potato chips with blue cheese and caramelized shallot dipping sauce work as well as an appetizer or stand-alone snack (see the recipe at the end of this article). The finely sliced potatoes are fried to order and come to the table translucent and piping hot, inspiring an instant pause in conversation for focused munching.

As for sleeping in Ashland, don’t settle for a generic motel when there are so many unique alternatives. For the well-heeled, the Ashland Springs Hotel offers a glamorously old-fashioned roost only a block from the festival. More modest budgets will appreciate the Palm Motel just south of downtown. Like a transplant from the 1950s, the quaint collection of cottage-like rooms is nestled in a luxurious, award-winning garden (with palm trees, of course).

For the truly adventurous, nothing beats the Jackson WellSprings, a non-profit venue 10 minutes north of town. People have been visiting the area since the turn of the century to take the waters at this hot spring. A non-profit organization bought the 30-acre site in 1995 to convert the property into a natural health locale. Today, visitors can camp in teepees, tents or RVs and enjoy yoga, massage and other spa services, as well as bath in the naturally warm mineral water. Less hardy visitors get a room in town and visit the spa for family swimming during the day. The clothing-optional evening swims epitomize the deliciously southern Oregon hippie aesthetic of the place, where tie-dye is still in its heyday. Pets and children romp in the sunny fields around the spa, and the campsites are sometimes filled with the impromptu music of a visiting guitarist.

Ashland is a prime location for mountain biking, snuggled as it is between the Siskiyou and Cascade mountain ranges. On the drive up to Oregon, the wilderness around Mt. Shasta also affords prime opportunity for biking, swimming and hiking. Within a few hours of Ashland are Oregon’s only national park, Crater Lake, and the beautifully wild Rogue River, perfect for lazy late-summer rafting. Those curious for a taste of pioneer Oregon should drop by the Wolf Creek Inn, a heritage site owned and operated by the Oregon State Parks and Recreation Department. Built in the 19th century as a stagecoach stop, the little inn endures now as a somewhat ghostly memory of many decades of history. Celebrities like Jack London and Clark Gable have sheltered there over the years.

An even spookier possibility just three miles outside Wolf Creek is the ghost town of Golden, a long-neglected historic site just now being revived. Don’t expect the amenities and groomed amusements of Disneyland, but visitors can anticipate a peaceful exploration of the ancient, abandoned mining town.

Alex’s Potato Chips and Blue Cheese Dressing

Makes a party-size serving.

1 tablespoon white vinegar

1/2 pound crumbled blue cheese

3 ounces roasted shallots

2 tablespoons roasted garlic

3 cups mayonnaise

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons minced garlic

2 teaspoons salt

2 teaspoons black pepper

Puree the blue cheese and some of the buttermilk until smooth. Combine all items and whisk.

Pair with store-bought or homemade potato chips. To make your own chips, slice regular Idaho potatoes as thinly as possible (a mandoline or other slicer would be helpful) and deep fry them to order.