Apr

052012

pAGE

6FEATURE

by KINSEY WHITEStaff Reporter

spring day

tripping

Is Walla Walla feeling a bit old-hat, yet you’re still yearning for a slice of small

town Americana? Look no further than Waitsburg, Wash.

“Waitsburg? I didn’t know there was anything to do in Waitsburg!”

Well, you were wrong!Located just 20 miles east

of our fair college town, the town of Waitsburg offers enough attractions to thoroughly titillate the culture glands of you and your day-tripping companions.

For a history lesson, visit the Bruce Memorial Museum, restored by the Waitsburg Historical Society, and featured on the National Register for Historical Places. Built in 1883—less than two decades after Waitsburg’s founding—this once lived-in Victorian mansion now stands in all of its restored beauty as both a monument to the

past and as an educational tool.Feeling a bit down, and the

SAD light in the Counseling Center is just not doing it for you? Try some aromatherapy by visiting Lavender’s-R-Us, Waitsburg’s u-pick lavender field and lavender gift shop. Deck yourself out with lavender swag, or, if you want, just stop long enough so that you can leave smelling like soap.

And if all your fragrance-wafting has left you feeling a bit peckish, avail yourself of Waitsburg’s local culinary fare. Jimgermanbar—named for its owner, Jim German—serves up a host of Euro-inflected small plates. And, if you are of a lawful drinking age, sip on some of German’s cocktails, which have carved out an ardent following due to their seasonal ingredients and expert execution.

Still hungry? For another dining experience, head across the street to the Whoopemump Hollow Café, which dishes up

southern comfort food Tuesday through Sunday, and has reached the status of a Waitsburg institution not only through its solid takes on Southern classics, but through its lively, friendly atmosphere.

Now how about some wheat? Stop by L&B Kitchens, Waitsburg’s local purveyor of wheat products. Yet be warned: This is not your everyday purveyor of wheat meals and flours, as L&B Kitchens specializes in the purveyance of the nutritious whole grain wheat berry. Boil them, mash them and stick them in a stew; these unctuous and succulent morsels are the perfect way to savor a last taste of Waitsburg, as well as the perfect addition to soups, chilis and salads. So take a package to go, so that upon your return, you may prove to your disbelieving peers that you experienced the fun, one-of-a-kind urban tapestry that is Waitsburg, Wash.

And before I forget: Pass the wheat berries, please!

Waitsburg offers slice of small town lifeby SAM ADLERStaff Reporter

by KELSEY KENNEDY Feature Editor

Milton-Freewater inspires flavorful trip

Novices welcome on spring OP excursions

Spring in Walla Walla offers the chance for a mid-semester adventure. Whether you prefer to indulge in local food and drink, explore hiking trails or take an

OP sea kayaking trip, opportunities outside the Whitman bubble abound.

The town of Milton-Free-water, Ore.—affectionate-ly known among locals as

“Muddy-Frogwater” for its ubiq-uitous frog imagery—is with-in easy reach of Whitties look-ing for a day trip off campus.

Just 10 miles south of Whit-man, Milton-Freewater’s lo-cation in the Walla Walla Val-ley Wine Appellation attracts many tourists to the area for tast-ings. However, the town’s ap-peal extends far beyond grapes.

The Blue Mountain Cider Company, one of the most cele-brated attractions in the area, of-fers a change of pace from win-ery visits with its variety of ci-ders made exclusively from ap-ples grown in the Wal-la Walla Valley.

“Cider is not as fill-ing as beer and it’s something different . . . there’s something for everyone,” said Nancy Cazele, one of the co-owners of the f a m i l y - r u n c o m p a n y.

T h e c o m p a -ny offers sweet, dry and cherry varieties of cider year-round, and special seasonal fla-vors in spring and summer. Peach cider, the company’s most popular springtime flavor, will be availa-ble at tastings starting on the Wal-la Walla Valley Wine Alliance’s spring release weekend, May 4-6.

The Blue Mountain Cider Company is open for visitors 11 a.m.-4 p.m. on Monday-Saturday.

For the more food-motivated taster, Milton-Freewater’s choc-olate shop Petit Noirs is the per-fect place to indulge in a myri-ad of unique truffle flavors, in-cluding pumpkin white choc-olate, rhubarb ginger, Pendle-ton whiskey hazelnut praline and rosemary pink peppercorn.

Petit Noirs owner Lan Wong attributes this mix of sweet and savory flavors to inspiration from the natu-

ral environment of the area.“Our inspiration comes

from wines and fresh produce grown around here,” she said.

Petit Noirs prides itself on making chocolates with high con-centrations of cacao (at least 64 percent in dark chocolate and 35 percent in milk chocolate) that are free from preservatives and ar-tificial flavoring. According to Wong, the shop offers “a little of everything for everyone,” ac-commodating all budgets. Wong’s homemade nougats are a steal at $1.50 and truffle boxes start at $15.

The Petit Noirs tast-ing room is open 11 a.m.-5 p.m. on Thursday-Sunday.

Only a couple miles down Highway 11 is Clay in Motion, an art studio specializing in hand-decorated traditional Ameri-can pottery. Clay in Motion own-ers Bob and Corina Neher focus on creating pottery that is func-tional, lead-free and dishwasher-, oven- and microwave-safe. Their biggest selling item, the origi-nal hand-warmer mug, is a practi-

cal and affordable pur-chase for students

(only $18), glazed with

color com-b i n a t i o n s inspired by

nature such as “ocean tide” and “desert sand.”

The Clay in Motion studio, gift shop and espresso stand are conveniently located in the same complex on the east side of High-way 11. In addition to pottery, the Art in Motion gallery hous-es other crafted goods including blown glass and artisan jewelry.

The studio and shops are open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 10 a.m.-4 p.m. on Sundays.

After a day of shopping and visiting tasting rooms, day trip-pers to Milton-Freewater can go back in time in the comfort of their own cars at the local drive-in movie theater. As of press time, the current shows at the drive-in were “The Hunger Games” and “One for the Money.” Tick-ets are $6 per person and infor-mation about upcoming shows and showtimes is available at ht tp://m-fdriveintheatre.com /

Looking to stay active this spring with some fun outdoor activities? Whitman’s Out-

door Program, as well as many oth-er clubs on campus, is offering sev-eral opportunities this season.

Sign-ups for Outdoor Program excursions began at the Winter Ac-tivities Fair, but there are still spots open for certain destinations at the rental shop on a first-come, first-served basis. Ac- cord-ing to Stu-art Chapin, the as-s i s t a n t d i rec tor of the out-door program, the most popular trips in the spring tend to be backpacking and sea kayaking. The one backpacking trip already has a long waiting list, but it is not too late to sign up for sea kayaking or some of the other opportunities.

“Check out the whitewater raft-ing,” said Chapin. “We still have space, and it’s really fun. The scenery at the Grande Ronde is as good as you can get!” Chapin raves about this loca-tion, claiming he saw ten bald eagles when he visited over break. This trip, among many others the OP offers, is especially geared toward beginners.

“The OP’s job is to provide in-tensive instruction to entry-level par-ticipants. If they want more, they should go to the whitewater club, climbing club or any of the other out-door clubs on campus,” said Chapin.

“If you are competent outdoors

and in snow, the mountaineering trips are open. If you are belay-certified, the climbing trips are open, and eve-ryone is encouraged to come to the competitions,” said junior Jack Lazar.

The Sweet Onion Crank climb-ing competition is coming up on April 28, which is a great way to get a taste of the climbing community without even having to leave campus.

“I think the climbing club isn’t so much of a club as it is climb-ing people, and climbing peo-ple are [really] cool,” said Lazar.

He described the amazing friends he has made and the fantas-

tic times he has had on trips with this support-

ive group of peo-ple, and encour-ages everyone

to try it out. If you don’t feel ready

t o take on an ex-cursion quite that long, con-

sider a simple biking trip to a near-by location such as Bennington Lake.

“The OP bike shop has recently come into a lot of bikes, which will be for sale over the next six months,” said Lish Riley, the rental shop manager. If even that seems too daunting a pros-pect, there are great options right here on campus for students to stay active.

“The open kayak is for peo-ple who want to stay on campus to just see if they like it,” said Chap-in. Other fun activities like the climbing wall are also free, and can give students an idea of wheth-er they would enjoy a longer trip.

For more information about outdoor programs, visit the rent-al shop in the Reid basement.

As the spring season ushers it-self gracefully into Wal-la Walla, the beauty of the

city itself and the surrounding nat-ural world become more readi-ly available for seasonal recrea-tional activities. The possibilities for individual spring recreation, such as hiking and biking, abound.

For students interested in bik-ing, cycling team members fresh-man Eli Robinson and senior Da-vid Hancock suggest the Mill Creek Road Trail, a 28-mile trip that fol-lows Isaacs all the way out of town.

Robinson also suggests a trip to Harris Park, which is south through Milton-Freewater and then east out of town. The Harris Park trip is up to 50 miles roundtrip, but promises gor-geous views. For more adventurous bikers, Robinson recommends a 90-mile roundtrip trail, south from Wal-la Walla through Milton-Freewater, continuing south to Weston, turning onto highway 204, and climbing un-til you reach a tollgate. Although ex-tremely long, the climbing aspect of this trail is both an amazing work-out and well worth it to see the view.

“For a shorter ride, you can head out to lower Waitsfield from Clin-

ton by crossing the high-way and loop back on middle Waits-field via a right turn on Valley Grove. That ride is about 16 miles, and is great around sunset! For quicker adven-tures, taking the Mill Creek trail up to Bennington Lake is always nice,” said Hancock.

For students who enjoy pound-ing the ground rather than biking, Walla Walla offers an abundance of hiking trails within the Umatil-la National Forest. To find a com-plete list of trails in all four rang-er districts of the Umatilla, you can visit the Walla Walla Ranger Sta-tion, located at 1415 W. Rose St. One of the four ranger districts of this area is called the Walla Wal-la, which consists of 19 different trails open to hiking and biking.

“I think hiking is an amaz-ing way to spend time off cam-pus,” said first-year Ali Danko. “Walla Walla is really pretty. I feel like a lot of people consider [this town] to be underestimated be-cause it’s so flat. However, when you hike, you get to appreciate the scenery that is actually around us.”

An easier trail from this area is called the Jubilee Lake National

R e c -r e a -tion Trail, which is 2.6 miles in length, but only tips in at a maximum of an 8 per-cent grade, lowering its overall difficulty. For Whitties seeking a more difficult trail head, the 9.8-mile North Fork Umatilla Trail of-fers a challenge. This climb con-sists of a 5.8-mile-long climb along the south slope of the Coyote Ridge. Finally, for the most challenging of hikes in the Umatilla, one can try the Umatilla Rim Trail. Beginning at the Buck Creek Trail head and end-ing at the Blue Mountain trail, this trail takes one over 2,000 feet up-wards in elevation over 7.5 miles. In the first 1.5 miles alone, the hik-er gains 1,900 feet of elevation. Al-though difficult, this trail promises a panoramic view off of Buck Moun-tain that is well worth the climb.

Hikers, cyclists offer advice on local trails

by SUSANNA BOWERSStaff Reporter

ILLUSTRATIONS BY JOHNSON