Sunday was our last day of fun with the Ringers before they headed back to California. We started the day with a breakfast that is undeniably Oregonian- VooDoo Doughnuts. There’s absolutely nothing healthy about this place, but the crazy sugar combinations are really fun (and tasty!). I’m partial to the chocolate cake donut with chocolate frosting and coco-puffs. And, of course, the plain ol’ blueberry cake donut (I really need to stop writing these posts when I’m hungry).
Anywho, after breakfast, we drove down to Alton Baker Park to walk along the Willamette River. It was a little on the windy side, so we didn’t last long out there, but the family finally got to see the river in the daylight.
Next, we headed indoors (sort of) to Fifth Street Public Market to do a little wandering and shopping. Eric and I visited this place last year when we toured the University of Oregon, but the only thing I remembered was this adorable little kitchen store/restaurant, Marche Provisions. It is full of all kinds of things that you don’t need, but I find myself touching everything in that shop. From pretty wrapping paper to cute greeting cards to beautiful bottles of wine, they have everything you could want for an adorable party. Love it.
From there, we walked across the street to St. Vincent de Paul, which is essentially a thrift store along the lines of Goodwill. My sister-in-law, Laura, loves thrift stores, and had patiently waited to visit this place all weekend. In continuation of our morning of shopping, we drove north of the river to Oakway Center, a nice outdoor shopping center. We didn’t really get to enjoy the nice outdoors, since it was 40-something degrees and drizzling, but we enjoyed the inside of the stores.
Then we drove back through Eugene to stop at Vero Espresso House for a mid-afternoon caffeine jolt before making our way to Sweet Cheeks Winery. Sweet Cheeks is on top of a hill with beautiful views of the vineyards, which at this point in the season are shades of bright yellow. We settled into the lodge-like tasting room for our free wine tasting and some live music.
And after a little wine tasting, we made a trip to Oak Street Vintage to spend 20 minutes digging through vintage buttons. Fun stuff. To finish our evening, we enjoyed some homemade chicken tortilla soup and a few episodes of Duck Dynasty in our apartment. All parts of a good family vacation.
-Ally
Leave a Reply