DATE NIGHT!! One Weekend in Ashland – Doing a Lot for a Little

If you are visiting Ashland for the first time or are even a local Southern Oregonian going for a visit, deciding what to do, where to stay and where to eat can be quite overwhelming.  There are so many great restaurants and entertainment venues to enjoy there is never enough time to do it all!   So, let me tell you how my husband and I saved a little money when we decided to have our wedding anniversary weekend in Ashland.

Of course staying downtown is ideal so that you can walk to most of your destinations.  There are two places that we like to stay when we stay in Downtown Ashland.  If you like a quaint boutique hotel and want to really save some money the Columbia Hotel is perfect.  They have really nicely decorated rooms with shared bathrooms for a very reasonable price or if you want your own bath it’s still well-priced.  I would suggest getting the room with the private bath; it’s a little bit of a walk to the bathrooms in the middle of the night after you’ve been out partaking in Ashland nightlife.

The other place we like to stay is the Ashland SpringsHotel.  To some it may seem a little ‘fancy’ and it is really quiet in there, but we’ve stayed there on three different occasions and have enjoyed it every time.  The staff is really nice, the rooms are clean and cozy and you cannot hear a thing through the walls.  When I called to make reservations I asked if they offered any discounts since we are local, we live in Medford, and they did offer me a 10% discount.  Other perks: They have Larks, a great restaurant, downstairs and they even give you a small discount since you are staying at the hotel, plus, they have a great continental breakfast with scratch made muffins that are to die for.  Another advantage is you get a FREE steam a day at Waterstone Spa, that is across the street.  Of course, there are a lot of other packages that you can choose from.  If you want to have a romantic getaway, they will put champagne and chocolate in your room and you can book with Waterstone Spa for massages, or whatever may strike your fancy.  This time we decided to forgo the package and we decided to kind of build our own package.

To save at Waterstone Spa I signed up for their monthly email newsletter.  It has lots of great specials every month.  We got a foot scrub and a Waterstone Vino-Therapy massage for a very reasonable price and it came with a complimentary glass of sparkling wine.  It was two hours of bliss worth every penny. 

For our first night there we had dinner at Smithfield’s, we were pretty excited because we had only been there for cocktails on one occasion.  It's a really cool, rustic place with a chalkboard wall describing the cuts of meat, which is perfect since their specialty is nose to tail cooking.  For a starter we ordered an arugula and golden beet salad with goat cheese beignet's and oh, my, were they tasty, the beignet's just melted in your mouth and the arugula and beets were a perfect compliment. For dinner I decided on the rib eye special on horseradish mashed potatoes, topped with bleu cheese butter and onion rings and my husband decided on fried oysters on a bed of arugula with sambal aioli. Both dishes were phenomenal! To drink, I had the house cocktail "SF" Red Lemonade made with house made strawberry gin, it was really tasty, my husband had a beer. Altogether the meal was pretty great and we look forward to going back, especially for that amazing steak!  If you go during the week they have ‘Happy Hour & a Half’ Tuesday-Thursday & Sunday 830-10pm. 

We still had time for a cocktail after Smithfields's so we went over to Harvey’s Place which is conveniently located at the bottom of the pathway that takes you to Angus Bowmer Theatre of The Oregon Shakespeare Festival.  Harvey’s has a great little cocktail list which includes the classics such as a French 75, which was not only delicious but beautiful and my husband had another local brew. Plus, they have an encore menu perfect to stop in for, after you catch a show at Shakespeare.

After our cocktail at Harvey’s we headed up to see our pre-season showing of ‘Much Ado about Nothing’ at The Shakespeare Festival.  This was a lively and fun modern rendition of one of my favorite plays.  You will not be wasting your time if you go see it.  The best way to get deals to see plays at The Shakespeare Festival is to sign up for their email list.  We got our tickets for a steal because of an email we received offering us pre-season specials.  They also offer tickets for family days to take the kids with special pre-show family day prologues that highlight key themes and elements of the play you will see in a fun, interactive environment appropriate for all ages.  Plus, on Thursdays they send out email’s offering last minute deals on plays that have seats left.  A great idea to be on their email list especially if you are local!

On Saturday we opted out of the continental breakfast at our hotel and went to one of our favorite breakfast/brunch spots in Southern Oregon, Morning Glory.  The wait is so worth the delectable meal you receive when your order comes.  We each had a cocktail, my husband opted for the peach-strawberry mimosa and I had the grapefruit mimosa, yes they were tasty.  For our meal I had the king crab omelet, oh so yummy and full of king crab, and hubby had the  chicken fried steak which was huge and topped with a creamy house made sausage gravy and he said was one of the best he’s had.

We decided we needed to walk off our decadent breakfast so we took a walk around Downtown Ashland perusing antique shops, a couple of record stores and trinket shops and even stopped into Ashland Outdoor Store (looking for rock climbing gear) and Rogue Valley Runners to drool over the latest running shoes, followed by our massages at Waterstone Spa. 

After getting fully refreshed, we got ready for our evening out.  We couldn’t quite make a decision on where we would like to eat so we decided to go everywhere.  Downtown Ashland is the perfect place to have a “pub” stroll. 

We started out at Kobe because we wanted sushi.  They have a great cocktail menu and their happy hour is phenomenal.  The bar menu is available every night at the sushi bar & bar, under the covered patio from 5-6pm and in the whole restaurant from 9-close.  We had a couple of rolls which were AMAZING and some of their wonderful cocktails and then headed upstairs to Liquid Assets Wine Bar. 

Now, you might be thrown off when you walk up because it looks like an art gallery and in a way you would be right because they do display a lot of art but it is also a fabulous wine bar, a comfy, cozy wine bar.  Not only do they have a seemingly endless wine list, but also wonderful craft cocktails, a whimsical and enticing menu and they have Happy Hour every day from 3-5pm.  That night they had a cocktail special called the Moonwalk, it had fresh squeezed grapefruit juice, a grapefruit & pink pepper shrub, rose water and sparkling wine.  It was delectable plus, since we sat at the bar you we were able to have an uplifting conversation with a sweet and boisterous bartender Lucy.  We had such a great time we almost stayed but decided to move on. 

Next, we went to Carpe Noctem Bar inside of Loft Brasserie.  They have great, imaginative craft cocktails and a tasty bar menu from 430pm-close.  If you do feel like having dinner at Loft it is a beautiful, intimate spot and their menu is very inviting.  My husband and I crave their Oysters Rockefeller but they don’t always have them on the menu, since the menu does change according to season, so check Facebook or their website.  No matter, I’m sure you will enjoy every bite you have as we always have.

Finally, we ended at Brickroom.  Brickroom hasn’t been open long but they have quickly become one of our favorite late night spots when we get out to Ashland.  The atmosphere is lively, the décor is gorgeous and the bartenders are topnotch.  If you order from the drink menu you will surely be delighted, but if you happen to get served by the head bartender Zack you will be in for a treat.  He is not only very attentive and friendly but if you ask him if he has anything up his sleeve he will usually have something fun and unique to delight your taste buds.  That night he made me a lemon meringue martini, complete with the fluffy meringue and it was wonderfully memorable. Not only do they have great cocktails but they also have a nice menu of mouthwatering and intriguing food items and on occasion they have live music. They don’t currently offer happy hour but they do serve breakfast, lunch and dinner and offer craft coffee drinks made with local Noble Coffee.  It was a great ending to a great night!

To finish off our weekend we went to Sunday brunch at Brothers’ Restaurant right on the Ashland Plaza. If you are there on the weekend you will most likely have to wait a little but you will not be disappointed.  Their food is home cooking taken up a notch.  I get the French dip every time I go because I can’t bring myself to try anything else, I love it so much.  My husband has had various scrambles and sandwiches and has enjoyed them all.  And their bloody Mary is so yummy and the perfect complement to Sunday morning brunch after a Saturday night out!

Of course there are so many other places to eat & play at in Ashland, but there will always be other posts!  If you have been to Ashland, what are some of your favorite spots to hit.  We always love suggestions of new places to go!

Check out our website for fun events, music, nightlife and things to do outdoors all over Southern Oregon at: www.whattodoinsouthernoregon.com !