Discovering Southern Oregon – June 2024
LIVING ON CALIFORNIA STREET, we have a front row seat to the signs of summer. As the days become longer and warmer, we notice how the sidewalks are filling with tourists, wine tasters, shoppers and locals enjoying the town. Rebel Heart Books has a bank of windows open to the street. Upstairs at La Fiesta, the patio is beginning to fill and you can hear the Margarita glasses clinking. At South Stage Cellars, the outside patio, shaded by trees, is occupied by guests, socializing, wine tasting and listening to live music. Honey Lily Boutique has their sidewalk decorated with plants and flowers and across the street, guests at the Miners’ Bazaar and the Somar tasting room pour out onto the sidewalk, seeking the sun.
Walking around town, you can hear the billowing of laughter and screams from the children running enjoying the splash pad at Doc Griffin Park, as the green trolley runs past full of tourists getting a tour of our Historic 1860’s town. Back on California Street the red-colored Wine Trolley passes by with excited wine tasters on the way to and from the local wineries where they can find live music, great appetizers and of course, a variety of great wines. On Sunday, the Farmers/Craft Market fills the City Hall lawn with vendors selling art, crafts and produce amidst a backdrop of live music.
As the temperature warms, the outside seating at Bella Union, C Street Bistro, and The Restaurant at Jacksonville Inn are a wonderful way to enjoy a summer meal. Sunday brunch at DANCIN, Parkhurst and The Restaurant at Jacksonville Inn are the best ways to start a Sunday. Afterwards, stroll over to Violets & Cream for homemade ice cream and watch as the kids marvel at their spoons turning color when they get cold.
You know it’s almost summer when you hike or bike in Forest Park or the Jacksonville Woodlands. The spring flowers are giving way to tall grasses, but the red Indian Paintbrush and the yellow Tower Butterweed are taking hold. Grab a sandwich from the Ray’s Food Place deli or Churro Rush and head out to Cantrall Buckley Park for a picnic and a swim in the snow melt waters of the Applegate River. If you own a kayak, canoe, or paddleboard, one of the best early summer adventures is spending the morning on big or little Acorn Woman Lakes (formally Squaw Lakes). Located just over the Applegate Dam, these two serene lakes provide shelter for hundreds of turtles, fish, and birds. There is also a campground and if you fish, expect to catch crappies, catfish, bass, and rainbow trout.
For a summer night of live music on the river, head just out of town on a Thursday night to Red Lily Vineyards. Once there, you can picnic on the Applegate riverbank, listen to live music, have dinner from food trucks and enjoy the beautiful surroundings. Last summer, we even watched a river otter swim upstream as we picnicked on the banks.
We saved the best for last as the main Sign of Summer—the 38 live concerts Britt Music & Arts Festival just announced, spanning from the FREE Neighborhood Kickoff party on Friday, June 7, 6pm—to mid-October. Britt kicks-off their largest season ever with acts such as Willie Nelson, Judy Collins, Colbie Caillat/Gavin DeGraw, Nickel Creek, Trombone Shorty, Rick Springfield, Jason Mraz, Chris Young, Chris Isaak, Ziggy Marley, and Ray LaMontagne. The Britt Orchestra will offer five classical concerts plus two nights of “Star Wars: A New Hope in Concert” which will bring the Oscar-winning score to life alongside the projected film.
The signs of Summer are all over our small town, and although Jacksonville is small, it offers more than cities I’ve lived in that are ten times its size, making the tag line of the Jacksonville Review understandable—“Small Town Big Atmosphere!”