The Perpetual Tourist

Ashland, Oregon is perhaps the most romantic place I’ve ever been. The small town doesn’t sell itself as a couples’ destination, and I certainly recommend visiting the place with or without a significant other, but for a newlywed couple on their honeymoon, I can’t think of a better place to be.

The town is featured in the latest edition of 1000 Places To See Before You Die. So what is there to see? Ashland is a popular tourist destination because of its plays. The Oregon Shakespeare Festival lives in Ashland, and on any given day, you can see a Shakespeare classic or some other genre of performance from musical to comedy to experimental theater at one of Ashland’s three main theaters, including the gorgeous outdoor Elizabethan Theater, open in the summertime.

Getting around Ashland is easy, and you won’t need a car to see the sights here. Everything is within pleasant walking distance from each of the town’s many places to stay. Ashland has only one major hotel, which is a nice place to stay for sure, but for a slightly higher price, you can stay in a truly delightful bed & breakfast. A friend introduced me to the Peerless Hotel, which is really a boutique hotel/bnb, in an old and beautifully decorated house. Each room is different and uniquely wonderful. But good luck snagging a room here — that will be difficult now that the Peerless is recommended not just by some travel blogger, but also by the 1000 Places To See book.

As you walk around Ashland, you’ll pass dozens of boutiques and shops selling things like handmade jewelry, Buddhist accessories and decorations, and lots and lots of artwork. The town has a very hippie feel to it, and shopping here is about as far from mall shopping as you can get. Perhaps the most beautiful part of the town is Lithia Park, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It’s a gorgeous place to take a stroll and soak up some sun, but don’t leave without drinking from the Lithia water fountain. Water from Lithia Springs is rich with minerals and drinking from the fountain is said to improve your health. In truth, the water is rich with sulfur and smells just like a wet fart. It tastes only slightly better. Still, it’s part of the Ashland experience, so hold your nose and drink up!

This tiny mountain town has plenty to see and do that you could enjoy an entire vacation without leaving the town limits — but you simply can’t do that. With Ashland’s proximity to Crater Lake National Park, it should be a crime to visit Ashland without making at least a day trip to Crater Lake. The park is open year round, and park employees work hard round the clock to keep the roads paved up to the visitor’s center, but there are points in the year where the actual lake itself is only accessible by snowshoe or ski. I visited on May 2, while most of the park was under 11 feet of snow. Still, the roads were plowed all the way to the rim (but not around it), and it was not a cold day, so it was relatively easy to get up to the rim, and the weather was actually quite enjoyable.

I always thought the phrase “take your breath away” was hyperbole, but my first live glimpse of Crater Lake quite literally stole my breath. Pictures simply do not capture it adequately (still, here’s a picture). The lake, which, at over 1,900 feet deep is the deepest lake in North America, is fed only by rain and melting snow, and is allegedly the cleanest body of fresh water in the world. The water is a stunning deep blue, and the mountain and clouds above it reflect so clearly and completely off the surface that it’s like looking in a mirror, only somehow even clearer.

If you visit Crater Lake in the summer months, you can drive around the entire rim and stay at the Crater Lake Lodge, a resort hotel overlooking the lake 1,000 feet below. If I were to write a book called 1 Place To See Before You Die, it would contain one entry, and that would be Crater Lake. It is absolutely stunning, and you simply cannot understand the experience until you see it for yourself. So go, see it for yourself!