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Friday March 7

We spent this rainy day puttering about town with no only minor tasks in mind. Mom wanted to go to the Great Harvest bread store and get some fresh bread. Although there was one not far from home, we opted to go to the one downtown just to see downtown, which is where the Salem's action (for want of a better term) is. On the way I dropped off some film at the nearest one-hour lab so we could share some of our trip photos with the family.

Unfortunately, downtown was so crowded we couldn't find a parking space near the bakery, so all we did was drive around. We went around the imposing art deco state capitol, to my mind the most attractive capitol building in the fifty states. Atop the dome stands a giant gold statue of "The Oregon Pioneer," affectionately known to my wife as George Oregon.

We also went past the famous Tudor Gothic themed Elsinore Theater (1926), which has been lovingly restored. I worked there in the late '70s and early '80s when it was a first run movie house, the largest between San Francisco and Portland. Since then it has been converted to a performing arts center. It had a new exterior paint job since the last time I saw it, done in earth tones instead of the former grey.

But around the corner, the equally glorious Capitol Theater (where I was manager from 1981-1984) is now a parking lot, just one in a series of historic buildings in this city that has met the same horrible fate.

This is just one example of why every trip to Salem reminds me of why we moved away. Another is the ever growing sprawl that envelopes the city. Although downtown Salem has some soul to it, the development that surrounds it is absolutely depressing. Uninspired strip malls, big box discount stores, and cheap chain restaurants line the main roads. Slapdash architecture is everywhere. And the dingy appearance of this scene was made even worse by the incessant rainfall that never let up the whole time we were there. Now, I am not knocking Oregon's rain. When it falls on a natural landscape, it is wonderful. When it falls on mile after mile of parking lots it just makes the grey pavement look that much greyer.

But there are some surprising jewels hidden among Salem's vast tarnish. The A.C Gilbert toy museum is one. I wrote about that in my Train Travel Tale of May 2001. The adjacent riverfront park, a recent addition to the downtown scene, is another. The centerpiece of this park is a beautiful carousel, which I will show you a bit later.

Another of Salem's jewels was, get this, a grocery store. Roth's recently remodeled their store at the Sunnyslope Shopping Center near my mother's home. Outside it looks like any other strip mall. Inside they have created an oasis for the senses. The store is divided into two sections. As you enter you rare greeted by the most artfully arranged produce department in the western world. Everything was lined up in neat rows or in artfully arranged baskets. Large, colorful hand-drawn signs indicated the price per pound. Surrounding the produce section was a food service area offering deli service, pizza, and freshly roasted meats. The raw meat and fish counter was at the rear, while a spectacular bakery on the right offered an enormous selection of muffins, rolls, and brightly decorated cakes to suit any occasion. Walking around the bakery takes you to the more conventional aisles of cereal, canned goods, cleaning supplies, frozen foods and dairy products, all neatly arranged.

I was so impressed I had to get my camera and record it for my friends back home. Frankly, it was the only photogenic thing I'd seen all day.

Roth's, a most artfully designed grocery store.

Meanwhile, we needed to find a cheese slicer. I asked a young man where to find one. He not only took me to the correct aisle, he also pointed out the three models available and explained the features of each. Wow. At the cash registers I was equally pleased to see that the cashiers unloaded the carts so we didn't have to do any work. Then another nice young fellow loaded the goods into the car. The big chains got nothin' on Roth's, whose prices are quite competitive.

Out at the car the fellow who carried out our groceries asked why I was taking pictures. I said I wanted to show them to the folks back home in California becaue we didn't have any stores that nice where I come from. He asked where that was, and I told him. He replied that our beautiful beaches more than made up for the lack of a nice grocery store. I couldn't argue with that.

Later, Mrs. Toy and I went back to Walgreens to pick up my photos. Next door was my favorite hobby shop, another nice thing that Salem has that Monterey doesn't. I picked up a couple of Southern Pacific Daylight passenger cars and a locomotive to complete a model train. This shop, Sky Sport Hobbies, packs ten times as much cool stuff as Monterey Hobbies into a space less than half the size. I always find something I can use there.

Saturday March 8

Salem's Waterfront Carousel building

Again, basic grey Oregon Drizzle was falling from the sky. Early this afternoon Mrs. Toy and I went out on our own to check out the carousel downtown. I had never seen it up close, and she had not seen it at all. It was the most beautiful carousel I have ever seen, and it ranks up there with the Elsinore Theater and State Capitol as one of the most beautiful things in Salem.

The carousel at rest...	...and in motion

Every detail was hand carved from wood, and hand painted. No detail was too insignificant for the hand of the craftsmen. You'd think such things were long gone, or too costly to have been created in modern times, yet this carousel is less than two years old.

Every horse is hand-carved and hand-painted.
No two are alike, and each one has a name.
Each shield is also a unique representation of something important to Oregon. This one depicts a beaver, the state animal.

We didn't go for a ride. Too many kids running about. But we did spend a good deal of time admiring, and we picked up a few things at the gift shop.

The workshop where horses get fixed.	The gift shop that helps pay for it all.

Later that day our niece Barbara came down from Beaverton for a visit, and we spent the rest of the day and evening at home with her and the family. Well, we did take Barb up to Roth's for a little sightseeing, too.

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