It’s Ashland, Seniors

Ashland has become a hot spot for senior tourists and the local chamber is one good reason for it’s popularity.  And why not? Senior visitors will find all kinds of delights that include culinary, cultural, outdoor, wellness, travel, media and even a really good visitor guide. Ashland is “just down the road” (Hwy 5) from Salem and Eugene.

Ashland is home of Southern Oregon University and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival. They are both pretty big around Ashland. While is it is not a large city, it’s 20,000+ inhabitants enjoy everything about the area… its history, geography, climate, demographics, economy, parks, and arts and culture. It’s a beautiful setting, Ashland Oregon, that visitors find thrilling, especially first-time senior visitors.

Surrounded by breathtaking scenery, majestic mountains, rushing rivers, rolling foothills and dramatic landscapes, Ashland is a gorgeous little city with an arts scene as vibrant as its setting. Ashland hosts festivals for all seasons, with Christmas celebrations and the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in winter, a film festival in the spring, classical music festival in summer and wine tasting celebrations in the autumn. Things to do in Ashland include Lithia Park, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Oregon Cabaret Theater among so many other attractions. Some say “Easy to Miss, Hard to Forget”!

Good Wine and Good Food Calls Seniors

Southern Oregon wine country is truly a premier world-class wine destination, as well as the oldest wine region in the state.  The rugged mountain valleys and diverse climates throughout the Southern Oregon wine region allow for a wide variety of intensely flavored wine grapes to be grown –  more kinds of grapes thrive here than any other wine region in the world!

Nature and wildlife abound here as well. If Southern Oregon’s gorgeous and breathtaking scenery is not enough, the Cascade Siskiyou region supports an extraordinary number of flora and fauna. The convergence of the Cascade and Siskiyou mountain ranges brings together three major eco-regions: Great Basin, Cascades and Siskiyou, creating a globally recognized hot spot for bio-diversity. The NY Times lauds Ashland as a great place to check out.

Before Shakespeare reinvented Ashland, this southern Oregon town of 20,000 was known for its naturally carbonated water, dubbed Lithia Water because it contains lithium. Thought to be salubrious for bathing and drinking, it is still piped into drinking fountains in Lithia Park and the Plaza, Ashland’s town square.

 I sure do remember my short time spent along the Oregon Coast… there are a myriad of things to do that includes so many natural attractions. Enjoy it all. jeb