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Arty Ellensburg bucks its image as destination just for watching rodeo
By HILDA ANDERSON
SPECIAL TO THE POST-INTELLIGENCER
If you thought the only reason to visit Ellensburg was the annual rodeo and fair over Labor Day weekend, think again. This town of 15,000 people on the other side of the Cascades has plenty to offer year-round.
Ellensburg is small enough to be a comfortable place with a slow pace of life, big enough to offer a good variety of activities. New attractions, lodging and special events make this summer a good time to visit. An added bonus is the fact that driving the 110 miles there from Seattle on Interstate 90 is much more scenic and hassle-free than heading somewhere north or south of Seattle on Interstate 5.
Most of the newer things in Ellensburg are in the historic district downtown on Main, Pearl and Pine streets between Third and Sixth avenues. Buildings date from 1889, the year Ellensburg burned to the ground. The area is just right for strolling, with a number of places to stop for a cup of coffee, an ice cream cone, a snack or fresh juices if you need a respite.
One of the newest businesses is Pearl's on Pearl, a grown-up place with live jazz and blues. Tuesday through Friday evenings, you can hear piano jazz from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. A variety of groups plays on Friday and Saturday evenings from 8:30 to 11:30 p.m. The club is smoke-free. Beer and wine are served.
Next door to Pearl's at 313 N. Pearl is the Amby Edinger Art Gallery with a fine selection of original art. Reuben Edinger moved his gallery here in late 1998. It's a long, narrow space with a high ceiling, perfect for displaying art. You'll see the works of Simon Kogan, who designed the new World War II memorial on the state capitol campus in Olympia, bronze sculptures by Leo Osborne and a delightful gurgling fountain titled "Steel, water, wood and stone." You can access Edinger's Web site at: www.ambyedinger.com
Pearl Street is home to a number of art galleries. Gallery One, upstairs in the 1889 Stewart Building at No. 408 1/2, was the city's first gallery more than 30 years ago. It displays the works of artists from all over the country on a rotating basis with an emphasis on the Northwest. On sale in the three gift galleries are pottery, sculpture, paintings, jewelry, wearable art and wood pieces.
A few doors away at 416 N. Pearl St. is a favorite of ours: the Clymer Museum of Art and Gallery. It displays the works and tells the story of native son John Clymer, the renowned Western artist.
"Junior" Clymer illustrated the 1921-22 Ellensburg High School yearbook and drew the logo for the first Ellensburg Rodeo. His talent took him to the East Coast where he illustrated about 90 covers for the Saturday Evening Post.
Clymer turned to historical paintings of the Old West, for which he is best known. He has been described as "a historian with a paintbrush."
The Amby Edinger, Gallery One and Clymer are among the nine stops on the Ellensburg First Friday Art Walk each month from 5 to 7 p.m.
Not all the art is in galleries. Two notable pieces are on the streets of Ellensburg. Both are by Richard Beyer, who created the popular "Waiting for the Interurban" sculpture in Seattle's Fremont District.
The "Ellensburg Bull" in Rotary Pavilion has been part of the downtown scene for a number of years. Beyer's latest work, "Kitt Coyote," debuted last year in front of the Ellensburg Library at Third Avenue and Sprague Street. The whimsical coyote, 7 feet tall, is wearing an open jacket, tie, pants, belt and sandals and holding a pair of glasses and an open book.
Another place to view art is Dick and Jane's Spot, the home of Dick Elliott and Jane Orleman at 101 N. Pearl St. They have filled their yard and decorated their colorful home with an amazing collection of objects -- keys, reflectors, bottle caps, screws, chains, all sorts of odds and ends -- made into works of art. Comments in the guest register include, "Great fun for weary travelers. Makes you laugh." Elliott's art is also at the Amby Edinger Gallery.
The Kittitas County Historical Museum at 114 E. Third St. has an extensive accumulation of artifacts that tell the story of Ellensburg -- a square grand piano that belonged to John Clymer's grandmother, a medical clinic complete with hospital bed and bed pan, embalming table, elaborately dressed dolls with porcelain faces, Tlingit basketry, historical photos, rock collection and a Northern Pacific Railway Co. menu from 1910 when sirloin steak was 90 cents.
The museum also displays Ellensburg blues, the prized blue agate found only in this region, and sells a book that tells where to find them. Some local jewelers sell the stones, loose or set, and will create a setting if you take in a stone.
We had some good meals while we were in Ellensburg. Lunch the first day was at Austin's at 311 N. Main St. Austin is Austin Smith, a chef from Boston. Open for breakfast and lunch, the popular restaurant can best be described as eclectic, with an eight-stool counter and mismatched furniture.
The food is first rate and very fresh. The lunch menu includes sandwiches such as hummus and tabbouleh, and smoked turkey and cheese on breads baked to order, homemade soups, a variety of burritos and salads priced from $1.95 to $8.25. Smith also turns out great pizzas -- thin crust or deep dish.
Dinner was at another favorite -- the Valley Cafe at 105 W. Third St., an Ellensburg institution since 1930. The menu offers lots of choices -- appetizers, soups, salads, pasta, sandwiches, cioppino, quiche, steamed vegetables -- for $2.50 to $8.95 at lunch plus, at dinner, when blue cloths cover the tables, entrees such as paniolo lamb satay, New York and sirloin steaks and seafood coconut curry satay priced from $9.75 to $15.95.
New since our last visit is the Yellow Church Cafe at 111 S. Pearl St. Built as a church for German Lutherans in 1923, it's a cozy place with tables on the main floor and in the choir loft. Painted on the wall over the open kitchen are the words, "In an ordinary day, there's a thousand miracles."
The lunch menu offers soups, chili, pasta, salads, burgers and the appropriately named Heavenly Loaf -- a very large, spiral, cheese-topped roll. The restaurant is open for breakfast daily, lunch Monday to Friday, dinner Monday to Saturday.
We stayed at Campus View Inn, a handsome 1910 house at 706 N. Anderson, across from Central Washington University. Five rooms, each with private bath and different themed decor, are comfortably furnished.
Proprietor Diana Oltman is a wealth of knowledge on the area and turns out tasty breakfasts such as fresh fruit, orange juice, blueberry French toast and sausages on the morning we were there. Rates range from $59 to $74 double occupancy. For reservations, call 800-428-7270. Oltman and her husband, Leo, also own the nearby Inn on Eighth Avenue with five rooms priced from $55 to $65 double occupancy. Call 888-320-5282. The Internet site for both inns is www.campusviewinn.com
We checked out two other B&Bs. The Wren's Nest has three bedrooms in a 1912 home at 300 E. Manitoba Ave. It's a very private place with a hedge enclosing the corner property, a big front porch and a lush garden. Rates are $79 double occupancy. Call 509-925-9061.
Meadowlark Farm Guest House at 606 N. Main St. is an 1888 Queen Anne Victorian. On the first floor are an interior design boutique and shop selling skin care products, vintage linens, books, clothing, glassware, and tea cups and plates from a Russian company dating to 1744. Upstairs, two lavishly decorated guest suites with private baths are $89 a night double occupancy with a continental breakfast. Call 509-962-3706.
New since our last visit is the R&R Resort at Exit 109 off I-90. In addition to 50 guest rooms and whirlpool suites, there are 79 RV spaces with full hookups including TV and phone. Rates are $70 double occupancy for rooms with queen-size beds and $22 for the RV spaces, both including breakfast. For reservations, call 888-889-9870. The Internet site is www.randrresort.com
The big event of the summer is the Jazz in the Valley festival featuring a wide variety of Northwest jazz and blues groups, a sacred jazz/gospel concert, jazz history lecture and a midnight country breakfast, July 30- Aug. 1, in downtown Ellensburg. Venues include Rotary Pavilion, Austin's, Pearl's on Pearl and the Valley Cafe. Festival passes, available at participating downtown establishments and the chamber of commerce, are $25. For more information, call 888-925-2204.
| Barry and Hilda Anderson's new book, the updated and expanded "Short Trips in the Pacific Northwest," is now in area bookstores. For an autographed copy, send $16 plus $3 to cover shipping, handling and sales tax to Short Trips, P.O. Box 1555, Port Townsend, WA 98368. |
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moreHave questions about Northwest travel? Ask Hilda.
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