ROAD TRIP- Eugene, OR (Part 1)

Remember the other day we shared it was The Mister’s birthday?  To celebrate we got out of town for a little getaway.

With the timing of our job’s vacation schedules, kids schedules, and budget it can be difficult to getaway for a block of time for us right now.  If you can relate, or just want to find out more about Eugene, OR, then stick with us.  And who can’t relate to time/budget constraints or wanting to know more about Eugene, OR? 

One of the benefits of living in a large city is the access to lots of good food.   In Phoenix, AZ there were lots of good restaurants.  Now that we live in a smaller community, there are good restaurants here, just not the plethora of choices a large metropolis gives you.

So on a recent business trip, Salvage Sister found a Five Guys near Eugene, OR a plan was hatched to get the Mister here for his birthday!  He loves a burger!

If you haven’t been to Five Guys we are sorry for your loss.  Basically it is an awesome burger and fries joint.   You order at the counter and they call your number.   When you walk up, the first thing you see is the farm where the potatoes come from, which I love!   This is a hamburger spot (don’t even think they have anything else on the menu) so plan on that (you won’t be sorry!).  You can pick different toppings for your burger, with no additional charge, including sautéed mushrooms!

One of the first things we do when planning for a trip is get on Priceline.  We like to use the bidding option.  Whenever we have used this, we always pay less then anyone we have ever traveled with that didn’t use it.  It does have some things you need to be aware of.  Since there is so much to cover, it will be a post on it’s own as part of this series.

The hotel we won the bid to was the Hilton Downtown Eugene.  Since Eugene is not a huge city, it’s fairly easy to get around in, but there are one way’s as most downtown’s have. Here are some advantages/disadvantages of the Hilton-

ADVANTAGES                                                                             

• Comfortable bed/bedding                                                           
• Staff was helpful                                                                           
• Hotel was clean
• Location is convenient

• There is a charge for parking
• The hotel pool/Jacuzzi were small 

The trip to Eugene is a little over two hours.  Our first stop at Five Guys for lunch.  We were then off to Hendrick’s Park, near the University of Oregon, to walk it off, or at least some of it.  We spent hours there. Now we tell you this is a must if you are there, especially in the Spring.  One side is a wooded hike.  The other side is the Rhododendron garden.  Here are some pics in case you missed it on Instagram.

After lots of hiking and walking we went to the Market of Choice for some food.  

Since we had such a heavy and large lunch, and we had a special dessert planned for later, we wanted to have something just to get us by.  This is also a great place to grab picnic fixins if you are headed to Hendrick’s Park.

TIP- This is a great cost saver when you are traveling.  Plan one larger meal, snacks, and a treat.  It cuts down on meal costs and you get to try food you really want instead of fast food.

We grabbed some fruit/veggies, lunch meat, and cheese.  They have seating inside in case you want to sit there are eat which we did. 

One of The Mister’s favorite treats is ice cream so for the treat we headed over to Red Wagon Creamery at 55 W Broadway.  This was very close to our hotel. 

Here’s a little bit about the Creamery-

“We handcraft artisan ice cream with an emphasis on local, organic, all-natural ingredients in small batch seasonal flavors that are truly “farm to spoon.” You can taste the difference in our unique Philadelphia-style ice cream crafted from locally-sourced Willamette Valley cream and milk.” 

You can literally feel the cream in your mouth.  The small scoop was $2.25 with a cone but it was quite large.  If you are looking for local, indulgent, treat worthy, and homemade, this is it!

Back to the hotel for some swimming and rest.

We will have more on this trip so come back and see us for Part 2.