A Weekend in Corvallis
Toward the end of October, Garrett and I will be moving out of Corvallis. While I’m excited to experience a new city, I’m also sad to leave the place I’ve grown up most throughout my twenties. Having moved around a lot as a kid, I’ve never experienced living in one place for such a long time, and Corvallis really does feel like home to me. I’ve lived with roommates, moved in with Garrett, graduated, gone back to school, learned to ride a bike, stayed up late, woke up early, laughed, cried, and truly experienced life all in one small city.
In an effort to make as many fun memories as possible before we go, we spent the weekend visiting some of our favorite places and trying out new ones. One thing I love most about Corvallis are all of the local businesses. There’s nothing like waking up early on a Sunday to journal at a cute and cozy coffee spot or walking along First Street close to sunset.
Over the past 8 weeks, I’ve been taking a summer class - a prerequisite for several courses I need this upcoming year. To celebrate the end of my class on Friday, Garrett and I went to our favorite sushi spot called Aomatsu. We’ve eaten here countless times over the five years that we’ve lived in Corvallis. My favorite menu item at any sushi restaurant is nigiri, and Aomatsu is no exception. We always order the nigiri sampler (4 pieces of fish atop perfectly cooked rice), the unagi and avocado roll (Garrett’s favorite), and a spicy tuna or spicy salmon roll. We also ordered gyoza and fried calamari, which I’ve never tried before this day.
After dinner, we walked along the river on First Street to enjoy the sunset and the many dogs walking by. Normally we’d grab a donut at Bennie’s, but a new ice cream shop called Sugar J’s opened recently so we decided it’d be a good idea to check it out. The sweet, sticky waffle cone air drew me in. Sugar J’s had quite a few interesting flavors, but we both decided on the same two: chamomile & honey and blueberry & lavender. Garrett got his in a bowl and I had mine in a waffle cone (of course).
On Sunday morning, we set out to go blueberry picking at Radke’s near Southtown and made a pitstop at Kinetic Bagel Institute, a bagel shop that used to be in Corvallis and reopened a couple years ago. The fountains on First Street are the perfect spot to enjoy a Green Machine salt bagel, which has hummus, cucumbers, green onions, and a sweet dill mustard. I popped the crocs off and ran through the chilly fountain…highly recommend.
Once we got to Radke’s, we grabbed a couple buckets and chatted with the farmers. Radke’s has 4 different types of blueberries, and I can’t remember what kind we chose, but the woman (Miss Radke, I can only assume), sent us out to rows 7 and 8. We spent about 30 minutes harvesting blueberries and took bets about how many pounds we picked. Our berries came out to 9 pounds, and at $2 a pound, I’d consider this a steal, although I’m not sure what we’re going to do with 9 pounds of blueberries…
To end the day, we walked the long, paved path near our apartment complex with Yoshi. The path has a couple of hills that she absolutely demolished on the way there, but we ended up having to pick her up on the way back. Her current fitness level isn’t quite there yet. :)
I’m really going to miss Corvallis, but I’m happy for the memories that I have and the ones I’m still making. Weekends like this truly make me realize how thankful I am to have my small family in a city that I love!
