Eastern Oregon (II)

I started the day with a short run, but unfortunately our hotel was at the top of a pretty steep hill, so the trip back left me out of breath and a little rubber legged. Luckily we did not have far to go for our first meeting, as it was in the hotel we were staying in, in Pendelton. We were out in Eastern Oregon for a series of meetings with people in the tourism industry to help find a way to better market Eastern Oregon to tourists. It is a beautiful area with a lot to offer, but currently they don't have a cohesive message like the other six regions in Oregon.

The Pendelton meeting was very interesting. There was a good mix of people from city planners to hotel owners to tour operators. They all had a lot to say about the place and it became obvious that it's going to be hard to get consensus. However, we learned a lot and there is a lot of great heritage to build on out there. After a quick lunch we headed down to La Grande for our second meeting.

La Grande is a very pretty town. It has a great old west downtown with a lot of historic buildings. It is also home to Eastern Oregon University.We held our meeting in the library which was a nice new building that was busy with people checking out books and using the computers. The second meeting went a lot like the first, people were very positive about the tourism opportunities in the area and had a lot to say. The representatives from Baker City seem to be very organized and making a serious effort to attract tourists. After the meeting we had a nice dinner at Ten Depot Street. It is located in one of the historic buildings downtown and has a fantastic old school bar area where you can get sandwiches and the like. In the main dinning room they have heartier fare. I enjoyed the beef kabobs and a delicious peach and raisin desert. I also heard good things about the steaks and the Emu burger.

After dinner we drove down to Baker City to spend the night at the Geiser Grand hotel. This is one of the nicest hotels in Eastern Oregon. It is located in the historic downtown area and is a striking building. It has a copula that is the first thing you see as you pull into town and it has been expertly restored. The rooms are all large and well appointed. Although everything is old school, it is nice and all works well. They have a nice restaurant, but unfortunately we did not have time to eat there, as we had to leave early in the morning. We did have a drink in the beautiful old bar that is on the first floor of the bar. The hotel is supposedly haunted, but I did not encounter any ghosts.

Ten Depot Street
10 Depot St
La Grande, OR 97850
541-963-8766

Mon-Sat 5:00 pm-10:00 pm, closed Sunday

Geiser Grand Hotel & Restaurant
1996 Main St.
Baker City, OR 97814-3350
541-523-1889