Sunriver, Oregon is a resort town 5 miles north of our house. It has a lodge, tons of vacation rentals and lots of golf courses. (There is also a nature center and observatory, that we really need to go to so I can do a post on it.) Sunriver used to be an army training facility named Camp Abbott, back in the old days.
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
As I mentioned yesterday, we went to the Sunriver Mall and walked around. The mall is getting to be sort of a temporary ghost town, in my opinion. Some of the buildings were structurally unsafe and needed to be torn down. Others have been beautifully updated, but have lost most of their tenants in the process.
These first set of photos show buildings that are vacant, being demolished or under new construction:
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
Here are some of the updated buildings, though there are hardly any stores left inside:
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
The Glow in the Dark Golf (on top) is in business, but the toy store on the bottom is liquidating.
We found four restaurants on the mall that are still around. The first was the "V-BAG", otherwise known as The Village Bar and Grill.
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
This is a nice place, with good food and drinks. They have outside patio dining and feature free live music three nights a week during the summer. They were packed yesterday.
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
El Caporal is still there, and that is where we ate. It is located in the middle of the mall, with the band's stage was set up right next to it. We were lucky to get an outside table in the front. The food and service were great:
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
Our lunches were around $10 each.
The other restaurant was new to us, and is called Bottoms Up. Located at the end of the mall across from the $12.99 store, the front of their building is still under construction. We each ordered a specialty martini and it took a while for us to receive our drinks. The waitress was very professional though, and they were busy. Other people's food looked and smelled good. I just held a grudge right off the bat because they had a full bar but did not serve Merlot. In this day and age! I couldn't believe it.
The fourth restaurant was closed on Sundays, and I don't remember the name of it. It was right behind the main mall, close to the Mexican restaurant. We have eaten there before and liked it fine...it also has a nice outside deck.
After leaving Bottom's Up, we walked back towards the band to hear part of their last set (see the post below about them). We walked by these guys with the hats and they graciously let me take their picture. They were too cute:
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
I look forward to when the mall is all remodeled and full of stores. It is sad that so many stores that have been there for years are going out of business. I bought a set of African animals for our grandson Gage at the toy store, and I felt bad that the store was closing and I didn't even know it was there. Somebody's dream of having a thriving business that brought joy to children is now down the drain. Dang.
There are some things still open ... mostly sport shops, the bumper car/arcade and the fancy golf thing. The import shop is still there too, thank goodness, and so is the Oregon Store. Goody's Ice Cream Shoppe was also thriving yesterday.
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
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| Oregon Gifts of Comfort and Joy ~ Kathy Matthews |
2 comments:
At least the powers that be are attempting to revitalize that mall area. Our downtown area in our little town of Lawrenceville was pretty decrepit a number of years ago; then a developer with a vision came in and our downtown area, small though it may be, is enjoying a resurgence with new shops and new restaurants. It is a cute little spot to wander now, and has a certain amount of charm that was certainly lacking before!
Oh, cool, I'll be sure to look up Lawrenceville ... what a neat name for a town; even better than Mayberry. It is nice that somebody took the time to put the effort into your downtown, Lisa.
La Pine's downtown is weird ... just a long stretch of highway that they kept adding stores and restaurants onto. They finally put in some sidewalks a few years ago, but it is not like a real downtown with a town square.
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