Daily: 14 Miles / 31.0 MPG
Total: 765 Miles / 34.5 MPG

We got up and out early, grabbed a coffee and headed to Ashland, 14 miles a world away from Medford. Ashland is a cute little college town with an artsy vibe, gorgeous vistas of the surrounding hills; deep evergreens to the west, golden grasslands to the east. There’s a tidy little downtown with boutiques, wine bars, restaurants, bookstores of every description and a few outdoor stores to round it all out; a perfect place for a Theatre Festival.

We checked into our artsy, old-fashioned hotel (Victorian furnishings and shared bathrooms) located right in the middle of town. The clientele were all aging hippie types who seemed not to be used to dealing with the real world on a regular basis. We spent twenty minutes waiting at the check-in desk while three Birkenstock clad women of a certain age calculated and recalculated then re-checked their math for dividing their room bill three ways. (“Remember I was only here for three of the five days.” “Don’t forget to include the hospitality tax!”) I have coined the phrase “Biddy-nomics” for such episodes.

We wandered the town, window shopping and getting the lay of the land for a while. Then we grabbed a couple of enormous sandwiches from a cute little deli and went to hear a pre-performance outdoor lecture from the head of the festival’s wardrobe and props department. During the lecture Lynn decided that her next career would be in theatre costume design. Good luck on that one.

We caught a matinee performance of “The Unfortunates”, a rather difficult new piece inspired by the old blues standard “St. James Infirmary Blues”. The performers were excellent, the singing very good. According to the program the book, direction, choreography and sets drew from the blues, Comedia del Arte, old sepia photographs and industrial decay. We’re still thinking and discussing the play; trying to decide what it all meant and whether we liked it or not. I guess that makes it a successful effort.

We toured the town a little more after the show. We stopped in to a pleasant little wine bar to cool off for a spell, and then shopped a couple of trendy kitchen shops looking for a replacement gasket for our espresso maker. (No coffee, oh no!)

Had a light snack at a little Mexican place before catching an outdoor music and dance performance by an African group from Senegal. Great rhythm and beats, they had the whole crowd on its feet, dancing along by the end.

Made a quick dash to Mix for a pre-show gelato cone (Stumptown Espresso and Sea Salt Caramel) before the evening’s show.

We saw “The Heart of Robin Hood”, another new piece, much more accessible; a swashbuckling re-telling of an old tale with just enough twists to make it all seem brand new. A delightful performance, enhanced by its setting in the Festival’s version of the Globe Theatre.