Girls Guide to Central OR
a profusion of play are just the first amenities available east of the Cascades, and even your most discriminating girlfriend will be satisfied by the shopping, dining, lodging and entertainment options to be discovered in Central Oregon.
Your checklist: Choose a weekend; round up your favorite friends; book a room. Sunriver’s River Lodges and the Seventh Mountain Resort’s newly renovated condominiums are both excellent choices. Then, head for Bend and start celebrating your retreat.
Kick off your Friday evening at Bendistillery’s Sampling Room. The distillery, known for its excellent home-styled spirits (like Cascade Mountain Gin, made with handpicked wild juniper) is responsible for downtown’s yummiest martinis.
Before you settle in for a lemon drop or a cosmopolitan, grab a newspaper and peruse the entertainment listings for live music or a show. If there’s a performance at the Tower Theatre make sure to catch it—a glimpse of the recently made-over art deco venue is worth the ticket price alone.
The next morning, get your caffeine and pastry fix at Bellatazza on Wall Street, and prepare to shop. Start a few doors down at Santee Alley, which, like the Los Angeles street of the same name, offers couture knock-offs for reasonable prices. Visit Romantique for French femininity, Hot Box Betty for youthful hip, and Lulu Boutique for casual sophistication. Karen Bandy Design Jeweler will remind you (as if it’s necessary) that diamonds are a girl’s best friend.
Retail therapy never fails to stir up the appetite, and Ryan’s Deli on the breezeway is the perfect spot to grab a fresh cup of soup or a salad.
After lunch, pile into the car and head to the Seventh Mountain Resort’s year-old, 8,000-square-foot ice rink. Gliding—or, for those who haven’t been on ice skates since the 80s, lurching—around the rink will undoubtedly provoke a giggle from every girl at heart. Then return to adulthood with a cocktail or hot toddy at the Rimrock Bar. If you and the girls are guests of the Resort, be sure to take a dip in the hot tub.
After perhaps just the briefest nap, don your new attire and head back downtown. Since the moment Merenda restaurant opened in 2002, it has been the place to see and be seen in Bend, and the French-Mediterranean food is heavenly as well. Try a wine flight—four 2-ounce pours grouped by characteristic or origin—that you can trade sips from before choosing a glass or bottle from Merenda’s 600- varietal cellar. Embrace decadence by ending your meal with beignets, served hot with a trio of dipping sauces.
If you’re here in the fall, the popular 9-hole putting course at Sunriver’s Meadows golf course is where you’ll start your Sunday. Sited in ponderosa pine along the Deschutes River, the course was named one of the Top 50 Courses for Women by Golf for Women magazine. (Central Oregon is a mecca for golfers; plan now for your return trip come summer when flowers are in bloom and the greens are in top shape.)
Then, because all will agree that it has been a demanding weekend, serious pampering is in order before the journey home. Sage Springs Club and Spa, also at Sunriver, offers custom Pilates or yoga classes and savory meals in the spa relaxation room for those who call ahead. But it’s the peaceful and luxurious spa treatments that are truly divine. Try the Oregon Hazelnut Scrub or the Hydration Ritual and warm up in the steam room before hugging your girlfriends goodbye, climbing into your car, and driving blissfully toward home. – Kim Cooper Findling