AFTER AN IMPROMPTU visit to Medford, Oregon, in 1931, Will Rogers was mighty impressed with the bounty of the area. “Someday I’m coming back here and eat a pear and catch a fish. Guess everybody tells you that,” Rogers said to the local newspaper, the Mail Tribune.

In some ways, not much has changed since then. Nestled within the Rogue Valley, the area still produces world-famous pears and the rushing Rogue River still offers world-class fishing. But there’s a lot more to Medford today. From elegant wineries to the ultimate in golfing, Medford (now with a population of about 74,000) has reinvented itself by capitalizing on its roots. History intermingles with modern luxury, and the resulting renaissance has created an outstanding destination for the traveler.

The winery that pears built

There is no better example of this transformation than RoxyAnn Winery. The winery, vineyard, and pear orchard are located within the city’s boundaries on the southwest slopes of Roxy Ann Peak. The winery was built only five years ago, but the orchard was first

planted on the site in 1878. The Parsons family bought the orchard in 1908, and built an empire around pears.

As the years went by, the price of pears dropped and the family decided to try its hand at wine. Merlot and cabernet grapes were planted in 1997 and the winery was in full production by 2002.

But the Parsons didn’t abandon their original vision for the land. The winery produces pear wine and visitors can purchase bags of the sweet, flavorful fruit. And despite the fact that the city has literally grown around them, they are committed to honoring the agricultural heritage of the land. Most of the buildings on the premises are on the National Register of Historic Places, including the circa-1900 barn that has been renovated into a charming and cozy wine-tasting room.

Today, visitors can sip on RoxyAnn’s award-winning Claret, an elegant three-grape blend, while listening to summer jazz. Thanks to a family dedicated to preserving the land’s heritage, this oasis has remained true to its roots for more than 100 years. (541-776-2315;
www.roxyann.com)

Treats sold ‘round the world

Pears have also played a major role in the evolution of Harry and David, Medford’s famous mail-order business that ships fruit, candy, and confections around the world. Back in the early 1930s, brothers Harry and David had a novel idea­: market the region’s most luscious pears to faraway places that don’t have them. Today, the name Harry and David is associated with the finest pears in the world, with 14 million pounds delivered annually.

The company offers tours Monday through Friday, four times a day. Inside a cushy van, visitors are taken past an orchard to the building where pears, still Harry and David’s most popular mail-order item, are sorted and packed.

Next, visitors are whisked to everybody’s favorite stop, the baking building. Stepping into this building is like entering Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. Chocolate essence permeates from every direction. Tour guides pull small boxes from a giant multicolored gift box, and hand one to each visitor.

The tiny treasures contain a melt-in-your-mouth chocolate truffle and a sugar cookie with a fruity filling sandwiched between two wafers. This is, after all, a tour that uses all the senses.

Through the glass, visitors greedily eye conveyor belts moving hundreds of truffles and huge bins of popcorn. There’s no Oompa-Loompas here, but there are dozens of workers busy drizzling chocolate over popcorn or dropping nuts, cherries, and blueberries into a tumbler that coats each morsel with chocolate. In another room, a giant puffer blows popcorn out like a dragon with a mouthful of corn.

And the next stop is the Harry and David store, just in time to get more of those tasty treats. (877-322-8000; www.harryanddavid.com)

A theater reborn

Medford is also a city dedicated to the arts, as evidenced by the renovation of the beloved local theater, the Craterian.

The original Craterian Theater opened in 1924, featuring vaudeville and theater acts. Film legend Ginger Rogers danced on the Craterian stage in 1926 before she moved on to fame as an actress. But by the 1980s, the theater had fallen into serious disrepair.

The community rallied to save it in 1991, and Rogers returned to the Craterian stage in 1993 to kick off fundraising efforts. Unfortunately, Rogers passed away in 1995, and never got to see the result of the campaign. In honor of her history within the community, the theater was renamed the Craterian Ginger Rogers Theater. With the help of many supporters, enough money was raised to completely renovate the building and make major improvements. The theater hosts nearly 100 events every year, from international and local music acts, dance, and kids’ shows to comedy and dramatic theater.

With performances from the likes of Whoopi Goldberg, Art Garfunkel, the Aspen Santa Fe Ballet, and Bernadette Peters, Ginger Rogers would be proud. (541-779-3000; www.craterian.org)

A top-notch public
golf course

Part of Medford’s modernization has come from the addition of several golf courses in the area. Centennial Golf Club opened just a year ago, but the 18-hole, 72-par public golf course has quickly become a hit with local golfers. Challenge-seekers gravitate to the back tees, ranked 5th in difficulty in Oregon. But mostly, players love the vistas and the feel of the course. While most courses on the west side of the Cascades are tree-lined, this one is wide open. Centennial has views of the entire Rogue Valley, from the snow-dusted Siskiyou Mountains to oak chaparral on Roxy Ann Peak.

Centennial’s designer is two-time PGA

tour winner John Fought, who helped design the renowned Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club near Portland. “He didn’t move a lot of dirt,” says Vince Domenzain, general manager at Centennial. “He stayed with the natural flow of land.”

Thirty tournaments have been scheduled for this year, including the highly anticipated Celebrity Golf Shootout, a charity match spearheaded by local professional football legend Chad Cota and former NFL defensive back Ronnie Lott.

But this course isn’t just for the pros; it also has a practice facility and clinics with PGA and LPGA professional staff for novices just learning to swing. (877-893-4653; www.centennialgolfclub.com)

A century of milling

The Butte Creek Mill, in nearby Eagle Point, is a 135-year-old landmark that still uses the power of water to grind grain into flour. “We’re the only commercial grist mill left west of the Mississippi that is still water powered,” says Bob Russell, who bought the mill with wife Debbie two years ago. There are several museum-type grist mills that operate on a seasonal or weekend basis, but the Butte Creek Mill is in full operation, selling its products across the U.S.

In the mill’s basement, wheels, pulleys, turbines, belts, and gears chug and squeak as water visibly flows beneath the floorboards. The grinding stones used at the mill are the originals, brought from France in 1872 from a quarry that’s been used since Roman times. So what’s so special about stone-ground? The slowly turning stone wheels never get hot enough to strip grains of their nutrients. Bran is retained in the grain, along with other nutritious qualities.

The Russells have added a gourmet coffee stand, wine-tastings, and special events that have brought the business from the 19th century into the 21st, but the mill still looks much the same as it has for more than a century. Its floors are the original wooden planks, with a well-worn, flattened old Ford fender at the entrance. The walls are lined with vintage coffee and cracker tins and the shelves are filled with dozens of mill products, such as pancake mix, polenta, and steel-cut oats. “Local chefs and restaurants come in for corn bread mix and hundreds of fresh spices,” says Bob. (541-826-3531; www.buttecreekmill.com)

A Taste of the Rogue

The Rogue Creamery has also preserved its historic traditions while appealing to a modern, sophisticated palate.

The Creamery has been a fixture in the Rogue Valley area since 1935, when Thomas Vella started the cheese-making facility. In 2002, Cary Bryant and David Gremmels bought the business, with the full backing of its cheesemaker, Vella’s son Ignacio, “Ig.” The new owners didn’t have much experience, but they quickly created several award-winning cheeses.

Rogue Creamery specializes in cheddars and blue cheeses, including flavors such as garlic cheddar, rosemary cheddar, cumin cheddar, lavender cheddar, Oregonzola, and Crater Lake Blue.

Part of the creamery’s success can be attributed to the way the owners relate to the community. They kept the name of the original creamery to honor the traditions of the Vella family. They also have formed partnerships with other artisan food makers. “We invite independent artisan food and cheesemakers in to learn our style and share our culture and emphasis on quality,” explains cheesemaker Craig Nelson.

But the real secret to creating creamy, full-flavored cheeses is using high-quality ingredients, such as milk from an award-winning dairy and Northwest-grown hazelnut shells to smoke the Smokey Blue. Traditional recipes, like the 50 year-old Oregon Brand Blue Vein Cheese recipe, have been passed down from cheesemaker to cheesemaker.

When visitors enter the creamery, they are met with rows of containers full of bite-size pieces of cheese, free for the tasting. Store shelves are lined with local wine, chocolate, jellies, and jams. And a window provides a view into the cheesemaking area. This is a stop that is just too tasty to miss. (866-396-4704; www.roguecreamery.com)

Diamond in the rough

The Crater Rock Museum is just a short drive from the Rogue Creamery. While the outside of this museum may seem drab, inside is one of the finest collections of rocks, minerals, and gems in the Pacific Northwest. “It’s amazing,” says one visitor. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” says another.

Dozens of glass cases contain brightly colored rocks and minerals, such as muted aqua chlorite calcite crystals, gold metallic pyrite, coral-colored barite with cinnabar, and Jackson County agate.

The museum also displays dinosaur eggs, meteorites, the largest petrified wood collection on the West Coast, and a unique collection of scrimshaw whale teeth and walrus tusk.

“The museum has five No. 1 specimens in the world,” says Gary Yeoman, museum director—which means these are the best examples of a particular rock or mineral on display in the world. (541-664-6081; www.craterrock.com)

when you go

GETTING STARTED
Medford Visitors and Convention Bureau (800-469-6307; www.visitmedford.org)

DOWNTOWN
Downtown Medford, with some buildings that date back to as early as 1886, is a great place to do some browsing. Visitors can take a walking tour to peruse and shop. Pick up a map at the Medford Visitors and Convention Bureau.

Bartlett Street Bookstore, a Medford landmark for more than 40 years, is jammed with tall stacks brimming with books on every possible topic. (541-772-8049)

FARM TO TABLE
Tour the Rogue Valley’s best farms, orchards, and wineries on the Oregon Wine and Farm Tour. (www.oregonwineandfarmtour.com)

The Rogue Valley Growers and Crafters Market features fresh fruits and vegetables, flowers, handmade tamales, carnivorous plants, and bakery items from March to November. (888-826-9868; www.rvgrowersmarket.com)

Visitors can buy some of the region’s famous pears at the Pear Station, a 73 year-old, ivy-covered cottage full of Anjou, Bartlett, Comice, and Bosc pears. (800-940-1842; www.sosales.com)

DINING
Porters offers elegant dinners and one of the best happy-hour deals around, with burgers, mango quesadilla, Caesar salad, shrimp cocktail, and more for under $3.50 each. (541-857-1910; www.porterstrainstation.com)

Elements Tapas Bar serves hot and cold plates of Spanish-style cheese, meat, and seafood bathed in herbs and spices. (541-779-0135; www.elementsmedford.com)

Grilla Bites, in a historic brick building, is a great place to stop for homemade organic sandwiches, soups, salads, and smoothies. (541-245-9802; www.grillabites.com)

NEED FOR SPEED
See some of the fastest 1/4-mile dragsters, funny cars, and classic race cars in the country, some rocketing up to 250 mph, at Champion Raceway. (541-830-3724; www.championraceway.com)

From April through September, Southern Oregon Speedway hosts a multitude of hi-octane oval track races with sprint cars, motorcycles, and dwarf outlaws. (800-446-0449; www.sospeedway.com)

FOR THE KIDS
Hanley Farm’s weekend events are packed with learning experiences and plenty of fun. (541-773-6536; www.sohs.org)

The Farm encourages kids to explore life on a farm through interaction and hands-on play. Friendly goats, sheep, llamas, deer, wallabies, donkeys, and pigs await petting, or pedal a tractor and take a pony ride. (541-535-1316; www.visitthefarm.org)

Lava Lanes cosmic bowling and
5000 square feet of arcade make this place fun for the whole family. Lava Lanes also hosts the pro-bowling PBA Earl Anthony Medford Classic in January. (541-245-2755; www.lavalanes.com)

EVENTS
May 12–13—Art in Bloom (541-608-8524; www.visitmedford.org/AIB.htm)

June 9—A Taste of History (541-779-1435; www.downtownmedford.org)

June 15–17—Medford Cruise (541-
779-4847; www.medfordcruise.com)

July 6–8—Rogue Valley Balloon Rally (541-664-1862; www.rvballoons.com)

September 9—World of Wine Festival (www.worldofwinefestival.com)

September 29–30—Harvest Fair & Microbrew Festival (541-774-8270)

October 12–14—Medford Jazz Jubilee (541-770-6972; www.medfordjazz.org)

Mid-March­­—Oregon Cheese Festival (541-665-1155; www.RogueCreamery.com)

Mid-April—Pear Blossom Festival (541-734-PEAR; www.pearblossomparade.org, www.pearblossomrun.com)