Walla Walla, Washington

Again, we were able to sleep with the windows open.  Today’s drive took us through many, many, miles of wheat being grown on both sides of the highway, up and down the hills.
It was a pretty drab drive going by all the yellow fields of grain.  A good thing was that sometimes it was somewhat dark and sometimes we saw green growing in between the rows.  We felt like singing “America”, especially the line: "Amber waves of grain."

Walla Walla is a Native American name that means "Place of Many Waters". 

It's origins at its present site began with the establishment of Fort Walla Walla by the United States Army in 1856.  Walla Walla was incorporated on January 11, 1862.  As a result of a gold rush in Idaho, during this decade the city became the largest community in the territory of Washington, at one point slated to be the new state's capital. It is famous for its sweet onions, and, more recently, wine. There are more than 100 wineries in or near Walla Walla.  Following the wine boom, the town has developed several top-tier restaurants and hotels.  It has a population of approximately 31, 000 and is extremely clean.  Proud residents of the town often brag about it as "the town so nice they named it "twice."

We arrived in Walla Walla, Washington at the Four Seasons RV Resort in time to have lunch.  We then took off to see Main Street downtown. The stores on Main Street are quaint, selling clothing (both new and used) and home décor items, restaurants, jewelers and real estate offices.  They had some vacant spots also, just like at home.  Some of the buildings dated back to the 1890s.  

The next morning we were  rudely awakened by the alarm.  We set off to have breakfast at the Maple Counter Café.  This was recommended by Trip Advisor as the #1 restaurant in Walla Walla, and we have decided if they recommend it, it HAS TO BE GREAT!   This is the third place they have suggested to us and we have loved each of them, including this one.  In fact, this one is probably our favorite.  The young waitresses wear long skirts and our waiter, being a young man, wore a bow tie.  They have old items on the walls but not overdone!  When they bring your bill to the table it is on a rectangular wooden tray with a lip on the edges and an old post card is clipped to the bill  The pen you sign with has two artificial flowers attached which is a nice touch.  We decided to split a French Baked Florentine Omelette and an Apple Pancake. 

The French Baked Omelettes are made in the French style, whipped eggs with folded-in ingredients, then going in to a hot oven where they rise beyond the standard of your typical breakfast entrée.  Our choice included mushrooms, spinach, and diced onion, combined with Swiss cheese.  It was DELICIOUS and had generous amounts of ingredients.  It was lightly browned and we both decided it was a great choice!  It was served with three buttermilk pancakes, or we could have chosen potatoes!)

The House Specialty we ordered was to-die-for!!!!  The Apple Pancake is made in the tradition of a soufflé, baked in the oven until at least 3 inches high, filled with fresh apples (peeled and cut in-house) and covered with a pure cinnamon glaze.  They state ‘you’ll talk about it forever’ and we probably will.  It is the pride of the kitchen and we now know why!

We each took some of the pancake home to be enjoyed at a later time.