I just want to say I love Palmer. It’s a happening place. Let me outline my day for you. First off I must admit I should have ridden my bike the 4 miles into town instead of driving. Oh well, I will do this tomorrow. It’s a beautiful springtime 45 degrees and we are in transition from winter to green springtime. I ate lunch today at one of the new restaurants in town called the Red Beet Café. It’s a pretty neat little place and every week they run a Friday art and tapas showcase. The food is all locally grown or butchered and the meals are perfect size. Also, on Friday evenings they have live music for a few hours. This was my first meal at the Red Beet and it went well beyond my expectations, it was fantastic. I’m writing this update from Vagabond Blues, our local coffee shop, located about 2 blocks from the Red Beet, just past the old train depot and borough library. I love this town and it’s getting better every month. I just have this great inclination that things are happening here and unlike most places, there’s a real attempt to keep local business alive and commercial consumer giants out.
Besides the red beet, a few more places recently opened up. A long time coming has been Turkey Red, a new restaurant serving locally baked breads, poultry and pork along with only organically and sustainably grown produce. This restaurant is really neat and adds another nice touch to the cleaned up downtown area. In the same little plaza (not ugly strip mall, but small plaza on the strip) there is the Valley Winery and a few boutiques. The winery is a really cool place where you make and bottle your own wine, and then let it ferment there. They sell wine making kits as well, and they are all about educating people on making their own beers and wines, which is pretty simple considering the amount of sugary goodness that naturally covers this beautiful state (blueberries, rosehips, strawberries, crabapples, cranberries, raspberries and fireweed).
On top of all this, my friend Tony just opened up a new bike shop, so we now have a locally owned and operated bike store to cater to Palmer residents and in going with the trend it’s in the downtown business section of town. There’s a real sense of community here and it blows away any notion I ever had of a small town, it’s beautiful. People care for each other, watch out for one another and always lend a helping hand. There’s no question about giving a person walking a ride to the top of the hill, or helping someone with car trouble. I imagine this is what Erin’s hometown
It’s local, it’s natural and it’s beautiful. I think to put the icing on the cake, today I saw elementary school teacher walking their classes down the sidewalk to the library in town, while kids walked the streets heading to the bookstore and coffee shop, as cyclists rode by to head to work or play. As they say…Palmer:
