We spent Thanksgiving — and Jessi’s birthday — in Baker City (or, simply... Baker, as the locals say). One shop owner asked us what we were doing there, since it’s pretty small (~13K people) and lacks major attractions.
Except, of course, for the Baker Tower, which my company recently purchased with a group of investors.
The Baker Tower is the tallest building east of the Cascades. It was built in 1929 and is 10 stories tall. I’ve tried describing it, but I usually resort to showing a picture so folks can see how magnificent it is.
It’s incredibly cool. I have plans to revamp the ballroom and turn one of the living spaces into a vacation rental (because the view is genuinely awesome).
So, this trip was for a few reasons.
First, my family hadn’t seen it yet. It’s a 6-hour drive, so it’s not exactly something you just pop over to. I think my kids partially understand what I do, and trips like this help. The vacation rental won’t be available until summer, so we stayed at the iconic Geiser Grand Hotel, which is only two blocks away. All the rooms have a Victorian look and are pet-friendly.
Second, Jessi’s birthday landed on Thanksgiving this year, and we wanted to get away as a family. You know how it is when you’re home: there’s always something that needs to be done. And on Thanksgiving, there’s the pressure to cook something epic. So instead, we enjoyed Geiser’s feast. The kids dressed up and looked quite dapper.
Third, I used to be adamantly opposed to having “a place” we regularly vacationed at. Instead, I always opted to go somewhere new. But I’m starting to appreciate the idea of having “a place” that gets fully explored. Baker wasn’t really on the list, but buying the Baker Tower quickly shot it to the top. So, we’re seeing if this could be it. A six-hour drive is a lot, but it’s not impossible. I’ve already made multiple day trips (yes, driving 12 hours for 4 hours of meetings), so a weekend trip isn’t unreasonable — especially if we have a cool place to stay each time.
Here are some fun things we did:
We hiked near Philips Reservoir, where Chuck went swimming.
We played at Geiser Pollman Park.
And we visited the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center, including walking on part of the actual Oregon Trail!
Overall, it was a fantastic trip, and I’m looking forward to going back to explore even more places.