A Long Lingering Evening in Salem

The moment of the summer solstice this year, around 10 pm last night Pacific Time, found me in an upscale lively wine bar in Salem.

"I can't believe how much this town has changed," I told my friend. "They've really juiced it up."

I could picture in my mind what used to be on the exact location of the wine bar, right across the street from the public library on Liberty Street, where the it crosses the creek. There was an abandoned hotel or restaurant with a round roof. It just sat there vacant and rotted while I walked past it, over and over, on my way to my apartment on the south side of Bush Pasture Park.

My friend had lived there quite a while too. We talked about the changes of the town, and why it was still "Salem" after all these years.

"We used to call it Stalem." My friend had never heard that one.

But the wine bar (Orupa, it's called), is nothing to be ashamed to about. The "baseball" cut steak (it mystified both of us when the waiter called it that) was delicious with two glasses of Pinot Noir. If you're going to spend an evening in Salem, this was it.