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About Becky St. Clair: |
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 Becky St. Clair came to the Walla Walla Valley nearly ten years ago to attend college, and more quickly than she imagined she would, began considering the valley "home." After college she and her husband never left, settling down in an old country home that had been in the previous owner's family for decades, and after a few years added a little girl to their lives. Over the years they've housed three budgees (parakeets) and a dog; only the mutt, Raina, remains, excepting school vacations when they fish-sit Becky's college-student-sister's two goldfish, Calypso and Zero.
Becky currently works in public relations for a local non-profit and loves every minute of it. She enjoys window shopping on Main Street, taking her young daughter to the many local parks, and watching the candy-maker create the art pieces that are the chocolates at Bright's Candies. She also loves taking photos, and maintains a Walla Walla Valley photo blog.
Someday Becky hopes to get the chance to go up in a hot air balloon, is over 3/4 of the way to her lifetime goal of visiting all 50 states, and nurses a passion for travel and culture. She has visited 11 different countries and as a young teenager once had over 30 pen-pals from around the world. If she could eat one food for the rest of her life she would choose curry. As the oldest of three girls, Becky loves to boss people around, talk about herself and consider herself important (which is probably why she regularly maintains no fewer than four personal blogs). Fortunately she has a husband who was a middle child and reminds her of the (very different) truth on a regular basis, keeping her from making an absolute fool of herself...most of the time. |
Recent Posts: |
Posted by: Becky St. Clair in Downtown on
Aug 02, 2011
 The city of Walla Walla has a life of its own. I mean, aside from the tourists hunting for what they've heard are the "must-see" spots downtown, the drivers vying for a parking spot on Main Street, and college students cruising on their bikes between their favorite coffee shop and Earthlight Books, Walla Walla breathes and speaks of its own accord, and sometimes I have to remind myself just to listen.
The other day I took a walk down Main Street mid-afternoon, and the smells slipping out of the restaurants and shops whenever anyone entered or left intoxicated me.
Wine. Perfume. Fresh chocolate. Leather and air conditioning. Coffee.
At Land Title Plaza, where 2nd and Main form a T at the heart of the city center, the Walla Walla River sang and laughed as it skipped by underneath my feet. Unnoticed except by tourists, children, and geocachers, the river is mostly underground in the city. It does, however, show its playful face in a few places, including the open area at Land Title Plaza.
Then there are the people. Ah, yes...they are important, too. They are the lifeblood of the community we call "home."
 I'm married to a librarian. From a young age, he found joy in organizing and reorganizing anything he could find, including his Matchbox cars and baseball cards. Especially his baseball cards. He had dozens of them, and now, at nearly 30, he has hundreds. He doesn't collect them for their monetary value; instead he collects them simply to be able to keep current with the cards he has, and to be able to better organize his teams. This same personality trait caused us to spend two hours one evening pulling all of our books off their shelves (we own a lot of them; we were both English majors in college), organizing them according to genre, and then alphabetically by the author's last name. We even started putting them into an online personal library program, and stopped just short of printing out our own Library of Congress labels to put on the book spines. That is why places like Earthlight Books, a used book shop at the east end of Main Street in Walla Walla, are dangerous places for us to visit. This shop is a popular haunt for many people I know; it practically whispers their name anytime they're near downtown, and, like a true magical entity, Earthlight Books is difficult to refuse.
 Last week my dad and I took my daughter the coolest house ever. One room is a party room with a big, butterfly-shaped table. Across the hall is a miniature Italian restaurant, stocked with cheese, pasta, vegetables, and every kitchen appliance imaginable (including an espresso machine). Next door is the veterinarian's office, where exotic animals like owls, toucans, seals, and even a dinosaur fill the cages next to cats, dogs, birds and lizards. Across the hall from that is the grocery store, complete with pint-sized shopping carts and functioning produce scales. Shelves and baskets host mounds of plastic pears, tomatoes, loaves of French bread, cans of tomato sauce, jars of pickles, and boxes of crackers. In two large rooms nearby is a large artificial tree you can get inside and peer out through a knot-hole, musical instruments, a dress-up stage where you can be on TV, a plethora of puppets, miniature tool benches, a painting corner, water tables where you can shovel sediment into islands to divert the "river," a "fishing" hole, miniature dams, and more. And I haven't even told you about the backyard yet. (It features playground equipment, an old fire truck, a huge wooden boat, and a place to build your own miniature log cabin.)
Posted by: Becky St. Clair in Food, Business on
Dec 15, 2010
 Ever wondered what an oak tree would taste like in a truffle? How about chili pepper? Mango citrus? Lavender? I'll be honest and say I never did, but the answers are delicious, strangely sweet, luscious and perfect, respectively. Just in case you were wondering.
With the cooler weather settling in as the official end of autumn acclimates us for a Walla Walla winter, many minds turn their thoughts to indoor activities. The Walla Walla Valley offers plenty of opportunities for outdoor entertainment in the warmer months - farmer's market, an aviary, the fair, multiple parks, a gorgeous Main street for perusing on foot - but when winter arrives, it's time to evaluate options for indoor diversions.
Posted by: Becky St. Clair in Tradition on
Dec 08, 2010
I love traditions. Especially when it comes to Christmas. When I was a kid, my sisters and I started one when we got out the sleeping bags and camped out under the Christmas tree in the living room on Christmas Eve. I'd read to them: "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "The Night Before Christmas," and eventually, "Rudolph's Second Christmas" (as is typical with sequels, it's not as good as the first). Then we'd fall asleep in the glow of the multi-coloured Christmas lights, visions of something more akin to French toast than sugar plums dancing in our heads. As a parent, I have every intention of starting holiday traditions with my own children (my first and only is 16 months old, so she's not quite ready for them yet). They may include attending midnight mass on Christmas Eve, putting up the Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving, making and decorating sugar cookies to give to the neighbours, or things I've yet to think of. Every town has its own traditions as well, and Walla Walla is no exception. For instance, each year at the beginning of December hundreds of locals gather downtown to watch the Christmas tree light up for the first time that season, coupled with a brilliant display of lights and music in the annual Parade of Lights. Walla Walla University in College Place just brought back its age-old tradition of a tree-lighting ceremony, and it includes cookies and hot drinks, as well as Christmas music, all of which makes me giddy with holiday excitement like a 5-year-old on Christmas morning. Which is only appropriate, seeing as how I still sleep under the Christmas tree with my sisters on Christmas Eve when we're at home.
Posted by: Becky St. Clair in Tradition on
Nov 08, 2010
 Last winter I wrote about my first experience choosing a Christmas tree from Klickers, a popular local farm located just east of Walla Walla Community College. As I mentioned in that blog, Christmas isn't the only time you can enjoy the farm's charms. Autumn is a lovely time to visit Klickers, since they have a beautiful selection of pumpkins, a hay pile to climb with a slide to bring you back down, classic trucks kids can climb inside and pretend to drive, and dried corn stalks to make any front porch more festive. Last year at this time my husband and I had a 3-month-old baby girl. Some friends of ours had a little girl who was only a day older, and we decided to take advantage of the sunny fall days and explore Klickers. The girls weren't quite old enough to smile yet, and my daughter even had a hard time holding her head up still, so we have a picture of what looks like my daughter being blessed in a pumpkin patch. Gotta love it. This year we went back, and the good news was we had the whole place to ourselves. The bad news was that the reason for that was because it was raining pretty good and everything was muddy. We didn't care - we walked around and took pictures anyway. Comparing photos later was a blast; our girls have grown up so much in a year! The great thing? I do believe we've started a tradition.
Posted by: Becky St. Clair in Culture on
Sep 06, 2010
 There are so many awesome things about the Walla Walla Valley that I could write dozens of blogs; I have a hard time focusing on just one thing each month. A visit to Seattle this past weekend, however, reminded me of how incredible Walla Walla's location is.
The Walla Walla Valley is pretty much equidistant from any of the region's major metropolitan areas. You can reach Spokane, Wash., with a three-hour drive, and Boise, Idaho, Seattle, Wash., and Portland, Ore., are all four-hour drives.
This information is helpful if you are, for some silly reason, itching to get out of the valley. Granted, sometimes even the best places on earth make a person stir crazy if they stay too long; a weekend trip to one of those four cities should help cure any cabin fever symptoms one is feeling from spending so many pleasant days in Walla Walla.
 Living in the Pacific Northwest has really opened my eyes to a lot of things I probably wouldn't otherwise have thought of. Being this close to Portland, Ore., which is probably one of the "green"-est cities in the country, makes it difficult to not consider the environment in nearly everything I do. And fortunately, the residents of the Walla Walla Valley do a fabulous job of following the larger city's example.
I've written in the past about the wind turbines that have made the hills to the west of the valley iconic. While it is of course on a much smaller scale than Portland, the Walla Walla Valley is continually taking steps toward becoming as "green" as it can be, and this is just one more reason I love being able to call this valley home. With the warmer weather in the spring and summer come not only lovebirds and lilacs, but also bicycles on nearly every artery and side street in the valley. I frequently see parents pulling kids in bike trailers, couples biking down a country road, groups of street bike racers in colourful jerseys, and college students with Wal-Mart bags swinging from their handlebars. I also know several people who regularly opt for the two-wheel option when headed to work, leaving their cars at home. Wind turbines, public transportation, green space, recycling programs, an environmentally conscious public... We may not be a big city, but we can make a big difference by the choices we make. Walla Walla, you're doing it right.
Posted by: Becky St. Clair in Food on
Jul 22, 2010
 I love eating outside. I really don't know why except that it's different from the "norm" and makes me feel kind of trendy and cool (a feeling I'm not typically given the chance to enjoy). The great thing is that it seems most eateries in the Walla Walla area offer outdoor seating, whether it's a quick meal at Pita Pit or five-star dining at Saffron Mediterranean Kitchen. And of course you're not a "real" coffee shop if you don't offer patrons a place to don their sunglasses and people-watch from behind the New York Times.
This time of year is perfect for patio seating, too. And this year, it's been extra amazing. True, the sweater weather clung on a little longer than even I, a fully-in-favor-of-clothing and anti-summer-style kind of person would have liked, but the end of June was fantastic. I can handle 75-80 degrees with a light breeze from the south. Bring it on!
Though I can't claim to have tried every available outdoor seating venue in the Walla Walla Valley, I have utilized quite a few, and I want to share some of my favorites with you (in no particular order).
Posted by: Becky St. Clair in Scenery, Events on
May 17, 2010
 When I was in college, I made a list of things I want to do before I die. There are simple things, such as stop by the large antiques and fruit stand on the freeway between Walla Walla and Yakima, or driving a tractor. Then there are things I’ve already done, such as visit London, or become a mother. And finally, there are the complicated things; things that may or may not present an opportunity between now and when I’m laid to rest. Things like riding in a hot air balloon.
The Walla Walla Balloon Stampede is one of those traditions that’s been around longer than I have. It’s an automatic mood-lifter to head to work and discover two dozen hot air balloons watching your commute from the clouds. As you get closer to them, the colours stand out: Bright blues, brilliant reds, stunning greens, cheerful yellows, royal purples and shimmering golds. I always wonder about the people in the baskets beneath those bewitching orbs drifting high above my head. How old are they? How many are in each one? Where are they from? What made them buy a balloon? Where did they learn to fly one? How do they know each other? When will they take me up?
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