NW Getaway: Walla Walla
When I was a child living in Colville, Washington, my second favorite thing about the town of Walla Walla, about four hours south of us, was saying the words Walla Walla. It sounded more like a mythical chant or a cartoon character than an American city. My very favorite thing, though, was that my grandparents lived there. The words “Walla Walla” were synonymous with dips in their pool and seeing the dogwood tree bloom in their backyard. Beyond the world of my grandparents’ comfortable home, which they only lived in for a few short years, I was oblivious to the beauty and richness of the broader Blue Mountain valley that has transformed Walla Walla in the years since they lived there into a seriously stunning vacation destination.
My husband and I visited there in May—a welcome getaway for just the two of us. We noted no high rises as we approached the city of Walla Walla, but instead a skyline of historic buildings like The Marcus Whitman Hotel, built in the 1920s, a water tower and a handful of churches—all backdropped by the Blue Mountains to the east. It’s not what rises above the ground that makes this place special, but what’s in the ground.
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