Coming to town for TEDxSalem? Here’s what else you could do

Look, we’re a lit­tle biased. We live in Salem. We love Salem. We think Salem rocks, which is why so many of us work so hard to bring you TEDxSalem, as a show­case for just how cool this city, and our com­mu­ni­ty, is.

But if you’re vis­it­ing us from out-of-town, (wel­come!) you might be won­der­ing: What else is there to do here?

We have some ideas for you.

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The Capi­tol, obvi­ous­ly. Sort of a no-brain­er, but we’d be remiss not to include it. Guid­ed tours occur on week­days only, but it’s worth wan­der­ing in just to see the rotun­da.

The His­toric Elsi­nore The­ater. Oth­er­wise known as the set­ting of TEDxSalem 2014! This beau­ti­ful old the­ater shows clas­sic films, sym­phon­ic per­for­mances and nation­al tour­ing enter­tain­ment.

Eat your way through down­town. You’ll already be down­town for TEDxSalem, so why not do some explor­ing? We have clas­sic, long-stand­ing lunch coun­ters, qual­i­ty Ital­ian, Span­ish and French restau­rants, local­ly beloved estab­lish­ments and cozy cof­fee shops.

Head to the river­front. You could stroll the pedes­tri­an bridge, go for a spin on the Carousel or just soak up the atmos­phere. Or take a dri­ve to sprawl­ing and gor­geous Bush Park and Minto-Brown.

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Taste the best wine Ore­gon has to offer. We’re pret­ty par­tial to Pinots. There are dozens of world class vine­yards and winer­ies just out­side city lim­its, many of them offer­ing wood-fire piz­zas, cheese plates or full kitchen options. Yum!

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Take in a show, comedic or musi­cal. The options are darn near end­less. There’s fam­i­ly-friend­ly improv at Capi­tol City, the hottest indie films at Salem Cin­e­ma, or the lat­est musi­cal at the Pen­ta­cle The­atre (Addams Fam­i­ly launch­es the same week­end as TEDxSalem!).

Feel col­le­giate at Willamette. Our local uni­ver­si­ty has one gor­geous cam­pus, with wind­ing trails and autumn leaves just beg­ging for a leisure­ly stroll.

Art? Check. His­to­ry? Check. See the lat­est exhib­it at the Hal­lie Ford Muse­um of Art, peruse the finest pieces for sale at the Bush Barn Art Cen­ter, see the film-famous Ore­gon State Hos­pi­tal muse­um or soak up local his­to­ry at the Willamette Her­itage Cen­ter.

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If wine isn’t your thing, maybe beer is? Our small but wild­ly tal­ent­ed (and deli­cious) col­lec­tion of brew­eries are win­ning awards and mak­ing head­lines.

Still need a place to stay? May we rec­om­mend the Grand Hotel in down­town Salem? Not only is it right next door to the Con­ven­tion Cen­ter, but TEDxSalem atten­dees get a dis­count! Just men­tion that you’ll be at the con­fer­ence and get a room for $129, plus tax.

Look­ing for oth­er must-see tips about Salem? Ask any of our vol­un­teers or team mem­bers! Still need tick­ets for TEDxSalem? Nev­er fear, they’re still avail­able online.