Village Green Resort, Cottage Grove, Oregon

The Autumn Walk, The Mahogany Garden, The Labyrinth, The Children’s Garden, The Tropicana, The Golden Garden, The Twilight Garden, The Bird Habitat, The Hidden Garden, Xeri Rock Hil, The Woodland, The Fragrance Garden, and The Winter Garden.   These are all part of the self-guided walking tour of the Village Green Gardens.  As a late birthday gift, we took the short 2-hour drive to Cottage Grove, Oregon and spent 2 nights at the Village Green Resort.  

A Groupon coupon made the stay very affordable as it included a $30 per night dinner credit along with a complimentary breakfast.  The first night we opted to eat dinner in the Fireside Lounge.  Very clean and food presentation was good.  I opted for the fish and chips accompanied by a local light beer.  Fish was very fresh and perfectly cooked.  Was quite good.  We did not use the entire $30. 

When we first opened the door to our room I was immediately struck by the ‘retro’ feel.  The sink, tub and tile were pink but the toilet was white.  After checking with the front desk I discovered that the property was indeed built in the early 1960’s.

That certainly explained the feel of the room.  We had a nice fenced patio seating area with 2 chairs and a table.  It was very quiet and serene.  We found this true for the property.  Perhaps it was because school was back in session.  Whatever the reason, it was wonderfully relaxing. 

Late in the afternoon of our arrival we decided to take the self-guided walking tour of the 14-acre gardens.  It was nice but certainly not a Butchart Gardens by any means.  Very few flowers but a nice walk and they did reference trees and vegetation along the way.  

Our first morning we opted to do a driving tour of the 6 covered bridges in the area. 

Dating from the 1850’s, the trip took about 2 hours, was approximately 25 miles in duration and led us to Centennial Bridge, Swinging Bridge, Chambers Bridge, Mosby Creek Bridge, Stewart Bridge, Dorena Bridge and Currin Bridge.  At one time there were an estimated 450 covered bridges in the state of Oregon.  By 1977 the number dwindled to 56.  Oregon now has the largest collection of covered bridges in the West and one of the largest in the nation.  With 20 covered bridges, Lane County has the distinction of possessing more covered brides than any other other county west of the Mississippi, and Cottage Grove has the most of any town in Lane County.

Having grown up in the Rogue Valley I was surprised at how much I learned from this short drive.  The brochure that we received from the hotel desk had a smartphone bar code scan that you can use if you are ‘tech’ savvy.  

In the afternoon we decided to take in a  vineyard and winery.  We drove the short 5 miles over to Saginaw Vineyard which was a very small 14-acre privately owned farm.  We did a sampling of 10 wines for FREE by Cheryl Byler, the owner of the vineyard.  She was a true delight to talk with. They are located at 80247 Delight Valley School Road, Cottage Grove, Oregon. 

As we turned down the dirt road, following the Saginaw Vineyard signs, I was thinking that we were probably on the wrong road.  It certainly wasn’t what we had expected.  Driving past the family farm and pulling into the ‘tasting room’ was not the same as driving to one of the vineyards in the Applegate Valley.  Nonetheless, it proved to be a good stop and we purchased a couple bottles of their specially blended wines.  Although a little sweet, I enjoyed the blackberry wine. 

Since we had a $30 dinner credit, the evening dinner was back at the Village Green in the Seasons At The Green Restaurant.  Their dinner menu was extensive and included appetizers of Crab Cakes, Toasted Hazelnut Encrusted Goat Cheese, Steamed Manila Crabs and Shrimp Scampi.  We opted for the Beef Stroganoff entree’ as I am not a hugh red meat fan.  They did offer Surf and Turf for $25, New York steak for $22 and Top Sirloin for $18.   We were glad to have the $30 dinner credit to help offset our expense.  Server was prompt and attentive. Food was delivered in a timely fashion, was well plated and had excellent taste. 

I could certainly recommend this if you can find a GROUPON coupon.  At one time I am sure this place truly was a RESORT but right now I could not recommend it as a RESORT but simply a hotel with some amenities.