Walla Walla, Washington – Community programs, delicious food, charming downtown and more

Photo from Fort Walla Walla Museum

I recently shared about our visit to the Fort Walla Walla Museum – but this was just a small part of what we did while we were in Walla Walla, Washington. This community was so much fun to explore. It has a small-town feel while still offering a wide variety of community programs, restaurants and a charming downtown.

With temperatures between 90 – 100 degrees we probably didn’t do as much as we would have liked outside, but here’s a highlight of some of the things we did while in town.

The first full day we were in town the local Grand Cinemas movie theater had $5 movie day (it’s every Tuesday!). All admission is $5 – even for new releases. So we went and saw the new movie, Inside Out. What an adorable movie. We all loved it and it was awesome to catch a new release in the theater at a discount.

After the movies, we spent the afternoon down at the local Jefferson Park Pool. . .

At just $1 per person, the kids packed in a whole lot of fun for just $2. Being on the road – it’s places like this that replace our backyard that we left behind in Olympia. Places where they can be active, play and just be kids!

The next day we got a lot of stuff done in the morning – laundry, work, errands. We just needed a day to catch up on life. I need days like this to keep my sanity – I can’t go, go, go everyday, I get crabby if I do. 🙂 Plus this isn’t vacation – this is our real life – and we would all eventually meltdown if didn’t slow down at times.

We spent nearly the whole day in the RV park, until later that night we headed about 12 miles south to the Milton-Freewater library (in Oregon!) for a FREE summer reading program. We got there early and did some crafts and read some books. We love libraries and it’s so fun to explore new ones!

The free summer reading program was kid’s story teller, musician Rick Huddle. He had a great message about being a hero in everyday life – caring for our friends and communities – and he had the kids laughing and engaged. My kids loved it.

Another night in town we went to Walla Walla Community College Summer Children’s Theater production of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! Admission was $16 for our whole family and the lobby was filled with free popcorn and candy – what a surprise and a treat!  The kids were on the edges of their seats the whole production – how fun to see other young children acting out one of your favorite movies in a small theater. When we walked out of the theater my son said, “Wow! That was really something!!”

I love that they are getting these unique community experiences.

One morning we treated ourselves to breakfast at Bacon & Eggs in downtown Walla Walla. We had heard this restaurant was delicious and we weren’t disappointed! Breakfast is one of my favorite meals to eat out – mostly because it’s often more affordable than lunch and dinner – and we are usually able to skip lunch when we do. Plus we all love breakfast food.

At one point we realized the couple pairs of shorts I packed for my son wasn’t going to be enough to last between laundry loads – he just loves the dirt too much. So we stopped into the Walla Walla Goodwill and found a pair of GAP shorts and a pair of Gymboree shorts – just $3.99 each! I love, love Goodwill stores and the one in Walla Walla was great. Too bad we don’t have more space or we probably would have left with more treasures. 😉

And we did spent a fun-filled afternoon walking around the charming downtown of Walla Walla. We ate lunch at Graze, where I had one of the best salads I’ve had in a long time. Meals like this are tricky to make in the trailer because they require such a variety of ingredients – and our fridge isn’t that big. I was craving a big salad and this Cobb salad hit the spot!

I enjoyed walking through the shops in downtown Walla Walla – especially the antique shops. So many fun things to look at. . .

The kids enjoyed Bright’s Candy shop! This is a must-see shop if you’re in downtown Walla Walla. In business since 1934, this shop is dreamy. You’ll see staff making fresh treats while you struggle to pick from the many sweet treats available in the store. . .

Fresh nuts. . .

Fresh chocolates, fudge, candies, caramel apples and more. . . plus some really cute gifts and party supplies. Good luck picking just one treat!

The kids enjoyed the ice cream. Lots of flavors to choose from and they put a fresh piece of chocolate on each one. They had a great sitting area in the back of the store for enjoying your treats. Next door to Bright’s is an AWESOME toy shop, Inland Octopus, that was fun to browse, too.

Walla Walla is known for it’s wine – and you’ll find a LOT of wine tasting shops downtown. We do enjoy wine and if we would have been kid-free, we would have been all over it, but this time around, it was a family-friendly trip. We did enjoy some boxed wine (gasp!) while folding laundry one night in the Blue Valley RV park – but that’s as wild as we got, ha! 🙂

So that wraps up our stay in Walla Walla, Washington. This post is a bit all over the place – but then again, that’s sort of how our stay was here. We really enjoyed the many, many community activities, restaurants and people in Walla Walla and hope to come back around in the future!

Do you have a favorite Walla Walla restaurant, store, attraction or activity? I’d love to hear about it!