Monmouth - Salem's Odd Little Neighbor

Okay, so I don't want to offend any Monmouthonians (Monmouthites? Monmouthers?), but it is an odd town. And I don't mean that in a bad way. It's just quirky. Every town has it's little quirks and Monmouth is full of them.

I started my Master's program over at Western Oregon University this summer and started up again this week for fall term. I did my undergrad there as well, so it's really fun to be back and I really do love being in Monmouth. Like I said, it's odd. Well, I happen to like odd.

You've got this town that has been dry for forever and a day and only just recently started allowing beer and wine to be sold within the town limits. It's got a University in the town, but a very small one. It's got a few restaurants most of which are some type of asian cuisine or fast food. A good half of the town is made up of the campus and a large portion of the rest of it is rental homes for students. It's just a funny little place that you can't help but love. Main street is straight out of a movie. I drove through last night and even noticed that there was a farmer's market still going strong at 7:00 pm! We don't even have that in Salem!

The other thing I discovered was Miyoma Sushi restaurant. I was astounded! Not because I didn't expect Monmouth to have good sushi, after all, they have the best teriyaki in the valley. I was astounded because there were very few other people in the place! Where were they? This place has excellent sushi and some pretty decent prices. They even made me some seared salmon sashimi with the brand new blow-torch they had just gotten even though it wasn't on the menu.

I don't know why the place wasn't packed. Possibly because there are only a few people in this town and they can't all eat sushi every night. Well, Salem, take advantage of this and head out to Monmouth for a sushi dinner some night. I don't think you'll be disappointed.