Unofficial capitals of the world.

Hej kompisar.
Drunk Fox here.  Today, I went on an exploration of Albany, Oregon.  The first stop (after lunch) on all of my adventures is the local museum to get an overview of the area.  Couple things I learned at the museum.
1) Albany, Oregon was named after Albany, New York (huh, I would have thought it was the other way around).
2) Albany is the county seat of Linn County and more importantly "the unofficial grass seed capital of the world".
3) Albany is the self proclaimed "rare earth metals of the world" capital.  Albany produces zirconium, hafnium, and titanium.

Let's travel back to 1845.   Mr. Abner Hackleman was the first European settler in Albany.  He was a farmer from Iowa who came out to get a land claim and brought his friend Hiriam Snead to get another claim for his son.  The next year he goes back to Iowa to get the family and dies on passage.  Fast forward to 1847 and the Monteith Brothers from Albany, New York take Oregon Trail to Oregon. They buy the land claims from Snead for $400 and a horse and platted 60 acres for the town site.  The rest is history.

Here I am in front of the Monteith's house in downtown Albany.  The house is the most authentically restored pioneer home in Oregon (circa 1849).  It has stood the test of time. 

Speaking of the Monteith family.  Here I am enjoying this nice bench at Monteith park.  The Willamette river is behind me and that bridge is for highway 20.  Highway 20 travels from Oregon to Boston. 

Lots of old buildings in downtown. The building on the right used to be a boarding house on the top floor and a grocer on the bottom.  The remodeled the boarding house part to one large apartment. 

In San Francisco there is a nice hotel (or so I hear) called the St. Francis.  Here I am posing in front of the St. Francis in Albany. 

This looks like the kind of alley Sandy's gramma would go for a back alley deal.  I wonder if I can find some cheap chicken to bring home to the gang?

Popular places to visit in Albany? Ok, here is Drunk Fox's spot #1.  Burger Queen, not to be confused with a similar sounding burger restaurant. 

The original breakfast (now serving lunch).  According to the sign it's better than grandma's. We'll see about that.  

My favorite place.  It's a little seedy and sketchy but that's how I roll. Do you see it?  Fox Den.  Fox Fun. 

So now that you are all excited to see Albany you are probably asking yourself, "how do I get there?"  Good question.  Albany has the oldest operating airport west of the Mississippi (another story for another day).  No commercial service though.

 Amtrak serves Albany.  Don't fall asleep on the train, you might miss the stop.

 If you are more adventurous you can ride the rails and take a freight train to Albany.  Looks like Union Pacific serves Albany.   Jerry and Ben, this might be your preferred mode of transportation since you two love trains.

 One last think about Albany is they have a convenience store called Dari Mart that sells farm fresh ice cream in their stores from local farms.  What a way to end the day.

Extreme closeup, Eh?