The Market Street Café & Grocery

This On the Menu is a day trip.

It starts with a scenic drive south to work up an appetite. Head to Mabton, and just keep going for another 24 miles.

And you’d better fuel up; that stretch of road to the “Bluebird Capital of the World” doesn’t include a gas station.

It does, however, feature rolling hills and wildflowers, and it’s lined with fence posts topped with wooden birdhouses. Watch out for those low-
flying bluebirds. Thousands nest in the area.

But after arriving in Bickleton, 60 miles or so south of Yakima, it’s not quite time to eat yet. Continue to work up hunger with a visit to the new Alder Creek Pioneer Association Carousel Museum, which opened in early May. The main attraction: the town’s 24 beloved, hand-carved, Armitage Herschell/Herschell Spillman carousel horses. Believed to have been built around 1900, they have been part of this community of about 100 residents since 1929.

After the museum, it’s finally time for lunch at the nearby Market Street Café & Grocery, where regulars gather at the long, wooden table in the middle of the joint, help themselves to the pot of coffee on the counter, and discuss everything from wind power to politics, like who’s going to run for the local school board this year.

The menu features American fare — burgers and fries, sandwiches and pies — at prices that won’t break the bank. The most expensive lunch item is the $7 “Pirate Burger,” piled high with bacon, ham and cheese.

There’s plenty of reading material laying around, and a table in the corner is covered with children’s toys just waiting to be picked up and played with.

Photographs and news clippings on the walls depict Bickleton’s claim to fame: its abundance of bluebirds and birdhouses. In fact, shelves are lined with blue-roofed, white, wooden boxes for sale for $15.

Might want to grab a Bickleton birdhouse to go.

RECOMMENDED LUNCH: Grilled ham and cheese on your choice of bread — we chose sourdough — with a salad for $5.

• The Market Street Café & Grocery, 106 E. Market St., is open from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday through Saturday. It’s closed Sunday and Wednesday, and has shortened hours from January through March. Call 896-2671.

• The Alder Creek Pioneer Association Carousel Museum, 4 E. Market St., is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday from April 1 to Oct. 1. Admission is $4 for adults, $1 per child, or $10 per family. Annual dues are $50 a year. Call 896-2007.