Senior Living in Medford Oregon

September 16, 2016 Things to Do in Southern Oregon

A Southern Oregon city with an emphasis on senior living is Medford. From the ground up it has become a haven for those in their golden years.  Sporting a large number of assisted care and full-fledged retirement mega-communities, Medford is a vibrant community with numerous top-level medical facilities, great weather and large variety of social, cultural and recreational things to do.

Rogue Valley Manor

Medford is the longtime home of the nationally recognized Rogue Valley Manor (RVM). This major facility helped to put Medford on the senior services map decades ago.  It is a fully-integrated senior community known as a Continuing Care Retirement Community (CCRC).  RVM goes back to the mid-fifties when a diverse group of religious leaders came together to address the needs of the senior community of Southern Oregon.  Eventually the formation of a not-for-profit corporation called Pacific Retirement Services that runs RVM and several other CCRC’s around the nation has evolved.  The experience this community has brought to Southern Oregon helped to establish Medford as a progressive senior-focused city.  It has since become one of the premier retirement communities in the nation with over 900 residents calling RVM home. RVM is the first thing you notice when you enter Medford from the south.  Perched high on a hill to the east of interstate route I-5, RVM is surrounded by a beautiful private golf course, lots of trees and the Manor’s high-end housing complex.  At the very top of the hill, the large multi-story residential building dominate the hillside.  Residents get to look over the entire Rogue Valley from their 688 acre campus.  Virtually every need is provided by this world-class facility, providing all levels of care throughout the aging process.

Rogue Valley Mall

The Rogue Valley Mall offers seniors a perfect indoor, temperature-contolled place to shop, eat, exercise and enjoy friend and family gatherings. With tons of outdoor parking and bus service provided from the rest of the valley, seniors regularity enjoy this wonderful indoor space when the weather is bad or just to socialize and get away from home.  Major anchor stores such as Macy’s, Kohl’s, Bed Bath & Beyond and JC Pennies are all part of this southern Oregon mall experience.  Many dozen more smaller support stores are also resident at the mall.  The food court offers a variety of Italian, Mexican, Asian, American and natural food choices.   Check this link for a complete list of stores at RVM. https://www.roguevalleymall.com/en/directory.html

Northgate Marketplace

New Shopping centers are popping up all over the Rogue Valley. Close to the Rogue Valley Mall is one of the newer centers known as Northgate Marketplace featuring anchor clients such as REI, Trader Joe’s, Petco and Ulta.  Of course there are many additional support stores located in this outdoor shopping plaza. A new Northgate Marketplace phase two is currently being built as of this writing with anchor stores to include, HomeGoods, The RAM, DICK’S Sporting Goods and Field & Stream. Additional smaller storefronts will be included in phase two.  Several restaurants are also planned for this phase to further enhance the Medford dining experience.

Cultural – Ashland Shakespeare Festival

The culture of Southern Oregon is alive and well. Only a few minutes away in the quaint little town of Ashland is the nationally renowned Ashland Shakespeare Festival. This not-for-profit theatre company was one of the nation’s first, founded all the way back in 1935.  Set amongst the idyllic small town local forested hills next door to the incredible Lithia Park, small town arts and craft shops and expensive homes, you could not ask for a better setting. A cast of professional actors can hold their own with the best of theatre company’s from around the world.  They perform from February through November and specialize in very impressive presentations of the master bard’s plays. Various plays from other classic writers, as well as modern and contemporary work and world premieres are also a regular part of the lineup.  This is the real deal with full costume casts utilizing three performance venues, including two indoor theatres called the Angus Bowmer and Thomas Theatres and an Elizabethan outdoor theater called the Allen Elizabethan. If you want culture and world-class entertainment, no other small town holds a candle to Ashland, Oregon only a fifteen minute drive from Medford.

Nature and Parks

Camping, fishing, rafting, hiking, mountain biking and a host of outdoor activities await you in the Medford area. If you are an outdoor person, then the variety of things to do in and around the Medford area are almost limitless. Crater Lake is the pride of Oregon as the area’s premier tourist destination. Visited by people from around the world, it’s difficult not to have your breath taken away on your first view of this impressive lake once a volcano.  The Oregon coast is one of the most impressive coastlines in the country.  The coast towns are only a couple hours away from Medford.

Wine Tasting

France’s Bordeaux, Alsace, Burgundy; Italy’s Piedmont, Tuscany, Lombardy; California’s Napa Valley and Central Coast. These well-known regions have developed some of the finest wines in the world. Many wineries in Medford and southern Oregon have won numerous awards and have developed a high level of credibility within the wine community. These wineries are becoming true world-class wine competitors on par with some of the most popular territories named above. With warm days, cool nights significant sun, good water conditions and good rainfall in the winter months along with little rain during the summer period, the region provides one of the most diverse wine growing areas in the entire world. Wine producers from outside the area have historically purchased grapes from this area for many decades prior to the region standing on its own.   Nothing beats an afternoon of wine tasting along meandering country roadways in the region.  The southern Oregon area boasts over 70 varieties of wine just waiting for a taste from wine coinsures and passionate day trippers alike.  If you decide to retire in the region, you will have the opportunity to wine taste along this scenic Tuscany-like backdrop whenever you get the erg for an afternoon of wine and countryside escapades.

Seven Feathers Casino, Showroom, Resort/Hotel

A long-time popular destination for Medford and southern Oregon seniors has been the Seven Feather’s Casino/Resort.   Here you can test your luck at the full-featured Indian casino that includes all of the Las Vegas favorites such as baccarat, poker, pai gow, poker, 21, keno, the roulette wheel, bingo, craps and over 1000 slot machines. Just a little over an hour from Medford on I-5, in a hilly and picturesque canyon region. If you choose, you can spend the night in one of the resorts 300 guest rooms.  Hotel amenities include an indoor heated pool, hot tubs and a sauna. There is even a wonderful day spa incorporated into this full-featured resort for the complete pampering treatment.  The rooms include flat-screen TVs, coffeemakers, and free Wi-Fi. Suite rooms are available with even more amenities such as a separate sitting room area. For those wishing to bring their own living quarters, there is a full hookup RV park.  The resort also features a convention center/meeting room with 25,000 square feet of space.  Regular, top-billed celebrities give memorable performances at this facility. Additional boxing and special sporting events are held in this venue with a sold-out Super bowl party, complete with numerous giant projection television sets and high quality food and snacks included in the very reasonable entrance price.

Wildlife Safari

Located only 2 hours from the Medford area is a wild animal drive through park that will rekindle the child’s heart of many a senior.  If you missed going to Africa then Wildlife Safari is the next best thing.  Over 600 acres of wild animals roam this open reserve. From lions to elephants, you get to drive amongst the animals as you watch them in a setting similar to their native habitat.  There are literally hundreds of animals that call this park their home. A petting zone is part of the adventure for the smaller animal lovers.

The Britt Festival

Tucked away in the old-fashioned 1850s gold rush town of Jacksonville, the Britt Festival goes back many decades as one of the area’s first quality venues for attracting top-billed acts. An impeccable outdoor venue, the Britt brings top artists from jazz, blues, rock, pop, country, folk, classical and bluegrass music to a naturally-formed amphitheater stage that is second to none. Set against fantastic southern Oregon farm and wine country vistas, the Britt Festival has gained a reputation as a more quiet and laid back spot for many world-class artists. Britt is so popular that it brings many thousands of visitors from outside the area to enjoy their favorite artists at a venue. They enjoy a unique outdoor music experience that makes them feel as if they traveled back in time. Only a few minutes’ drive from Medford, seniors find the facility a fantastic opportunity to become entrenched in the music of their favorite artists. Started in1963 by Portland conductor John Trudeau and a friend, the festival exists on the estate of famed local historic photographer Peter Britt. An inspired idea hurriedly brought together a rag-tag stage constructed of plywood and lighting made of tin cans. Today, the festival has evolved to become a topnotch, totally professional venue with a new professional pavilion in 1978. The park is now publically owned by Jackson County. The venue has eating for 2,200 enabling it to draw top-named acts.