Friday Shoot-Out: Downtown store fronts

The idea of the My Town Shoot Out is to post photos of your community every Friday, and hopefully improve your photography skills. If you would like to see examples of this week's theme from other parts of the world, go here.

Photos taken in Corvallis, Oregon

One of the nice things about Corvallis is that it has a small but vibrant downtown. Nearly all of the businesses are locally owned, and it is almost completely lacking in big box stores. There isn't really a main street, but there is a 3 square block area of small shops and places to eat.

Last Saturday I parked near the riverfront and walked past some restaurants. Wow, the leaves have really flown off the trees.

Not far away I came to a favorite store: Sibling Revelry, which is filled with temptations of all sorts. My daughter-in-law's mother and aunt are the owners of this great little shop, and I love being "related" to it...

...I mean, who can resist a place that sells fedoras, right? And owls made out of pine cones?

Peak Sports is also a favorite place, selling both gear and clothing for the many outdoor sports that this area offers.

A brightly painted garden shop.

A restored theater.

Next door to that classy theater is a sketchy bar, "The Peacock," well-known for cheap drinks and the breakfast they serve for $2.50. "The Top of the Cock," as it is fondly called, is an additional space for hearing bands.

There are several good shoe stores: we take boots quite seriously this time of year, but it's important to have some fun with them.

I attracted the attention of the owner at River Jewelry when he saw me photographing these gorgeous opals through the window...he politely invited me in and proceeded to take the opals out of their case so I could have a closer look. So pretty!

I thought about adding up the amount of $$$ we have spent on running shoes here, but decided against it.

Gelato, anyone?

The men's clothing store, Melhauf's, had a sidewalk sale on OSU stuff. It's easy to find Columbia sportswear around here because the company headquarters are only 90 miles away.

There are three music shops; this one is called Fingerboard Extension, and they have a good supply of ukeleles.

Oregon Tea and Coffee Company

Of course there are several banks, but it's a bit hard to take an interesting picture of them.

There are three microbreweries, with cool little restaurants attached.

Robnett's Hardware has been in business for decades.

I took this picture at 4:00 PM but it looked like the middle of the night and I had a sudden feeling that it was time to go home. Night comes early these days!