The Inland Empire's name is misleading in one major sense - it's no empire. Empires have a central palace or mansion from which all life radiates. If a city or metropolitan area is an "empire" then its commercial business districts with office buildings, city hall's, libraries, restaurants, bars, museums, sports stadiums, etc. would be it's palace. The Inland Empire doesn't have any of that. The Inland Empire is a collection of towns thrown together, not thrown around central hub, that seems to lack any cultural or historical shared experiences to bring everyone together. There's this strange sense of openness.
What to do in The Inland Empire? A search of local activities and "Best ofs..." turns up a pretty disappointing list: The #2 Sports Bar: Applebee's. The #3 Breakfast Spot: Denny's. (I checked in 2020 and the #1 breakfast spot? IHOP. Seriously.) Come on Inland Empire. There's more here than that. Not much. But there is more.
What to do in The Inland Empire? A search of local activities and "Best ofs..." turns up a pretty disappointing list: The #2 Sports Bar: Applebee's. The #3 Breakfast Spot: Denny's. (I checked in 2020 and the #1 breakfast spot? IHOP. Seriously.) Come on Inland Empire. There's more here than that. Not much. But there is more.
The LA Metropolitan area, consisting of LA and Orange counties, has 13.3M people making it the second largest metropolitan area in the US. The Inland Empire, consisting of San Bernadino and Riverside Counties, is its own metropolitan area of 4.5M people. It is 13th largest metropolitan area in the US. How many Americans know that? Without a sports team, without a downtown core and skyline, most Americans have no idea what or even where the Inland Empire is. To put this in perspective it would be like if people hadn't ever heard of Phoenix, San Francisco, Boston or Atlanta. Which is crazy.
I'm always amazed when I travel through China and India of the cities with populations over 1,000,000 that I've never heard of. Both countries have sprawling metropolises that get crowded out by Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta. It's hard to believe that a place like that could exist in the U.S. California and the Inland Empire is similar, only instead of a 1M person threshold a 100K threshold is more appropriate. The Inland Empire alone has eleven cities with a population over 100,000:
I'm always amazed when I travel through China and India of the cities with populations over 1,000,000 that I've never heard of. Both countries have sprawling metropolises that get crowded out by Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta. It's hard to believe that a place like that could exist in the U.S. California and the Inland Empire is similar, only instead of a 1M person threshold a 100K threshold is more appropriate. The Inland Empire alone has eleven cities with a population over 100,000:
- Riverside: 322,424
- San Bernadino: 216,108
- Fontana: 207,460
- Moreno Valley: 204,198
- Rancho Cucamonga: 175,236
- Ontario: 171,214
- Corona: 164,226
- Temecula: 112,011
- Murrieta: 109,830
- Rialto: 103,132
- Jurupa Valley: 100,314
RIVERSIDE
Would anyone actually visit Riverside over Pittsburgh? I'll go ahead and say no. Pittsburgh has more to see, do, eat, and drink. Riverside has a large Spanish Mission Church and a block away is the Mission Inn - site of Richard Nixon's wedding. It's hosted nearly every President over the years and is an opulent hotel but I wouldn't plan a trip around Riverside.
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SAN BERNARDINO
San Bernandino is the Inland Empire city I'm most familiar with. It has more of a city feel than Riverside although there's patches of nothingness around the city's airport. San Bernandino is the first town west of the desert and effectively served as a welcoming point for travelers heading to Los Angeles along Route 66. The McDonald Brothers opened their first hamburger barbecue joint along Route 66. Today he location is an un-official McDonald's museum holding all sorts of memorabilia and knick knacks.
McDonald's spawned a cottage industry of hamburger restaurants in San Bernardino area. The hamburger restaurant is similar to how towns around Philadelphia all have their own pizza shops. I dedicated a month-long trip to San Berandino to finding the perfect hamburger: Hamburger Taste Test.
McDonald's spawned a cottage industry of hamburger restaurants in San Bernardino area. The hamburger restaurant is similar to how towns around Philadelphia all have their own pizza shops. I dedicated a month-long trip to San Berandino to finding the perfect hamburger: Hamburger Taste Test.
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McDonald's isn't the only fast food chain with its birth in San Bernardino. I guy named Glen Bell operated a burger stand across the street from the Mitla Cafe, a required dining stop along Route 66. Bell saw lines out the door for Mitla's Cafe tacos and decided to open Taco Bell. As you can tell from the images below, there is nothing Taco Bell-esqe about the Mitla experience - that crazy combo plate below looks as amazing in the photo as it did several years ago.
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These are two classic views of San Bernardino / Inland Empire. Homes tend to be packed together...except where they aren't packed together. There's odd zoning that leaves to a patch work of open spaces. The common theme of residential, commercial, and open areas is that there's always great views of mountains. The bottom right view is what I see every time I get onto Baseline Road from my brother and sister-in-laws house. It's a great shot of the Inland Empire and an incredible straight road that runs for thirty miles connecting all the Inland Empire towns above the I-10.
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San Bernardino has a great history - this was the welcoming town after Americans made the long haul across the country to the West Coast. A lot of people decided to stop here and make it their permanent home. Thus there's a great collection of older homes and other historical landmarks. I struggled mightily to discover what to see and do here and then came across this article: A Historical Tour of San Bernardino. Problem of finding what to see and do solved.
First up is the Arrowhead Country Club. I came out this way to find an arrowhead on the mountain side. "Resting on the southern slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains is a strange spectacle that has been around possibly for centuries. As if branded onto the mountainside above the city of San Bernardino, there is a near-perfect figure of an arrowhead pointing downward. Practically everyone has seen it, especially while traveling up Highway 18 toward the mountain communities." I didn't see it because I probably didn't drive far enough north on Route 18. The Country Club had a cool mid-century design and I saw a Native American statue too.
First up is the Arrowhead Country Club. I came out this way to find an arrowhead on the mountain side. "Resting on the southern slopes of the San Bernardino Mountains is a strange spectacle that has been around possibly for centuries. As if branded onto the mountainside above the city of San Bernardino, there is a near-perfect figure of an arrowhead pointing downward. Practically everyone has seen it, especially while traveling up Highway 18 toward the mountain communities." I didn't see it because I probably didn't drive far enough north on Route 18. The Country Club had a cool mid-century design and I saw a Native American statue too.
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The San Bernardino Tour continues through a few historical "Mansion" neighborhoods.
Per the article "Many local bankers, doctors and other civic leaders have lived and continue to do so on this street as well as a few of the side streets. Legendary movie actress, Dorothy Lamour once lived on Bernard Way, which intersects Valencia Avenue. Most the houses were built in the 1920s and ’30s by local developers named Stewart and Reid. Many houses are designed in the eclectic Spanish style. It was once known as Doctors Row because so many local physicians lived on the street, however a host of other professionals, such as lawyers and judges, also have resided here. College professors, engineers and local teachers are among the residents today."
Per the article "Many local bankers, doctors and other civic leaders have lived and continue to do so on this street as well as a few of the side streets. Legendary movie actress, Dorothy Lamour once lived on Bernard Way, which intersects Valencia Avenue. Most the houses were built in the 1920s and ’30s by local developers named Stewart and Reid. Many houses are designed in the eclectic Spanish style. It was once known as Doctors Row because so many local physicians lived on the street, however a host of other professionals, such as lawyers and judges, also have resided here. College professors, engineers and local teachers are among the residents today."
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The last three stops are classic buildings of San Bernardino - the California Theater, the San Bernardino Train Depot, and the Wigwam Hotel. "Legendary humorist, Will Rogers made his last public appearance at the California Theater before his fatal airplane crash in 1935. The old theater thrives today as an upscale performing arts house. The first train arrived here in 1883 after controversy at the Colton Southern Pacific crossing. A large wooden station was built at this site in 1887, connected by a horse car line with the center of town. It burned in 1916 in a spectacular fire and was replaced two years later by the present station, which has recently been restored. The Wigwam hotel is 1 of 7 built throughout the United States, most of them were along Route 66. This is one of three that remain today. Strikingly silhouetted against the mountains, the 19 30-foot-tall stucco teepees provided shelter for exhausted motorists during the heyday of the Mother Road."
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REDLANDS
Redlands may be the most perfect small town in America. When people from Philadelphia ask me why, I compare the town to Doylestown, Media, and West Chester, the Philadelphia area's boutique county seats. Like these towns Redlands blends beautiful and abundant historical architecture, with a quaint commercial area and a dining scene that punches above its weight class, and has successful integrated modern trappings without destroying the town's distinct feel. Redlands also has wonderful weather, large parks, a sense of civic pride and community, easy access to interstates, and stunning mountain views. The one thing that Redlands doesn't have but once did, is a great coffee shop. Augie's Coffee was a great place to stop for a morning caffeine fix - it closed during the COVID outbreak - I always thought the cafe was a bit mismanaged. A very slow line. It took twice as long to get an Americano here as other coffee shops - but the coffee was good, the place was cozy, and the shop was well located in a great commercial district. Augie's roasting is still going so hopefully they open again in 2021 or later.
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Like Doylestown has the Michener and Mercer Museums, Redlands has a few stand alone attractions beyond "it's a nice town" to justify a visit. In the center of town is The Redlands Bowl, an outdoor amphitheater, and across the street from the bowl is a free to visit Lincoln Memorial Shrine - no idea why this is in Redlands but I'll definitely check this out when it reopens post COVID.
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Drives along Center Street, Olive Avenue, and Brookside Avenue are lined with Victorian homes.
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There are also three mansions I'll need to check out on the next post-COVID visit: Beverly Ranch, Kimberly Crest, and the Burrage Mansion. All looked impressive from the outside. The Beverly Ranch is now an event center that hosts weddings, etc. Kimberly Crest is the former home of the daughter of Kimberly-Clark's founders, and the Burrage Mansion is now a home/retreat for needy children. I believe Kimberly Crest is the only one of the three that is open for tours.
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On the northeastern side of town is University of Redlands, which has about 3,000 undergraduate and 2,000 graduate students. There's a large lawn on the campus that's surrounded by academic and administrative buildings.
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Despite the proliferation of restaurant chains and big box stores, there's also a burgeoning movement for microbreweries. Brewers have taken advantage of all the warehouses and use the unrented open spaces to brew beer. The microbreweries all kind of look the same in that they are in warehouse districts away from a commercial thoroughfare but the beer mostly tasted good and it is a pretty cool environment. Thus a San Bernardino Brewing Tour was necessary.
AND THE REST...
I think sometimes the Inland Empire doesn't realize how many great breakfast options are available. With places like Silver Dollar Pancake house in Corona, how in the world are places like Denny's and IHOP appearing in Top 3 breakfast places. The Silver Dollar Pancake House is a great place to start a Saturday.
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Then the great Saturday continues with a stop at Frank & Son's, my favorite shop in the broader Los Angeles area, and possibly the world. Frank & Son's feels more like a walking through a Childhood Toy Museum, specifically for me since I never purchase anything, but if there's a vintage toy from the 1980s you want, it'll be at Frank & Son's. I'm still upset I didn't purchase a Castle Grayskull set I saw several years ago. Parking is always a bit of a challenge here.
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