Woman in the Middle

If you feel like a drive, at least part of which takes you away from freeways and out across the countryside, make a visit to Hemet and the Hemet Museum, run by the Hemet Historical Society. The museum is located in the freight area of the city’s historic Santa Fe Depot. The museum is small, but it is chock full (in a good way) of all kinds of things related to the history of Hemet, with a special emphasis on the railroad.

I particularly enjoyed seeing the case full of dinnerware used on the Santa Fe trains back in the day. The service with California poppies was especially pretty.

There were displays related to the area’s first inhabitants, including grinding stones and baskets.

Feeling like someone may be calling you aboard the train?

Imagine getting on the train in this beautiful dress….

An old barber’s chair, among other things.

In the other part of the historic train depot (the passenger side, I presume) is a coffee and sandwich shop. My friend and I stopped in for lunch. I was pleased to see that the limited sandwich selection was nonetheless interesting and included combinations I had never see before. For $ 5.95 I had the “London” which consisted of ham, Muenster cheese, onion jam, lettuce and tomato on wheat bread. The onion jam, which was sweet with a hint of vinegar, really put the sandwich over the top for me and I really enjoyed it. and  For an additional $2.00 you can add a drink and bag of chips to your meal. They also have paninis and bagelwiches on the menu, vegetarian selections, and a child’s menu for those 12 and under. Next time I think I might try one of their nine types of wafflewiches. These are served on waffles and included everything from breakfast types, lunch types and even some that would be delicious for dessert. Espresso waffle anyone?  I know a couple of daughters who would try that with me!

The museum and Destination Coffee Bar and Bistro are located at 100 West Florida Ave, Hemet CA 92543

Current hours of operation at 11-3, Tuesday through Sunday. CLOSED THE MONTH OF AUGUST!

hemetmuseum.com

A couple of weeks ago (my, how time flies!) Hubby took a day off work and we went off to see Heritage Hill Historical Park. Heritage Hill is operated by the county of Orange and is located in Lake Forest, California. It has four restored and furnished historical buildings. We had a lovely time taking the docent led tour though all four!

The Serrano Adobe it original to the site and dates to about 1863. It was very cool seeing the original wood thresh holds at each door  and how they were worn down through the years by many, many steps. The other three buildings were the El Toro Grammar School (1890), St. George’s Episcopal Mission (1891),  and the Harvey Bennett Ranch House, (1908). Each has its own story which is unique, but also ties together to the town of El Toro. The historic town of El Toro was included into the city of Lake Forest when it incorporated in 1991.

Serrano Adobe

El Toro Grammar School

St. George’s Episcopal Mission

Heritage Hill has some tables sitting out under the trees, if you want to sit and have a snack (like we did.) It actually shares a parking lot with a shopping center that includes a Ralphs grocery store. We walked down to the store, bought a snack and some drinks, and went back and enjoyed it at Heritage Hill.

Guided tours are given Tuesday through Saturdays at 2 p.m. There is also an 11 am tour on Saturday. Entrance and the tours are free!

Heritage Hill Historical Park
25151 Serrano Road
Lake Forest, CA 92630-2534
(949)923-2230
heritagehill@ocparks.com

After visiting Heritage Hill, we went to Laguna Beach, just in time to see the sunset. Lovely!

Youngest Daughter has been asking for a family trip to Oak Glen and with temperatures back up above 100 last Saturday, we decided seeking a cooler place at a higher elevation would be a good idea. We headed a little under an hour from our home to Oak Glen. Oak Glen is located in the foothills of the San Bernardino Mountains. It sits at a high enough elevation that people have been growing apples there since the late 1800s. Apples are still grown there, as well as other stone fruit and raspberries.  There are lots of things to see and do, in a pleasant rustic setting. And, if you like apples, you will be in heaven!

There is lots of beautiful scenery in Oak Glen. This shows a raspberry patch with the mountains in the distance.  

On this trip, our first stop was at Mom’s Country Orchard. Their little shop included many home-made jams and jellies and they were happy to give you samples of any you wanted to try. I picked out a couple of jars to give to friends at Christmas and a loaf of Strawberry-Banana bread for us. We also got to try some apple samples.

On we went to out next stop, Snowline Orchard. That was a larger and much busier place. A long line waiting patiently to get inside one door of the shop made us curious. I just had to ask what they were standing in line for. Hot cider donuts I was told. Apparently they have quite the following. We had our heart set on apple pie this trip so we passed on the donuts, but we vowed to get some next time.

The line for apple cider donuts.

Inside we took advantage of the wine and hard cider tasting and picked out a bottle of wine to take home. We also added a loaf of apple cinnamon bread to our purchases. An apple tasting area gave us the chance to taste quite a few different apple types and we picked out a small bag of Jongold apples to take home as well.

Our final stop on this trip was Oak Tree Village. That was a big place with lots of booths selling all kinds of things. There we ate hot dogs for dinner.  I bought some cider to go with my dinner and let everyone else have a sip. We also bought an apple pie to bring home for desert.

The final apple tally was: multiple apple samples, cider, hard cider, and samples of apple jams and jellies plus apple favored wine, apple pie and apple bread to bring home. Youngest agreed that our trip to Oak Glen had met all of her expectations and we all agreed that we had an apple-tastic time.

This is the apple pie with crumb topping we bought. The photo doesn’t do justice to how crazy big it was.

We are very lucky in that we live within an hour of the mountains and the beach. However, the beach means fighting traffic and the mountains means those of us with motion sickness problems don’t relish the twisting, winding roads to and from the mountains. Yesterday, for Labor Day, we found the perfect solution. We visited Wrightwood.

Wrightwood in a little mountain town situated near some popular skiing areas in our local mountains.  In the winter it must get very busy, with all the folks arriving to enjoy snow sports (if the weather permits. Not much of the snow sport thing happened last winter.)

I have been wanting to go to Wrightwood for years, literally years. I would always think of it in the winter, when I didn’t want to go, and would always forget about it the other nine months of the year when it would be lovely and snow free. Well, I finally thought of it at the right time of year and suggested it to the family as a Labor Day outing. Everyone agreed they wanted to avid the traffic going to he beach and we headed the opposite direction instead.

The turn off to Wrightwood (Highway 138) is located about 3/4s of the way up the Cajon Pass. Please note that none of the signs mention it is he turn off to Wrightwood. The sings mention other places, but not Wrightwood. If you miss the turn off you have a 10 mile round trip getting to the next off ramp at the top of the Pass and getting back to 138. (But we didn’t do something as silly as that….oh no….)

Once you are off the freeway and onto 138 you get to see up close some spectacular rock formations that you can only see from a distance when you are on the freeway. You also get to see some lovely high desert landscapes. It appears that the county is widening 138 from 2 lanes to four, so be forewarned of that. Once that is done it will be smooth sailing.

Highway 138 takes you to the turn off to Wrightwood, Highway 2, otherwise known as Angeles Crest Highway. You climb higher and higher in elevation, but without the normal twisting mountain roads. So lovely for the easily upset stomach. A few miles down the road you leave behind the desert and enter the mountains.  There are typical mountain cabins, pine trees and cooler air. A little farther and you enter the town of Wrightwood. It is a small place but has lots of Mom and Pop eateries, not a chain restaurant in site.

We decided to eat at the Grizzly Café. We all enjoyed our sandwiches which included a hamburger, a Reuben, a grilled cheese with tomato and avocado, and a BBQ beef sandwich. The home-made potato salad was good and the homemade potato ships were excellent.

After lunch we drove down the street a little ways and found Park Drive. It had more cafes. and lots of little shops, including a used book store. The girls saw that and immediately demanded their Dad park the car.  There are other stores, including antique stores, scattered throughout Wrightwood, but our time was limited (Eldest Daughter had to be to work by 3) so we decided to concentrate on Park Drive. We looked at the shops, bought a few books, and then headed home, happy that we finally got to visit Wrightwood.

The sky was blue, the clouds were white, and the day was beautiful when we visited Wrightwood.

The Grove is an open air mall in Los Angles. It is home to some higher end shops such as J.Crew and Michael Kors as well as unique stores such as the American Girl Place, the only one in California. There are a number of places to eat and that all important store to my family – a bookstore. The Grove has a HUGE parking garage that was a little weird and disconcerting to use, I will fully admit. Even my Hubby who commutes on California freeway every day to work (not for the faint of heart, I can tell you), found this parking garage a little C-R-A-Z-Y. As you are going up you have to merge out of the lane you are in, while going up a curve, diving between traffic cones, and looking over your shoulder to make sure no one is in the next lane over, coming up in your blind spot. That is why we parked on the sixth floor. It took that many floors for four adults to figure out what was going on and get the heck out of the lane that just took us up and into the lane that got us to parking. Whew!

In the middle of the Grove was a fountain that danced to music, like a miniature Bellagio fountain. I was a little puzzled was why it was dancing to “Last Dance,” which is over 30 years old. But I still love dancing fountains, even if they are dancing to music that came out when I was in high school.  We indulged while we were there with lunch at the Cheesecake Factory. Inside we admired the décor which, as Youngest Daughter pointed out, looked like most of it came from Lord of the Rings. The Cheesecake factory by us isn’t quite so fancy!

Below is the dancing fountain.

For dessert we skipped the cheesecake and stopped by Sprinkles Cupcakes instead. They were delicious!  We tried triple cinnamon, chai tea, Cuban coffee, and milk chocolate. Yum! Below is a photo of the cupcakes we got to choose from.

Right next door to the Grove is the Original Farmer’s Market. It is as different from the Grove as chalk is from cheese.

It is full of places to eat and had we realized that we probably would have skipped the restaurant.  You can get most anything there from Jewish deli to middle eastern, Asian cuisine to classic Mexican food. It is also a place where you can buy baked goods, fresh meat, fruit, vegetables, and cheese. It also has souvenir shops, galore. So you can pick up a roast, some fresh cheese, and a California magnet all at the same place! It is definitely a fun place to look around, although it is mostly outdoors as well so can get warm if the temperature is a little high as it was when we were there.

I noted on the map that there was a park across the street from the Grove. We didn’t have a chance to check it out but I was thinking we could have made a whole day of it between the Grove, farmer’s Market, and taking a walk around the park. Except for parking, which isn’t free,  this could be a relatively inexpensive day out. You could eat at the Farmer’s Market, window shop to your heart’s content, sit and admire the fountain, and then check out the park.

I needed to do some research recently for a new local history book I am writing. I am looking into a murder which happened in 1901 and the granddaughter of some of the principal people involved in the shooting is still alive and is the force behind a small museum located in the rural community of Anza, in southwestern Riverside County. I don’t know about you, but I enjoy the opportunity to get off the beaten path sometimes, and visiting the Hamilton Museum affords just such an opportunity.

Anza is about a half an hour from the city of Temecula. The roads leading there take you through some interesting country with rocks and hills and the kind of rural scenery that is becoming more and more scarce in Southern California. The community of Anza has always been out-of-the-way, which is why it retains its rural flavor. It wasn’t until the late 1950s that an electrical co-op was formed in the Anza Valley, finally bring electricity and things like washing machines and dryers to the area.

The Hamilton Museum is devoted to preserving the history of Aguanga, Anza, Garner Valley, Lake Riverside, Pinyon and Terwilliger areas of Riverside County.  It is located on the Contreras property, and includes the John and Fanny Contreras house, built in 1924/25, which is decorated like a 1930 home.   In 1945 Lincoln Hamilton, Fanny’s nephew, bought the land and the house. He and his wife Louise later built a new home on the property in 1964.  The museum itself is located in newer Hamilton house. The property also includes a barn, left from the days when it was a working ranch, and a Native American garden which has plants used by the Cahuilla people.

Don’t be surprised when you pull up and find yourself in front of what looks like a house. It is the museum. Just go on in the front door where you can sign the visitor log and begin exploring the many items on display.

A view of the main area of the museum.

There are loads of photos and lots of information on area families and days gone by. Margaret Wellman Jaenke is likely to be there when you visit. She is a walking encyclopedia of information on the area, the force behind the museum, and a descendent of many of the families you will learn about at the Hamilton Museum. Margaret has also written a number of books about the area which are for sale at the museum or on the museum website.

Anza is home to a Dairy Queen (56265 California 371), some mom and pop eateries, and to the Cahuilla Creek Casino (52702 California 371). The casino has the Roadrunner’s Bar and Grill in case you get the urge to gamble, eat, or both while you are in Anza. I didn’t stop at any of these places so I can not personally recommended them, but I did want you to know they are available.

The Hamilton Museum is located at 39991 Contreras Rd (P.O. Box 391141) Anza, CA 92539.

Phone: 951-763-1350

http://www.hamiltonmuseum.org

The museum is open  Wednesdays and Saturdays 10-3.

Hubby and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary last weekend. We waited until the last-minute to decide what to do. Here in Inland So Cal it was going to be a warm day so we decided to head towards the coast. We have some favorite spots out there, ones we have visited many times. But I wanted to go someplace we hadn’t been before.

Sometime in the past year the Sunday L.A.Times travel section had an article on California piers. Hubby and I saw that article and decided then and there that we wanted to visit every single one of them. I pulled out the article and it mentioned a pier in Los Angeles County we haven’t visited before, in the town of Manhattan Beach. So the decision was made that Manhattan Beach would be our destination on Saturday.

I read some reviews online (what did I do before Google?) and found that the parking can be an issue, as it always is at So Cal beaches. That review I read suggested looking in the lots instead of one the street. That is what we did when we arrived just before 11:30 a.m. and we found a spot right away. I think it helped that we arrived  before lunch.

Manhattan Beach is perfect for those who prefer a place that is not so touristy. I kid you not, I didn’t see one single shop that sold tourist geegaws, knick knacks, and/or postcards.   While I do love silly tourist stuff, I have to admit, it was a nice change of pace to not be drawn into all of that! However, even if the t-shirt and postcard stores are missing, Manhattan Beach does welcome visitors with plenty of places to eat.

There are lots of things I can’t eat and I have to stay away from spicy food or foods with tomato sauce. So when I saw, just up the street and around the corner from where we parked, a coffee shop style restaurant called The Kettle, I knew that is where I wanted to have lunch. It is located on the corner of Highland Avenue and Manhattan Beach Boulevard. The Kettle has both an outside and inside dining area. The Kettle serves breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and at lunch we could get any of those items. Hubby and I both settled on omelets and when we ordered we were given our choice of toast or muffins of various flavors such as honey bran, blueberry, carrot raisin, orange zest, or banana nut. Hey, we were celebrating, so Hubby and I opted for the muffin. Imagine our surprise when the muffins were brought to our table and we each got two! Yum! Here is a photo of my blueberry muffin extravaganza, after I started to cut one open and slather it with butter.

After lunch we went walking on the pier. We stopped and watched the surfers. We stopped and watched the volleyball players. We enjoyed the cool breeze and the view of the ocean. It was just a lovely day. At the end of the pier is a round building which held a small snack bar and the Roundhouse Aquarium. The aquarium is very small, but we still stopped by to see what it included. Entrance is free, but they do ask of a donation of $2 a person or $5 a family. The displays inside include species found along the southern California coast including starfish, jelly fish, and moray eels. In various reviews I read it mentioned it was great for kids. Well, maybe I am a kid at heart or just a nerd, but I enjoyed it as well and so did Hubby. We didn’t stay more than 20 minutes, but it was worth a stop.

The Manhattan Beach Pier

Manhattan Beach has a lovely walking path that is paved and goes along between the beach and the first row of houses. We didn’t take advantage of it on our visit Saturday but it looked like a really nice place for a stroll. We will definitely do that next time!

After we left I kept asking Hubby, “How is it we have never been here before?” Now that we have discovered Manhattan Beach, we will certainly be back!

Way back on July 1st Hubby and I took advantage of the last day of free admission for us rock route folk and went to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art to see (surprise!) art and to visit the rock. I am sorry it has taken me so long to finally tell you about my visit to the rock, but, finally, here it is!

I did not realize that one admission price gets you into to all of the museums located at Hancock Park. In addition to many different art museums there is also the Page Museum, other wise known as the La Brea Tar Pits. For those of you who are not from So Cal these are tar pits that, in ancient times, trapped animals and thus saved the skeletons of many different species such as saber toothed tigers and mammoths.   It is a fascinating museum and there are actually tar pits still on the property that are visible when you walk around the grounds. However, today’s post is about art and the rock so I will leave the tar pits for another visit (we didn’t go in the day we were there) and another day.

The rock is actually out on the grounds and is accessible without a ticket. It has been set in a wide expanse of open area covered with fine gravel, so I do not suggest you visit on a hot day. The only shade is under the rock itself.  Below are some photos of the rock.

Here is Levitated Mass in all it’s glory!

Here it sits, over the walkway that allows you to walk under the rock.

Here is a close up of the shelves, or brackets, or what ever you want to call them, that hold the rock over the walkway.

Can a rock have a good side? If so, I think that this side is the good side of the infamous rock. This is the side that faces away from the museum buildings.