An Inland Oasis

If you’re longing for a getaway and just can’t face beach traffic, why not head inland instead? Less than an hour’s drive from downtown Los Angeles, you could find yourself in the pleasantly quaint environs of downtown Riverside, the Land That Time Forgot. Riverside isn’t a mall posing as a small town, it is a small town. And now is the time to go, before it’s Gapped, Starbucked, and Banana Republicked.

True, to get there, you have to drive past communities with names out of an old Johnny Carson monologue: West Covina, Azusa, Rancho Cucamonga--and endure toasty summer temperatures. Yet when you reach beautiful downtown Riverside, you realize that the joke is on those who haven’t yet discovered this delightfully old-fashioned community.

Time was Riverside was in with the inn crowd, those who flocked to its centerpiece, the Mission Inn, to rub shoulders with everyone from movie stars to future presidents. Bette Davis was married there, twice, and so was Richard Nixon, while the Reagans merely honeymooned.

Though there’s more to Riverside than the Mission Inn, the sprawling city block that it occupies, at 3649 Mission Inn Ave., is still the best place to start your walking tour of the tempting museums, inviting cafes and irresistible antique shops that encircle it. And if you get tired, you can always hop on a free trolley for the return trip.

Directly opposite the inn, at 3646 Mission Inn Ave., is an entirely different kind of landmark, one that you could probably find blindfolded: Gram’s Mission Bar-B-Que Palace, where most days ribs are sizzlin’ on barbecue pits right out on the street. Even if you’re not hungry, it’s hard to resist the mouthwatering aroma and bargain prices: a beef rib dinner with corn bread, greens and dirty rice is only $11.95, with yummy peach cobbler, $2.50, for dessert.

But if you succumb, be sure to wash up after, as Gram might say. Because right on the corner, at 3720 Main St., now a pedestrians-only thoroughfare, is the Mission Galleria, 18,000 square feet of antiques, gifts and collectibles, where some prices are so low you’ll be tempted to pick up the merchandise to make sure your eyes don’t deceive you. Antiquing in Riverside is the best cure I know for Montana Avenue-induced sticker shock.

Bakelite bracelets range from $10 to $65, a small tile-top garden table is $35, and a ceramic pumpkin-shaped pie dish with a lid and curved handle is $15. A handsome velvet photo album with shell and brass inlays, bulging with its original photos, could provide instant ancestors for only $65. An oak armoire with what looks like the original ‘30s shelf paper intact can be snapped up for $350. And plates featuring Mamie and Ike or Jackie and JFK win my vote at $24.95 apiece.

Diagonally across the way at Abbey Antiques, 3641 Main St., a Mary Hartman board game is a steal at $10. A set of wooden kitchen utensils, including the rolling pin, and the rack to hang them on, is $45. So is a genuine matador’s hat. And I have fantasies of wearing a $495 genuine Oleg Cassini evening dress--silver cowl-back spangled with more sequins than a Vegas chorus line--to the Oscars, until I learn it’s a size 8 and I have a greater chance of being nominated than I do of fitting into it.

Farther up the street, at 3545 Main St., I’m charmed by Ruby Red, where proprietor Kim Whitney deals in “consignment with class.” I’m not sure whose definition of class beehive wigs ($35) fall under, but they go with her great collection of cat’s-eye glasses, $5 to $8 for reproductions, $10-$18 for the originals. One of her major scores is an original ‘50s General Electric sunlamp poster display, available with the very sunlamp advertised, only $50 for the set. Somehow I get the feeling it’s not priced to sell.

The surrounding area is studded with antiques shops, like chips in a tollhouse cookie. And as with chocolate chip cookies, it’s hard to stop after just one or two. So go ahead and explore. Enjoy the serendipity of stumbling on your own secret treasure trove.

As for me, bookstores are my personal black hole--I fall into them and can’t get out. Downtowne Bookstore, 3582 Main St., lures me out of the sunshine with two floors of browse-able shelves filled with second-hand books. Down in the basement they have all the issues of National Geographic you wish your mother hadn’t made you throw out. Those of us who are no longer teenagers might be cheered to note that their value increases incrementally with age, from $1 to $10 a copy.

While you’re blowing off the dust, you might recall that, back in Dust Bowl days, Riverside symbolized the pastures of plenty where you could reach right up and pick oranges off trees. At Farthings, 3635 Main St., you can reach right up and pick citrus-themed merchandise off the shelves: orange-shaped candles, $9; lemon salt and pepper shakers, $9.95; a miniature-lemon-rimmed picture frame, $23; reproduction citrus labels framed in copper, $13 to $18; and the cutest teeny little ceramic oranges and lemons in a little metal tub, $12.

However, it is possible to shop in Riverside without traveling back in time. Paige’s Place, 3563 Main St., carries a range of boldly contemporary housewares, candles, and toiletries. The work of L.A. artist Anita Rosenberg is well-represented. I especially like her large hand-painted wooden serving tray, featuring--what else?--lemons, $150, with matching jug, $116.

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If seeing all these lemons makes you pucker up with thirst, relief is only a few doors away at Simple Simon’s simple cafe, which, of course, serves lemonade. Try to snag one of the outdoor tables to enjoy the truly delicious salads, soups and sandwiches made from scratch on the premises.

Alas, the aptly named “Exquisite Cakes,” dressed up with fresh flowers to look more like spring bonnets than cakes, must be ordered two days in advance. Instead, you might take home one of Simon’s artisan breads, $1 for the plain focaccia or $4.50 for the intriguing-sounding fig and ginger.

On Sundays, Simple Simon’s is closed. So you just might have to fall back on Sunday brunch at the Mission Inn, $23.50 per person including champagne or mimosas, served from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Reservations are recommended, since the hotel adds additional tables in the restaurant lobby to accommodate the overflow crowd that comes from miles around to sample a staggering array of food, prepared under the supervision of executive chef Gary Palm, who trained with Roger Verge.

Supposedly Dick Nixon proposed to Pat in the restaurant’s Spanish Patio, and it is truly one of the most romantic spots in the world--or perhaps the most romantic spot of the other world, one closer to Disneyland. In the enclosed flower-bedecked courtyard, amid the soft plashing of fountains and the chiming of bells, surrounded by the inn’s Mad-Ludwig-of-Bavaria-Goes-to-Mexico varying styles of architecture, you could be anywhere, and nowhere.

The Mission Inn was the Bellagio of its day. Like William Randolph Hearst in his time, and Steve Wynn in ours, the original innkeeper, Frank Miller, swept up the art treasures of the world and brought them back for the enjoyment of--and sometimes purchase by--his guests.

The inn’s St. Francis of Assisi Chapel, for instance, scene of Bette Davis’ second wedding, combines wood paneling and carvings from a Belgian convent, a huge gilded 18th century altar screen from Guanajuato, Mexico, and Louis Comfort Tiffany mosaics from a church in New York--plus a menorah for good measure. On a grandly ecumenical note, the statue in the fountain outside is of Bacchus.

But short of getting married in the nondenominational, nonconsecrated chapel yourself, the only way to view these historic artifacts today is by booking a tour with the nonprofit Mission Inn Foundation ([909] 788-9556). Tours cost $8 and are supposed to last 75 minutes. However, most tours have a way of running longer, so eager are the well-informed volunteer docents to unlock the mysteries of their beloved hotel, from locating Amelia Earhart’s wing insignia, signed simply “A.E.,” on the “Flyers’ Wall” outside the chapel, to pointing out the room Paul Newman slept in--actually the bridal suite. As veteran docent Gail Nelson says, “In Riverside, the Mission Inn is our living room.”

Tours begin and end in the Mission Inn Museum, 3696 Main St., well worth a visit on its own, at $2 for adults. Just to give you an idea of Frank Miller’s passion for collecting--in 1915 this guy actually carted back from the San Francisco Exhibition 13 life-size wax figures of Pope Pius X and his court to display in the inn’s Cloister Walk. Sadly, the full effect must be left to the imagination, since only the pope remains on view today in the museum. Trust me--pay the $2.

If your appetite for museums isn’t sated, you might want to stroll over to UC Riverside’s California Museum of Photography, 3824 Main St., for a complete change of pace: modern minimalism in a three-story, high-tech space. There’s a nice selection of photo books and cards on sale in the tiny gift shop.

Normally the museum closes at 5 p.m. weekends, but this Saturday you’re in luck because two new shows, featuring the work of Robin Rosenweig and Arnie Zane, are opening. Receptions for both will be held from 6 to 9 p.m. (Contact [909] 787-4787 for more information.) Admission is free through Aug 8.

There’s still time to observe a local Riverside tradition and hike up nearby Mount Rubidoux to enjoy the sunset. It’s a a short drive from downtown, and lest the word “hike” dismay you, bear in mind that, geologically speaking, the highest point in central Riverside is no more than a “detached high hill.” From its slopes you can look back toward smoggy downtown L.A. and reflect on a silver lining: All that pollution makes for some fabulous sunsets.

You could prolong that sunset glow over drinks back in the inn’s Presidential Lounge--and what better sundowner to order than an Orange Blossom? As it happens, it was at the Mission Inn in 1909 that songwriter and frequent guest Carrie Jacobs Bird composed the song “When You Come to the End of a Perfect Day.” And at the end of a day’s getaway in Riverside, you just might be tempted to hum a few bars.

BE THERE

To reach downtown Riverside by car, from the 60 Freeway east, exit on Market, turn right; after one mile, turn left on Mission Inn Avenue. The Mission Inn is one block farther on your left. Allow just under an hour driving time, depending on traffic.

Metrolink trains depart Union Station for downtown Riverside Saturdays only at 9:05 and 11:20 a.m. and return to Los Angeles at 3:20, 5:35 or 8 p.m. Round-trip fare is $11, children 6 and younger ride free. There is no train service on Sundays. For more information call Metrolink at (800) 371-LINK.