“Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story…”

So begins Homer’s epic, The Odyssey.

It also begins my own journey through those New Year’s Resolutions I nattered about last month – including to ramp up my reading!

The Odyssey seems a fine start. It’s UC Berkeley’s online book club offering ahead of the Christopher Nolan film version coming out this summer! Technically, it’s a re-read for me (I’m sticking with the Robert Fitzgerald translation) – but since I wouldn’t say that being thoughtful and thorough were necessarily hallmarks of my college-age reading style, I’m guessing there’s more to discover!

Anyhoo – this also means that for the first time in decades, I have homework…

Annnd just like in college, the first thing I did was set the book aside and take off for the weekend, running with my strategic belief that the sooner I fall behind in something, the more time that gives me to catch up!

Truth be told, I had a super important pre-existing commitment. Months ago, I purchased tickets to see the 1970’s teen idol love of my youthful life, Shaun Cassidy, who’s been touring in what he calls a music and storytelling show! His concert was in Riverside, about 60 miles east of my LA home – and while I no longer have my Ditto jeans, Famolare shoes, or Bonne Bell lip gloss, I do have a driver’s license now, so I figured I’d make the trip –

And on top of a truly delightful evening, I also got to find out that Riverside offers fascinating stories of its own!

I didn’t know this “Inland Empire” city very well, although we do have a slight connection – my ancestral cousin, Tom Cover, was an early Riverside pioneer. And since I arrived stupid early as usual, I had time before the concert to start getting acquainted! 

First off, I took a dusky walk along the Main Street Pedestrian Mall between Riverside’s City Hall and its Convention Center. It’s a pleasant foot-traffic-only set of several blocks with shopping and dining options, and the Civil Rights Walk – a sprinkling of monuments honoring people who promoted civil rights on a local or global scale. There were figures familiar to me like Martin Luther King, Gandhi and Cesar Chavez, but I was also introduced to several Riverside residents whose stories I hadn’t known. 

I found a statue of Dosan Ahn Chang Ho who arrived in Riverside in 1904, and while toiling among the area’s orange groves, he also worked to secure rights and support for fellow Korean Americans. I learned about Ysmael Reyes Villegas, a Riverside native who earned a Medal of Honor for his courageous service in World War II, in which he sacrificed his life. 

And there was a monument to Eliza Tibbets who came from back East where she’d been active in social causes like abolitionism and women’s suffrage. She’s credited too in the 1870’s with nurturing the first local plantings of what’s now called the Washington Navel Orange, which thrived and helped spark California’s citrus industry – the state’s “Second Gold Rush”. I’m going to be sure and gratefully toast Mrs. Tibbets with my very next Mimosa! 

While planning my concert weekend, I briefly considered booking a salon appointment to see what my hair would look like feathered these days – but I made the much wiser choice to book a Historic Downtown Walking Tour through the Mission Inn Foundation instead. Its focus turned out to be around the Fox Performing Arts Center where I was just da doo ron ron-ing, getting down and getting with it the night before! And one tidbit of info I especially enjoyed picking up from my knowledgeable guide was that another of my enormous crushes from back in the day (although not of Shaun Cassidy status, mind) had also made a sort of debut there!

Okay so when I was about 10, Mum took me to see Gone With the Wind and I was instantly smitten with the roguish Rhett Butler played by Clark Gable! I learned on my tour that before the film’s original 1939 premiere, Riverside theater-goers were surprised to get to screen a rough cut of GWTW which the studio brought there to measure some audience responses. So the first public glimpse of Gable’s Rhett (whose life-sized poster adorned my bedroom door) had been there at the Fox!

My friendly guide also shared tales about the impressive Mission Inn Hotel and Spa a couple blocks away. The Inn began as a boarding house built in 1876 by Christopher Columbus Miller, which his son Frank Augustus Miller then bought and really – really – ran with. Now this US National Historic Landmark occupies a city block and houses guest rooms, a spa, restaurants (indoors and out) and shops. Miller filled his pet project with eclectic art pieces and architectural features from all over the world, favoring particular motifs like bells and birds.  

I love too that in the days before TV ads and such, Mr. Miller would apparently drum up business for the Inn by going around dressed as a mission monk and distributing the region’s trademark oranges. Whether or not they came for the Vitamin C, lots of movie stars, US Presidents and prominent people would end up staying there – and I’ll bet not a one of ’em left with scurvy!

While I could have spent the day just exploring details of the Inn, I decided to get other artistic perspectives by visiting the nearby Cheech Marin Center for Chicano Art & Culture – aka The Cheech! Dedicated to “showcasing Chicana/o/x art, honoring and exploring its continued social, cultural, and political impact”, the Cheech houses a vibrant array of pieces from Marin’s own collection as well as works associated with the Inland Empire.

I always play a game at museums where I choose one piece that I’d take home if I could. Among these canvas invitations into stories that both charmed and challenged, I’d have walked away with a lovely painting by David Botello called “Wedding Photos – Hollenbeck Park”: 

My ticket to The Cheech included admission to the nearby (and affiliated) Riverside Art Museum. And while I enjoyed strolling its two floors of artwork, I was also tickled to be in a building (formerly a YWCA) that was designed by architect Julia Morgan, whose résumé included another little place called Hearst Castle! 

In the end, it was a weekend packed with memories and stories. First, the concert with Mr. Cassidy’s entertaining music and tales was such a joy – he brought back the energy and emotion of a cherished early chapter from my own story! And even though my Riverside experience only covered a few blocks, I feel like I came away with some sense of the city’s past and a wish to see more in future! 

The brief getaway reminded me that there are epic and meaningful stories everywhere out there! Sometimes I read them, sometimes I buy a ticket for them – and sometimes I only have to stop and listen.

Speaking of epics – and yup, pivoting from a Hardy Boy to Homer (within their media, beguiling storytellers both) – I need to get back to my homework!

“Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story…”

Alright, off we go – and cheers to filling your life with great stories too!