Summer Itinerary Continued...

Hi neighbors and friends -

Can you believe it's almost the end of July?! I haven't been able to accomplish half of the things I wanted to this summer but I continue to add to the list of spots I want to check out. I may not be able to catch them all but I definitely think these should make it to the summer itinerary. What do you think? Do you have any upcoming events on your summer itinerary you'd like to share? I'd love to hear.

1. 8/19 Redlands Bowl Closing Symphony Concert with fireworks
2. Cooper Regional History Museum - In my search for more fruit label murals around the IE I stumbled upon the museum's main gallery exhibit: "California Citrus Story." Sounds interesting!
3. Art Walks - Here are just a few to choose from:
- Claremont Art Walk: First Friday of the month from 5:30-8:30 pm in the Claremont Village
- Riverside Art Walk: First Thursday of the month from 6-9pm in Downtown Riverside.
- Pomona Art Walk: Second and last Saturday from 6-9 pm.
4. "Robots + Us" exhibit at the Western Center Museum in Hemet.
5. Weekend excursion to Idyllwild - I might have to invite myself over to a friend's place up there and plan another weekend getaway. Lookin' forward to getting away from the city and escaping to the mountains!
6. "Blues for the Zoo" - Tweeted about it a little while back. It's a fundraiser concert at the Big Bear Lake Swim Beach Outdoor Amphitheater on August 6th benefiting the Moonridge Animal Park. Good cause, good music and great atmosphere :)
7. Sausage and Beer Festival - Happening at the Highland Springs Resort in Cherry Valley from August 20-21st from 11-5 pm. Sausage, beer and free admission?! Count me in!

And let's end our list with dessert...

8. CUPCAKES!! - Go on a cupcake bender and hit up some local cupcake shops like Suite 106 Cupcakery and My Delight Cupcakery and Some Crust Bakery.

Whew...this seems like a long list! There's a lot to do in the IE and it's going to be hard to keep up but as long as it's a good time I know it'll be worth it! See you around the IE!

One of a Kind IE: Shields Date Farm

Hello neighbors and friends -

I can't believe it's taken me this long to update the blog. I was in the middle of updating and then my "9-5" started getting slammed then came 4th of July, followed by my birthday and then a week long vacation which was spent getting the rest of my life in order. Excuses, excuses, I know. I hope I haven't put off anyone by not updating sooner but here's the first posting for the "One of a Kind IE" column I mentioned in a previous post. Hoping it's the first of many (consistently posted) column posts.

Back in June (can't believe it's already mid-July), I went on a weekend fun run down to Palm Springs. On the way there I stopped by a destination that surely belongs in the "One of a Kind IE" category: Shields Date Farm. Here are a few fun facts about what makes this destination so unique.

Located in Indio, Shields Date Farm was started by Floyd and Bess Shields in 1924. Mr. Shields not only grew dates but was extremely passionate about educating folks about date culture. He developed a presentation which was modified into a 15-minute film called the "Romance and Sex Life of the Date." I got the chance to view the film in their small theater and I definitely
walked away informed. Not only about the innovations Mr. Shields made to the date business (e.g. he created two new date breeds "Blonde" and "Brunette") but also a little about the history of the Coachella Valley and the migration to the area due to the agricultural boom.

In addition to the theater, Shields Date Farm is a working date farm, cafe, and store filled with all types of date and non-date related goodies. I walked away with some large Medjool dates to snack on during my vacay as well as a date shake to-go. Both were delicious!

Here are a few snapshots from the excursion. If you've been to Shields Date Farm I'd love to hear what you think. And if you have a suggestion for another "One of a Kind IE" post please let me know.

Till next time...


*Working date farm. Can you see the sacks of dates tied at the top of the trees?*


*Shields Date Farm and Cafe*

Are you excited about the IE Food Truck Festival? I AM!

As some of you may know I am really excited about this summer. I'm looking forward to a lot of fun events (*ahem* like the launch of my site) and one of them is the IE Food Truck Fest happening this Saturday, 6/18. I was lucky enough to snag some time with the fantastic lady behind the event Ashley Eliot. You may know her from other gourmet food truck festivals like the ones from LA and OC. I had the pleasure of asking her a few questions about the event that's got the IE all abuzz.

IESHINEON: Thanks for taking the time to chat with me about the event. I'm really excited about it coming to the IE. What made you decide to put this event on in the IE and specifically in Ontario?

ASHLEY: The IE Weekly approached me about putting on a gourmet food truck festival in their area. So, I started looking into the [Ontario Citizens Business Bank] Arena and we started working it out from there. It's a beautiful venue and they're wonderful to work with.

IESO: Was it difficult to get the 50 food trucks on board with coming out to our neck of the woods?

ASHLEY: It was a little difficult at first because they were unfamiliar with the area. But they quickly realized it's an opportunity for them to get more exposure and meet their existing IE followers.

IESO: What type of support have you been getting from the community?

ASHLEY: It's been a great partnership with the Arena and we've been getting a lot of support from IE Weekly. We've also been getting a lot of attention from local media, support from food blogs and love from roaminghunger.com.

IESO: In addition to the food trucks what other fun things can we look forward to this Saturday?

ASHLEY: Well, we've got lots of things like the kids area with educational lessons about planting herbs and other events like the skate demo provided by Active Ride Shop, Syndicate Roller Girls skate demo, live local music and DJs, and free samples of Popchips and Fuze. We'll also see local businesses getting in on the action like the wonderful cupcake shop from Ontario My Delight Bakery. They host lots of events with food trucks so they've been great!

Oh, and one more thing! We know it gets hot waiting in line so we're going to have a unique new treat. We're going to have "rolling bars." Basically they're golf carts with all types of beverages so you can wait more comfortably.

IESO: Well, that's just neat! I could not be more excited about this. Thanks for your time, Ashley!

So, I'll see you there this Saturday, folks! I'll be the one double fisting an ice cream sandwich in one hand and something else equally mouth watering in the other.

Till next time...

Summer Itinerary

Hi folks -

The official first day of summer is just around the corner and I'm super excited! I'm blasting off my summer itinerary with my upcoming trip to Palm Springs. It's more of a work trip - exploring, taking lots of photos, lots of people watching and try to cram in as many attractions as possible.

My Palm Springs itinerary started me thinking about the list of IE events and destinations I'm looking forward to checking out this summer. Some things are traditions and some are new adventures I want to take.

1. Palm Springs (soon to be checked off my list. yay!)
2. IE Food Truck Fest, 6/18 - definitely bringing the stretchy pants for this event
3. Farmers markets - although these are all year long, I'm still looking forward to the fresh summer fruit!
4. Claremont Summer Concerts Series - free concert, picnic dinner and blanket...sounds heavenly
5. Theater production of "Annie" at the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center - This will be my first time visitng the Victoria Gardens Cultural Center for a theater performance.
6. Take a hike around Mt. Baldy - I used to do this a lot in high school. Curious how I'm going to hold up :)
7. On July 4th, watch fireworks from my parents' home in Upland (aww traditions)

I'm going to stop at seven items for now and continue to add to this list in the upcoming weeks. I'm sure by the time July rolls around I'll have a laundry list of great stuff. If any readers have any recommendations I'd love to add them to the itinerary! You can comment on this blog post or reach me at my Twitter or Facebook page.

Let's end with a lovely image from the IE just for the heck of it :). Enjoy and till next time...

One of a kind IE

I recently read the Fast Company article titled "2011 City of the Year." The winner was Houston and it was described as "'one of the world's next great cities.'" Some of the reasons they chose it was because it has a vibrant business community, supports cultural diversity and embodies a sense of opportunity. The article also discussed how Houston was trying to fight its "redneck" stereotype. All this reminded me of our beloved IE.

We might not be exactly where Houston is but we're taking the steps to get there. Here is a little of what I have in mind:
- We currently have a population of over 4 million people and it's the 14th largest metropolitan area in the US. In 2015 we will have almost 5 million.
- We have three international airports: Ontario, Palm Springs and San Bernardino.
- The IE has the potential to become the trade gateway of Southern California.
- There are 27 colleges and universities.
These are just a few things but there are a lot more where that came from!
(Sources: IE Wiki page, Inland Empire Outlook)

Despite the fact that we are currently going through an economic struggle the bullet points above inspired me to create a new column for the blog and a new features list for the site that's currently in the works (launch is looking like this summer, folks...eek!): "One of a kind IE." It's an opportunity to point out unique IE spots or events. Something that's entirely our own like Kickback Jack's with two locations only in the IE serving delicious breakfast for over 50 years (no paid endorsement here, just a die-hard fan).

The creative juices are flowing and I'm going to start this list! I've reached out to a few friends for suggestions and going through my own memory bank. If you have any suggestions I would love to hear them.

Till next time...