New Claremont Blog

If anyone is still looking at this blog, I would like to direct you to my new, reimagined Claremont-based blog which I am calling Claremontography. 

I will shift focus from my life in Claremont, and point readers to those things which make this Southern California town the special place that it is. I will be carrying my camera around town more than I used to, looking for Claremont sights and moments worth sharing.

Thanks to my loyal and occasional readers for following me around, and I hope you enjoy the new format.

Family Movie Night for Everyone

I work with children. One of these years we will have grandchildren. So, of course, it is important to keep up with the cultural knowledge of kids. We often see the Pixar movies in the theaters, and we have Frozen on our list of should-sees. 

Last night we had the chance to watch The Lego Movie for free, along with all of our neighbors for Claremont's Summer Movies in the Park in Memorial Park. (If we'd been on the ball, we could have seen Frozen in July at Wheeler Park.) You can read more details of the set-up at my friend's blog here. 

It was pretty fun, although at first I thought we might have to go home because I couldn't hear the movie and people around us were talking. Pretty soon the other speaker came on, the crowd hushed, the sun set and the movie was rolling along. As far as kids' movies go, I liked this one, although it could have been about 20 minutes shorter.

Lots of people out on a beautiful evening

The In-N-Out Truck was there on Yale

The Happy Crowd entertained the kids before the movie started

The Junction

Just because we are going on sabbatical doesn't mean we can't try out new restaurants in Claremont before we go. In fact, in the weeks before our last sabbatical the new Village West was just opening up and we went to the Laemmle and Casablanca before we headed to Chicago.

Yesterday, on the advice of two different friends, we tried The Junction on Indian Hill just north of the tracks. The location is not ideal, but if you park on the east side of the parking garage, it's easy to enter through the back. 

We thought we might get take-out, but the interior was enticing, so we opted to eat in. We had the spicy pork Korean tacos, the Kimchi Quesadilla Wrap and the Potstickers. I did not try the Kimchi, but H liked it and brought half of it home. The tacos were delicious and devoured. The potstickers are unlike any I've ever had, and were fabulous. You can see pictures of the food on the yelp site.

I hope this place is still here when we get back......

Benefit Music

I often play recorders with the Village Pipers in the summer, but with all the packing and getting ready for sabbatical, as well as focusing on fiddle music, I have not had the time this summer. I was happy to hear that they would be performing in Larkin Park last evening, so I hopped on my bike to go hear them.

What I did not fully realize is that they were playing at a benefit for Real Connections, "a member-driven resource network offering trusted information, valued services and enriching relationships that enable individuals to live and age well in their homes and communities. I felt a little like an interloper, but I did not help myself to dinner, and I clapped for all the people who were recognized for their contributions to this endeavor, and no one asked me to leave. So it was all good.

The Pipers played a few of my favorite pieces and made me wonder if I should sneak in my soprano recorder into my luggage next month....

Wedding Weekend

L and C are in town this weekend because L's dear friend from Claremont got married yesterday. The reception for the wedding was at the Garner House in Memorial Park - a lovely venue which was especially good for those of us who could walk there. 

Some Crust Cakes

Lovely tables

Father-Daughter Dance in lovely lighting

Public Sculpture

A few weeks ago my friend asked me if I was going to blog about the sculpture at Harrison and Indian Hill. I told her she should go ahead and write about it since I hadn't made it to take photos of it yet and I didn't know anything about it. Here is her blog post about it. I'm not sure how she got the information about this sculpture since I couldn't find anything about it online. One thing she told me was that the red section is in the shape of a C and the two silver parts look like Ls. For CLaremont? 

This sign does not tell the artist nor name of work.

The white arrow points to the angel sculpture that was moved across the street. I had to cross the street to get a closer view of it.

Birthday Dinner

How to choose where to celebrate C's birthday dinner.

1. Ask C where she wants to go.

2. C says, "I'll tell you when I wake up in the morning."

3. Keep asking throughout the day. Still no decision.

4. Walk downtown.

5. Try to have hoppy hour at Eureka! Burger, but bar is full.

6. Walk back into the Village and head towards Back Abbey.

7. Find a nice table and enjoy dinner outside.

ARTstART

Another brief, but worthwhile exhibit in the Ginger Elliot Hall next to the Garner House in Memorial Park. This exhibit showcased art from students at Vista, Oakmont and Sycamore. These upper grade students were part of ARTstART sponsored by the Claremont Museum of Art. This program works at many levels starting with college students who mentor high school students to lead the elementary children through three art lessons. 

The Courier's lead story on Friday led me to the exhibition. It gives a more fully detailed explanation of the work that is being done with this exciting program of arts integration across the curriculum, and leadership training for high school students. The exhibit will be open once more - this Wednesday from noon - 4, and if you are free then (and the exhibit is also free), I highly recommend a visit! 

A Day of Music - Claremont Folk Festival

Ya know, I love chocolate cake. But eating an entire cake in one sitting would be too much. Yesterday I almost had too much music. Not quite, but almost. The Claremont Folk Festival, for its 31st year, treated young and old to a day filled with music. You can see more about this festival from my last year's post. The biggest difference, for me, this year is that more of my friends went, so I decided to stay all day.

Then I realized that the Claremont Youth Symphony was having their concert down at Little Bridges, so I took a break at 3:00 from the Folk Festival and went into the nice air-conditioning to hear a handful of my students perform. At the end of the concert, I was pretty tired, so I went home for an hour to relax, eat and put my feet up before heading back to the Festival. (More chocolate cake!)

The highlight of the day was Ben Harper's band performing with his mom, Ellen. It was pretty dark by the time they started, but we had managed to eek out a little space next to a palm tree and made ourselves comfortable on the ground with towels and the tree for leaning upon.

The sweet part of Ben's performance was when he picked up a young boy, maybe 4 or 5 years old, and together they sang Neil Young's Heart of Gold. I caught a little of it on video. Here it is.

Here is Lucas Critchfield conducting the CYSO

Here are a few of the performers at the Festival - Angela Lloyd, Peter Harper and Rick Shea

City Banners

Now that the college students have gone home for the summer, can the 4th of July be far behind? The city banners for the mid-summer holiday are up, here in May.

Buildings Up, Buildings Down

Claremont continues to keep contractors busy. Here are some ongoing projects.

The model house for the new subdivision on Indian Hill and Vista Drive is up, at least on the outside.

The Ducey gym is down.

Even in Montclair new buildings are going up - corner of Monte Vista and Arrow Highway.

Library Exhibit Follow-Up

I just found out that the exhibit about the history of the Claremont Public Library is now online, so if you missed it, you can read about it here. 

More Gardens

After enjoying RSABG, we toured 5 private gardens and here are some of my favorite photos.

Garner House

On my way to the historical exhibit yesterday, I first went into the main building of the Garner House. I wandered through the downstairs before I found someone to let me into the exhibit. I've lived in Claremont for 28 years, and I have never been inside this building. Claremont Heritage has been headquartered here since 2001, but it never occurred to me to check it out. Now I know someone who is going to use this as a venue for a wedding this summer, which I think is so well-suited for a Claremont girl.

The living room, facing north

The living room, facing south. You can see the music balcony in the upper left.

The lending library. If you are a Claremont resident, you can check out books from here about local and California history, as well as home restoration.

Several plaques

The courtyard

Claremont Library - 100 Years Old

I did not make it to the Opening Party for the Library's Centennial last Saturday, but I wanted to see the historical exhibit about the library's past 100 years. My postcard from the Friends of the Claremont Library altered me to the fact that this exhibit is very temporary - closing this coming Sunday - so I got over to the Garner House in Memorial Park this morning.

I am not one for reading long articles hanging on walls in exhibits, but I read just about every word in this show. When you are reading about something in your own life (and the library is a big part of mine), it becomes infinitely interesting. 

I asked the young man who let me in if this information is collected anywhere besides this ephemeral exhibit, and he said that it will soon (in a month or so?) be on a website somewhere - either the historical society or Friends of the Claremont Library. It was not clear to me, but I will be on the lookout for it - or perhaps someone will let me know!

The exhibit is open today until 1:00, tomorrow through Sunday from 1-5, and it is free. Go!

The exhibit is in the back of the Garner House.

I really like maps, especially old ones. This is part of a very large map in the exhibit.

Here are photos on one board of the original library, a Spanish Revival building which sat where the current library does. It's too bad that the building was too small and could not be expanded. Most people agree that the current structure is visually unappealing. (Except for the newly renovated Children's Room.)

I did not know that the Friends of the Claremont Library began in 1957. I have only been aware of it for the past 10 or so years. 

Boon Companion

The long-time owners of Claremont's toy store, Boon Companion, recently retired. The new owners took over March 1, and until yesterday, the windows have been covered with brown paper. On Thursday I took the first two photos, and yesterday I strolled by and took a peek inside. It looked as though they were still working, so this must be what is called a soft opening. I am not in the market for toys these days, but someday I might be....

Behind the glare of the window, see a prominently displayed vacuum...

Inka Trails

Many years ago we ate at Inka Trails, but we didn't really understand the food. After all, we had never had french fries and rice together in a main dish. Then we went to Peru and had lomo saltado (a  stir-fry with sirloin strips, onions, tomatoes and potatoes / french fries over rice). Upon returning home from Peru, we thought we ought to give the restaurant another try.

I ordered the lomo saltado and H had the quinoa con queso. He's been looking for the kind of creamy quinoa he had at the buffet at Machu Picchu, and this one was pretty good, but not exactly the same.  I thought the food pretty good, even if a little salty. Now, if Inka Trials would serve pisco sours, we would return more often.