Palm readings, coffee cake, and the newspaper that became a museum

A creek that runs along the ESRI campus out to Tennessee Street is picturesque.

By John Murphy

Highland is not the most walkable city, so I often cross the wash into Redlands and hit the pavement.

Wednesday’s wanderings took me to the historic Kendall Street area. I headed down the hill to State Street and took a left. There’s a psychic shop there and those always amuse me. But I stopped short of having my palm read.

I passed the Breakfast Shack which suggests folks “eat more bacon” and Saverino’s Italian Deli and Market. Saverino’s is not sponsoring my blog, but it’s an outstanding deli – reminds me a lot of Roma’s in my hometown of San Bruno.

The thought of a roast beef and provolone on a french roll had my mouth watering.

I was on the Orange Blossom Trail now, a designated 7-mile path that cuts across the city. I took a path that runs along the border of the ESRI campus. It took me over a bridge and along a creek. There I admired the handiwork of some of our finest spray-paint artisans.

I passed Jennie Davis Park and then reached Tennessee Street. Cyclery USA is right there, and I made a mental note to get my bike tuned up. I haven’t used it in two years, and my bathroom scale suggests it’s time.

This bridge spans a creek that runs along the sprawling ESRI campus.

Heading west, I passed the former office of the Redlands Community News (guffaw). Then I crossed a street and saw the Zanja, an ancient waterway built by indigenous people that bisects the city.

Soon I was plodding past Carolyn’s Café and thinking about coffee cake. Then I was on Brookside and headed back to Kendall. But first I passed the impressive-looking Museum of Redlands. That’s the much-awaited gem that is on the former Redlands Daily Facts site.

I peered inside and spied some cool neon signs – La Posada Hotel, Redlands Camera, Stanton Liquors, City Florist, etc. I love history and look forward to the museum opening.

When I first moved to Southern California in 1992, I worked for the Victor Valley Daily Press. We used a Tandy word processor to type our sports stories and then connected the thing to a phone and transmitted.

The old Redlands Daily Facts building is the future home of the Museum of Redlands.

When a High Desert school played Redlands High, I often sent my story from the old Daily Facts building and then yukked it up with former Facts sports editor Obrey Brown late into the night.

Neither one of us imagined a Tandy would be a collector’s item or that newspapers would turn into museums. But it’s 2025 now and that’s where we are. Go figure.