Listing Through Life

I didn’t really need or want another meal, but I was in Riverside with a couple hours to kill and this place was the most interesting spot I found. The exterior and grounds of Tio’s Tacos have been covered with folk art made from found materials and trash. Chicken wire frames have been stuffed with toys, light bulbs, empty detergent containers, whatever … to create statues. A shrine and pyramid have been built from empty beer bottles. Stuffed animals hang from the trees. There’s more of it than I could comprehend in an hour, and all of it was weird and fascinating. Here’s what it says on the restaurant’s web site.

The Sanchez family owners of Tio’s Tacos # 1 Seafood y Centro de Frutas Naturales are proud Mexican immigrants from Sahuayo a litle-town located in the state of Michoacan in Mexico, based on sacrifices and hard work they have achieved the American dream, besides being fully committed to promoting Mexican culture and to offer their customers and friends the best Mexican food in the Inland Empire, thanks to the genius and creativity of Martin Sanchez has been achieved with effort and hard work to create the unimaginable from waste and recyclable material.

I think that sums it up nicely.

After parking in the lot and wandering around for 45 minutes, I felt obligated to buy something. The beef taco was OK. The quart of orange juice that a young woman fresh-squeezed for me was delicious. I’ll allow the photos to tell the rest of the story.

As I was eating my taco at Tio’s, this cat came a-begging. I didn’t offer it any food, but I did immortalize it in a red chair photo, which is nice.

This rather shabby museum in San Bernardino, California is the location of the first McDonald’s restaurant.

The brothers started with a BBQ restaurant.

After a few years, they realized that 80% of their sales came from hamburgers. They pared their menu down to hamburgers, cheeseburgers, fries, shakes, pop and apple pie.

Ray Kroc came along and bought the franchise rights and forced the brothers out of the business. Apparently, when he bought the rights, he was upset that the McDonald brothers intended to keep their restaurant open. He forced them to change the name of their place to “The Big M,” and built a competing McDonald’s one block away. Both restaurants are now gone.

Inside and outside, the place is an unorganized jumble of McDonald’s and Route 66 stuff, with random photos and descriptions. I wouldn’t advise a long trip to visit, but if you find yourself with an hour or two to kill in San Bernardino …

The Juan Pollo chain of chicken restaurants owns the site of the original McDonald’s and uses part of the museum building as corporate offices. This vehicle was parked in back.

I drove into Orange and ate lunch at Bruxie, a sandwich shop that uses waffles for bread. After circling the block five times, I found a parking spot in the four-car lot behind the restaurant. A young woman was standing out front to answer questions. She explained the waffles and told me their specialty was the Buttermilk Fried Chicken & Waffle with Chili Honey and Cider Slaw. I’m not a fan of fried chicken, but when I visit a restaurant for the experience, I generally go with the special. It was delicious.

There was a lot of traffic in the L.A. area. I tried to avoid the worst of it by staying off the major roads before 9:00 a.m. and during the late afternoon. But on Thursday afternoon, I had no choice. I had to get from Yorba Linda to Riverside, and I hit a few pockets of stop and go in a construction zone on Highway 91. Even so, there were four lanes in each direction and I was never stuck for more than a couple minutes. From what I’ve heard, it could have been much worse.

The Richard Nixon Museum didn’t open until 10:00, but the gift shop opened at 9:30. I went in and asked if I could carry the chair around with me. The people I spoke with were very friendly and gave me permission immediately.

I only spent about an hour in the museum. There was a lot to read, but I didn’t have time and figured I could get that information from books. I concentrated on the artifacts.

This necklace was a gift from Golda Meir. Notice how old it is.

Reproduction of the EMU Space Suit used on the Apollo 16 mission

The Vice President’s chair from the Cabinet Room, used by Nixon during the Eisenhower administration.

Pamela was my guide through Nixon’s Birth Place. Later, in the museum, she explained the reproduction of the Lincoln Sitting Room. The brown chair in the near corner was Nixon’s favorite chair.

I asked Pamela to pose with the red chair, which she laughingly agreed to do. As I walked away, I heard her say to another visitor, “Oh, people! Aren’t they funny? I love you guys.”

A reproduction of the East Room in the White House

Nixon chose the “Great Leaders” to represent in this display. I wasn’t allowed to touch them because they are fragile — made of plaster, dressed in real clothes and then coated with stuff to make them look like bronze.

Standing (l to r): Leonid Brezhnev, Nikita Khrushchev, Anwar el-Sadat, Golda Meir, Sir Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle, Konrad Adenauer, Shigeru Yoshida

Seated: Chou En-lai, Mao Tse-tung

The cases along the wall contain gifts given to Nixon by foreign leaders. If they are valued over a certain amount (like $500), they belong to the nation, not the President.

This is the reflecting pool in the courtyard of the Nixon Library. Just as I took the photo, a hummingbird (probably Anna’s) flew past in front of me. You can see it right above the chair, silhouetted against the top-most strip of white on the building.

Nearby stands the gazebo used in the White House Rose Garden for Tricia’s wedding to Edward Cox in 1971.

This Sikorsky VH 3A “Sea King” helicopter was used by Presidents Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon and Ford. Nixon used it to fly from the White House to Andrews Air Force Base on the day he resigned from office. When it was in use by a president, it was called Army One or Marine One, depending on which branch of the service the pilot was from. I was allowed inside, but there wasn’t much to see — just the cockpit and the cabin with benches.

Nixon’s birthplace cottage is right next to the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum. I was on the first tour of the day.

Nixon’s father, Francis, planted the pepper tree on the right side of this next photo.

I wasn’t allowed to take photos inside, but there was a model in the museum that showed the layout.

Nixon and his wife are buried next to the birthplace.