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#author, #authorsrow, #california, #exploring, #history, #hotel, #missioninn, #mystery, #turret, author, authorsrow, california, exploring, history, hotel, missioninn, mystery, old hotel, turret
Shortly after moving to California, a friend and I went on a day trip to The Mission Inn. We signed up for the two-hour walking tour and learned all about its history.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with The Mission Inn, it began as a twelve-room boarding house in 1876. Under the direction of the family’s eldest son, it morphed into the grand hotel that it is today. Designed in the Spanish Colonial style architecture, the first new wing opened in 1903. Over the next thirty years, additional wings were added, each with their own style. There was the Cloister Wing, the Spanish Wing, and the Rotunda Wing. Soon an Asian wing was added with its own courtyard. The building also contains towers, domes, buttresses, and arcades. The owner filled the hotel with antiques acquired during his travels around the world. Eventually, the building grew to take up an entire city block.
Many famous people have stayed at The Mission Inn ranging from celebrities like Judy Garland and Clark Gable to presidents to Albert Einstein. Richard Nixon married his wife there, and Ronald Regan honeymooned at The Mission Inn.
Untrue to its name, the hotel was never a mission, and there were never bodies in the catacombs that run underneath the hotel. Yes, I said “catacombs.” Cool, huh? Word has it that the original owner hung his art in the catacombs and had guests wander the tunnels, viewing art in the summer months to stay cool.
The part of the tour that really caught my attention was called Author’s Row. Author’s Row is a series of rooms topped with castle-like turrets that many famous authors have stayed in, most notably Helen Hunt Jackson, who wrote Ramona. Some authors wrote entire books there, and others just visited. Right then and there, I added “Stay in Author’s Row at The Mission Inn” to my goal list.
Since our goals guide us through life, I actively review my goal list, trying to figure out how to achieve what I want. So, one rainy, chilly November weekend, I traveled to The Mission Inn, my reservation for a room on Author’s Row almost assured. Yes, oddly, they could not guarantee me a room on Author’s Row even though I specifically requested it and told them that was the whole point of my visit. Weird, I know. So I drove to Riverside to take a gamble.
Fortunately, my gamble paid off. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite the room I’d envisioned. The room had an unusually-shaped painted brick on the walls. There was a desk that faced the wall, not the window I’d envisioned myself sitting at and writing as if I was the Carrie Bradshaw of The Mission Inn; and there was an electric fireplace that I immediately turned on. I wasn’t sure how other authors found this setting inspirational, but I settled in to try to pick up some author mojo.
Upon passing the neighboring room that evening, I couldn’t help but glance through the open curtains. This room was at the end of Author’s Row and was much more the place of inspiration that I had envisioned. It was like a little castle! There were pillars and arches inside. There was a winding staircase going to a second floor. The furniture was plush and looked super comfy. Even though I really didn’t need a 1,200 square foot hotel room, I kind of thought I’d be getting something more along the line of what was called The Alhambra Suite.
The bad thing about getting a room in a cool spot at the hotel is that tourists would walk by day and night, trying to peer through my large, stained glass window that overlooked the courtyard and restaurant below. Creepy.
My room was close to a winding exterior staircase that led down to the hotel’s church. It was closed for Covid, but, fortunately, I’d seen it on the tour I’d taken earlier. This is not some tiny, rustic church, this is one of those work-of-art churches, and I would recommend making sure you check if out if you visit the Mission Inn.
Harnessing the writing mojo vibes I picked up from my room and surrounding rooms, I set out to get something accomplished, taking breaks to explore or dine in the courtyard or venture out to a little French restaurant at night.
Determined to find the infamous catacombs, I inquired about them at the front desk. I was informed they were closed, but a security person might be able to take me down there. Following directions from the front desk, I ventured outside the hotel, walked around to the back, and found a door to the security office.
The unfriendly security person ignored me for a good five minutes as I waited patiently for him to get off the phone and make notes. When I told him I was looking for the catacombs, he quickly shut down my dream, telling me they were closed due to cracks and water that led to safety concerns. When I asked if he would take me there, I was again shut down. When I asked where the entrance was, he gave me the vague answer of, “Near the HR offices.” When I asked where the HR offices were located, he refused to tell me. Oy! Apparently, I had no flirt left in my game because this was like pulling teeth.
As I left the security office, I could feel the man’s eyes follow me. When I looked back, I saw him pick up the phone, and my intuition told me he was calling the front desk to alert them to my shenanigans. That’s okay, I wasn’t one to give up because some grouchy guy wouldn’t give me some information. I’d wait until the next day, when not only different staff would be at the front desk but the weekend would be over, and the majority of guests would have left for home.
The next morning, after an amazing breakfast in the hotel’s courtyard, I approached the front desk and asked where the HR offices were. Tricky, huh? I got a few directions and a point. Easy-peasy, as my friend would say. True to my gut feeling, the HR offices were right where I thought they would be. They were next to some statues in the basement that framed a door with a sign on it. The sign read “Renovations In Progress.” Since the sign did not say “Keep Out,” I took a quick glance around, opened the door, and stepped in. Yes, I do realize the sign was a nicer way of telling people to “Keep Out,” but I had them on a technicality that I felt would hold up in court.
With a racing heart, I stepped into a narrow hallway, turned to the left, then the right, and then the right again as I followed it in a C shape. At the end of the C was another door. My heart was racing as I was pretty sure I wasn’t supposed to be down here, and I’m not usually a rule-breaker. The grouchy security person with an immunity to my flirting skills flashed through my mind. I imagined him grabbing me by the collar, lifting me up, and carrying me out like a puppy who had gone astray.
I took a deep breath and started towards the door at the end of the C-shaped hall that I was sure would lead to the underground catacombs and something, I wasn’t sure what, of great interest. “Step, step, step” went my feet until I heard a door slam and a “step, step, step” that didn’t belong to me. Someone else was down in the C-shaped hall with me. Crap. Now my heart was really racing as I glanced around for a place to hide. My options were a luggage cart and – well, that was it. Double crap. What if it was the hard-arse security guard who had seen me on hidden cameras? What if I got kicked out of the hotel? What if — I lost my train of thought as I heard the jingling of keys and footsteps coming towards me.
Having no hiding place, my only option was to use my acting skills. Boldly, I turned to face the oncoming employee in their black and white uniform. As I strode confidently down the hall and passed her, I looked the employee straight in the eye and said a friendly, “Hi.” My greeting was returned without question, and I glided past her to the entrance door, turned the handle, and stepped out. The second I was out, I heard a key turn in the lock behind me. The door was locked. There would be no return exploration trip…until my next visit.
Staying at the historic hotel was a special treat, and I did get a lot accomplished. As I checked out, the staff were busy putting up Christmas lights for their famous Festival of Lights that drew crowds from near and far. Next to the front desk, two chefs worked on assembling a life-sized gingerbread house that included siding made from giant, homemade graham crackers coated in cinnamon. The scent filled the lobby as the men attached the siding cracker shingles with giant hot glue guns.
Behind me, photos of presidents who had stayed at the inn lined an entire wall of the lobby. Tours, most of the spa offerings, and two of the Inn’s three restaurants were shut down due to Covid, but that didn’t stop visitors from happily buzzing about.
Taking my rolling bag and stepping from the front desk, I inhaled the cinnamon scent and smiled. Yes, I would be back; and, next time, I’d stay in the Alhambra Suite. There may even be another exploratory trip to the catacombs.
Happy exploring!
Summerset, Book 4 in the Harbor Secret Series, is now available on Amazon in paperback and e-book. The audiobook will be available at the end of July! https://www.amazon.com/dp/B097KQ8ZBJ
Daterella's Adventures In Dating 