To the people who have spent years answering the question of where you’re from with, “It’s a small city near San Bernardino,” here are a few more things that you knew rang true if you spent your days in the city known for its orange groves.
1. You made weekly trips to the Krikorian, the only theatre around for years, and were sure to high-five Al while you were you there. No midnight premiere is complete without hundreds of people wrapped around the building, jealous of those in the front who camped out for days.
2. Everyone making their way to market night on Thursdays to indulge in all of the delicious food and inevitably buy some piece of jewelry. With multiple musical acts and hundreds of people filtering through State Street, it feels as claustrophobic as Disneyland.
3. Driving up to Sunset to admire the view and pretend you lived in one of the multi-million dollar mansions, only to be fully aware that you probably went to high school with the kids who did.
4. Not buying into the myriad of ghost stories claiming that historic Redlands was haunted (or be like me and my friends and try to test them out with midnight ghost hunting sessions).
5. You went to the Redlands Mall before it closed down for multiple Harris-Gottschalks shopping trips and made sure to stop at Roundtable Pizza for lunch.
6. Knowing we have the best options for Mexican food, namely Cuca’s, Oscar’s, El Burrito, Taco Shack, Las Fuentes, the list goes on. My mouth is literally watering.
7. You, or someone you knew, did some kind of photo shoot at Kimberly Crest or University of Redlands. Driving through downtown always leaves a good chance that you’ll see someone posing as seductively as they can against a brick wall near the Smiley Library.
8. Mentally preparing yourself to run into everyone you know during the week of Thanksgiving when everyone is back in town and trying to convince you to do the “turkey crawl” through the huge bar scene often colloquially referred to as DTR.
9. Being fully aware of the love people hold for their town. Whether it’s an extreme high school rivalry between RHS or REV, or a petition to save the orange groves despite their lack of yield, the people who live here are damn proud of it.
10. Always convincing yourself you’ll move away, but still being here years later. Even the ones who got out still find themselves considering the move back. It’s home.
