Visit
quiet, mountain town
By Christine G. Adamo
On-line Forty-Niner
Some
days, rocking in an old, oak chair by an
antique furnace reading a slow-moving novel
is all you want to do. Or you may want to
stretch out on a hammock slung between tall
pine trees and watch nature unfold — in
all its splendor — before your very eyes.
 Then
there are days that pull you away on a hike
or a tour of local thrift stores and artists’
studios. Just follow the main highway, the
kind of two-lane road that winds through
sleepy, little towns like Idyllwild as if
it were a stream cutting its own, slow path
down a mountain.
The quaint, quiet village of Idyllwild is
no more than a two-hour drive from Los Angeles
and is the kind of place that offers welcome
respite from the smog and sensory saturation
of everyday living. It is exactly the kind
of place where you can partake in whichever,
if any, activities you choose.
Here you can take a moonlit hike along Highway
243 to get warmed up for a hearty dinner.
The walk home will give you time to digest,
reflect or simply enjoy the crisp, mountain
air. Let it brush gently across your face
and impart a healthy glow on your nose and
cheeks that you may not have seen since
your last childhood romp in the snow.
Idyllwild has many interesting shops to
visit. The variety of restaurants for such
a concentrated town is also impressive:
Chinese, Italian, German, Mexican, American
cuisine and more. You could make the rounds
over a seven-day period and still not eat
in the same place twice.
The best time to visit Idyllwild is at the
beginning of the week. Most business owners
operate on restricted hours Monday through
Wednesday due to reduced traffic. Lodging,
as a consequence, is less expensive. And,
yes, the people of the town also need to
eat. So leave any worries about being able
to get a burger by dinner time where they
belong — at home with your unpaid bills.
The Cottage Nestled in the Pines at Woodland
Park Manor is an ideal place to stay for
moderately priced lodging that is off the
beaten path and in a world of its own. It
is still within walking, biking or driving
distance of town, which is literally just
around the bend. The Manor also rents four
to eight person cabins in case you decide
to travel with a crowd.
The Town Crier is a weekly newspaper offered
free-of-charge in most chalets and motel
rooms. It provides tourist information and
highlights activities that have been time-tested
for tourist interest. The paper’s coverage
of school and social events brings you down
to earth and makes you want to stop to smell
the pinecones along with the locals.
Idyllwild has a population of approximately
3,000 permanent residents and sits at 52,000
feet of elevation in the Santa Rosa Mountains.
It is accessible by highways 74 and 243
off Interstate 10 heading east.
|
