Page 118 - 2018 Travel Guide to California

ONTARIO
A trove of discoveries in under-the-radar SoCal home base
B Y C H R I S T I N E D E L S O L
»SHOP, DINE,
SEE A
PERFORMANCE
Greater Ontario Visitor
Information
GOcvb.org
CITIZENS BUSINESS BANK ARENA, above;
Victoria Gardens, below.
ONTARIO IS KNOWN primarily as an
alternative home base away from the chaos
of LAX, stratospheric hotel rates in LA and
the beach cities, and legendary freeway
congestion. But once they land at pain-free
Ontario International Airport, visitors soon
find the unheralded historic spots, shop-
ping and entertainment of Ontario and its
surrounding communities, dubbed Greater
Ontario, well worth seeking out.
The Sunkist water tower south of down-
town harks back to Ontario’s origin in 1882,
when the Chaffey brothers founded the
model township and named it after their
home province in Canada. That era lives on
in Ontario’s Museum of History and Art and
at the Graber Olive House, where the same
family has used the same recipe since 1894.
More recent history endures at the quaint
Logan’s Candies shop, famous for candy
canes it has made the same way since 1933
(including a record-breaking six-footer). For
more glimpses of the past, get the Historic
Downtown Ontario self-guided walking
tour map at ontarioca.gov.
Next door in Rancho Cucamonga
(where legendary Route 66 runs right
through town on the way to its terminus at
Santa Monica) is the exquisite home of
Sam Maloof, perhaps the most renowned
furniture designer of the postwar period.
Twice-weekly guided tours show why
Maloof insisted on calling himself simply
a woodworker—his craftsmanship shines
in every detail.
Ontario claims the largest concentration
of movie screens west of the Mississippi,
while Citizens Business Bank Arena hosts
acts ranging from Lucha Libre to the Los
Angeles Lakers to Cirque du Soleil to
Miranda Lambert. More intimate entertain-
ment can be found at the Lewis Family
Playhouse and the Improv at Ontario Mills,
which hosts top comedy acts.
Shoppers can choose from more than
200 stores and entertainment venues at
Ontario Mills, or find a change of pace at
Rancho Cucamonga’s Victoria Gardens. Its
anchor stores are surrounded by small
shops arranged as city blocks with a pedes-
trian walkway leading to a cultural center
including a theater and city library.
While Greater Ontario enjoys its prox-
imity to scenic mountain and desert
landscapes, one of Southern California’s
standout natural sites is in its own back-
yard: Rancho Santa Ana in Claremont
claims the largest botanic garden dedicated
to California native plants, meandering
through natural terrain.
116 2018 T R AV E L G U I D E TO C A L I F O R N I A
ONTARIO CVB; JON EDWARDS