A Winelover's Wanderings

I have a confession to make - I LOVE the Mission Inn at Christmastime!

For those of you who don't know, the Mission Inn in Riverside, CA holds a Festival of Lights each year - from the day after Thanksgiving to a couple of days after New Year's. Millions of lights are strung, along with animated figures both inside and outside of the building. It is just spectacular!

I grew up in Riverside and have watched the Mission Inn go thru both bad times and good times thru the years. It is a historic site and one of the highlights of visiting the Inland Empire area of Southern California.

I still go to the beauty shop in downtown Riverside, and my hairdresser (and friend) Arlene and I always go to the Mission Inn in December for a glass of wine and to see the Christmas lights. Tuesday night was our night.

The real bonus of visiting the Mission Inn was the fact that they opened a new wine bar in November - it's called 54 degrees. Nice high-end wines and three different choices for the size of your tastes - 1.5 oz, 3.25 oz and 6.5 oz. I tried a half glass (3.25 oz) of Far Niente chardonnay and a half glass of Duckhorn pinot noir. Nice appetizers too - I had a huge stainless steel martini glass filled with mashed potatoes and topped with a lamb "lollipop". Arlene had a delicious rice-filled martini glass with Jamaican shrimp on top. Yum!!!

Last year Palma and Brad joined Bill and me for a tour of the decorated Mission Inn and dinner across the street. Here is her post about that evening.

My pictures aren't as good as hers, but here are a couple of exterior photos.