When I was growing up, I loved going to downtown Riverside.
For awhile in high school, I remember they had Downtown Riverside Wednesday nights,
During which the whole area was a big street fair.
I don't remember if it was a seasonal thing or if it went on more than a year,
But I remember having a lot of fun the times that I went.
There are so many nice buildings down there too,
The biggest and nicest of which is the Mission Inn.
The Mission Inn is a special building with a lot of history,
And also an operating hotel.
Growing up I also loved the Public Library and it's gazebo.
The library is huge and has great meeting rooms,
One of those rooms was the site for many of my piano recitals,
Including my senior recital.
The gazebo is beautiful, (and was off limits during this visit!)
And I also liked wandering through the shops and restaurants that were there.
But we hadn't gone to wander that area since we moved away 15 years earlier.
So, yes, I planned a downtown Riverside day with my parents.
We started with lunch at Rubio's.
Rubio's was not in Riverside when I left.
But I wish it had been.
And it is always on my list of places to eat when I come home.
I love a good, simple street taco.
Then it was off to downtown, where many of the shops had changed,
But a few important ones remained,
Like the old used book store and Simple Simon's.
We had fun wandering the area,
Balancing on walls,
Stopping on bridges,
Staring into ponds,
Seeing the bird and cannons at the Mission Inn,
And getting slightly wet while avoiding a few choice people at the fountain.
We ended our day with a trip to Rite Aid for some Thrifty's ice cream.
I'm glad that the ice cream has remained in these stores despite all of the shifts in ownership.
(And I sure do wish that our Washington Rite Aid's would carry Thrifty's ice cream!)
We had a really great afternoon. I may just have to add this to the list of things to do again.
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