This city really lights up when it’s holiday time

When the citrus industry transformed Riverside into a prosperous hub in the early 1900s, it was dubbed California’s second gold rush, and that bright spirit shows in the city’s eye-popping annual Festival of Lights. The Mission Inn Hotel and Spa (3649 Mission Inn Ave, [951] 784-0300; www.missioninn.com), a historic landmark that occupies an entire city block, is the centerpiece of the festival, adorned with 3.5-million decorative lights and 350 animated characters that would make even Walt Disney gasp. The surrounding Main Street is a bustling pedestrian walkway of specialty shops and restaurants that hosts nightly entertainment, an ice skating rink, wandering carolers and horse-drawn carriages. While the lights draw the crowds, Riverside shines on many fronts.

A piece of history

Riverside’s past is front and center at Heritage House (8193 Magnolia Ave, [951] 826-5273; www.riversideca.gov/museum/), a restored Queen Anne Victorian mansion exhibiting life at the turn of the century, and in docent-led tours from the Mission Inn Museum (3696 Main St, [951] 781-8241, www.missioninnmuseum).

What to eat now

The hip Bistro Omakase (3720 Mission Inn Ave, [951] 788-8820; www.restaurantomakase.com) showcases inventive fine dining based on locally grown seasonal produce.

Antiquing galore

Great antique shopping will have you foraging for hours in the catacomb-like stores that dot downtown. Brookleberry’s (3653 Market St, [951] 781-7692; www.brookleberrys.com) specializes in classic European furniture, while 150 vendors sell their wares at the department-store-sized Mission Galleria (3700 Main St., [951] 276-8000).

Tulich is a freelance writer

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