The Mission Inn Festival of Lights

Santa and your carriage of lights await!

When my neighbors invited me to go see some Christmas lights on Tuesday night, I wasn't expecting what I got to see!  I hadn't heard of the Mission Inn or its famed Festival of Lights, and had no way of knowing how absolutely fabulous it is!

You can barely make out the horse-drawn wagon filled with tourists beneath all the glittering lights!

The Mission Inn (or the Mission Inn Hotel and Spa) was built in 1876.  It is an historic landmark hotel in downtown Riverside, California.

It took us about an hour to drive out there, and was worth every minute it took!

Every year, the Inn puts up nearly three million Christmas lights, and over 400 animated figures to celebrate the Christmas Season.

The Main Entrance features a Spanish Archway covered in lights

An estimated 65,000 people attend annually to view these amazing holiday decorations.

The back side of the front entrance arch - with mission bells and a huge hanging Mistletoe.
Several couples took advantage of the mistletoe while I struggled to take this photo!

The hotel takes up an entire city block and features wonderful architecture. It is considered the largest Mission Revival Style building in the United States.

However, it includes all kinds of architectural details in many styles, matching Spanish Gothic architecture with Moorish Revival, Spanish Colonial, Renaissance Revival and Mediterranean Revival styles into a wonderful fairy-tale structure.

It is a wonderful place to visit for just its architecture alone!  It has exterior arcades, a five-story rotunda, all kinds of patios and windows and towers.  There are two chapels inside the structure.  The St. Francis Chapel has four large stained glass windows and two original mosaics by Louis Comfort Tiffany.  (Yeah, THAT Tiffany fellow.)

President Richard Nixon and his wife Pat were married in one of those beautiful chapels, as was actress Bette Davis.  President Ronald Reagan and his wife honeymooned at the Inn.

Other notable visitors include eight other presidents from Benjamin Harrison to John F. Kennedy to George W. Bush.  Portraits of all the presidents who have stayed at the inn hang in the lobby.

Spiced nuts and donuts were sold on the plaza next door

On the plaza, food vendors were making donuts and spiced nuts, producing a delectable aroma of cinnamon and other holiday spices.  Further on, Santa's reindeer were on display for the children.

This beautiful reindeer and his friend are no doubt part of Santa's team

I think the last time I saw a live reindeer was in Norway, many many years ago!  I sometimes forget how small they are.  I guess they make up for their size by being adorable... and magic.

Animatronic Pandas played Christmas Carols

Suffragette Susan B. Anthony once stayed at the Inn.  So have industrialists Henry Ford, Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller.  Naturalist John Muir once visited, as have Helen Keller, Booker T. Washington and publishing giants Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst.

Early entertainers such as Lillian Russel, Sarah Bernhardt and Harry Houdini have visited the Inn.  So have Charles Boyer, Ethel Barrymore, Mary Pickford, Ginger Rogers, W.C. Fields, Clark (sigh) Gable, Cary (again sigh) Grant, Spencer Tracy and others, including comedians Jack Benny and Bob Hope.

I loved this archway

The unique architecture of the Inn has helped it end up in several movies and TV shows.  Author Anne Rice liked the Inn so much she incorporated it into the first of her Songs of Seraphim books.

The hotel has four restaurants, a day spa and 239 guest rooms, including several rooms designated as presidential suites.

All sides of the Inn are covered in lights, even the rear entrance (above) with its happy FELIZ NAVIDAD greeting.

The place was packed with visitors - even though we went on a Tuesday night.  I can only imagine the crowds they'll have this coming weekend!

It was cold!  The temperature was in the low 50s (okay, cold for HERE, anyway), and the brisk wind made it seem even colder.  We've had rain off and on for many days, and it had cleared all the smog and dust out of the air, leaving it crisp and clear as can be.

 In other words, it was a lovely, chilly evening, just perfect for wandering around looking at lights.

Entering the hotel's main floor, we found it to be as beautifully decorated as the exterior.

I want that fireplace.

A massive, 2-story tall tree graced the main lobby.

The interior concourses were thronged with visitors.  

Blooming hibiscus with tiny lights in them

I heard one visitor exclaim, "This is like Disneyland!"

I kinda agreed.

I loved the horse-drawn carriages

The festival feeling was heightened by the fairy-tale coaches driving around the Inn through the city center.  There was an old-fashioned Santa up on the roof climbing down the chimney too!

I briefly became a part of the display.

They made me do it.

Honestly.

The Mission Inn's Railroad

The Inn is rumored to be haunted.  As it was built in 1876, and contains some spooky narrow passageways and medieval touches, I suppose it sparks some people's imaginations.  Well, really - who knows?  Maybe it is haunted.

The Mission Inn is also designated a National Historic Landmark, and a California Historic Landmark.  Not to be left out, the City of Riverside named it their number one landmark, but I think they were just jumping on the bandwagon.

Me standing in front of Rivers of lights

The Mission Inn also contains a museum and gives guided tours highlighting its architecture and collected treasures.  The Inn contains museum quality art and artifacts estimated to be worth more than $5 million dollars.

I think I'd love to come back for a visit after the holiday crowds leave and take one of their tours.  The festival of lights was absolutely worth the drive out to see it, but the Inn itself would be worth a look-see any time of year.

It was a great evening!

Some Photos courtesy Me, others courtesy R. Fry.  Thanks Ray!