Riverside Is Nice?

There is obviously something wrong with me since not only was I looking forward to taking a train out to Riverside this past Saturday, I actually enjoyed myself in Riverside.

A few weeks ago, I saw that Metrolink was having a $7 roundtrip special from Union Station to Downtown Riverside for the city’s Festival of Lights. Madd and I decided to head out there especially since we wanted to see Christmas lights. And who doesn’t love a festival?

On the Train

When we got to Union Station, it seems that a lot of people also had the same idea we had because the platform was packed. A couple of stops in it became standing-room only. So we made a note of getting back to the station a little early to make sure we had seats coming home.

The Festival of Lights was actually better than I had anticipated. As a city boy, I always pictured Riverside as a little po-dunk town filled with tumbleweeds and meth labs ready to explode on command. Hell it could be that because we were in the heart of Downtown, the sun had gone down and the Christmas lights were very enchanting. It was all very pretty.

Meats!!!!We had dinner at a speakeasy-themed restaurant called ProAbition (get it? MWA!) and rode a horse-drawn carriage through the streets to see the light display the Mission Inn had created.

My one real complaint was how crowded things were. After the carriage ride, Madd and I wanted to walk through and see the lights a little more up close. Maybe get a churro, a funnel cake, whatever. But it was so packed that there were points where we were stuck. It didn’t help that a couple wanted to show off their heterosexual unnatural love to the world right in the middle of a sidewalk.

We tired of it all and headed back to the station. I made it home by around midnight. Actually a little past that since there was police activity that shut down the freeway right at my exit to the Manse. But it was a pretty enjoyable day.

And that is the problem. It’s fucking Riverside. I’m not supposed to enjoy it. One does not go to Riverside and say things like, “Oh, that’s enthralling,” or, “I could see living here.” NO! Like I said, I was in a low-light situation and was a little over-stimulated from being around human beings.

I guess it could be worse. We could have been in Fresno and saying the same things. Oh, heaven forbid!