Monday, August 24, 2020

Mission Inn Mini-Moon

I'll spare you the story, but basically AJ and I had credit for a two-night stay in a junior suite at the Mission Inn. It was originally scheduled for March (and we all know how that went) and long story short, it didn't seem possible to postpone our stay any further, so with a little trepidation, we decided to go for it. It also coincidentally happened to be the 3 year anniversary of our engagement. (We spent some time reliving that trip to Belize through our photos on our phone - what I wouldn't give to be able to be there again right about now!)

We really enjoyed our room, and because we were "just" in Riverside (plus you know, it's way too hot out and there's a pandemic) I felt like we really got to enjoy the room right nice, having meals at the dining table, hanging out in the sitting area and going to bed or napping in the living room. I swear there's nothing worse than having an amazing hotel room and not getting to enjoy it!







We had these little doors, which looked like ship doors, in the dining area
and also in our bedroom. They led out into the hallway, and I guess they
were servants quarters back in the day or something?? Cute nonetheless




Don't worry, the bed was made when we checked in, just didn't take the picture until later









The details make it what it is!
We had such a great amount of time to relax and enjoy the room, and also wander around the property, which turned into my mini maternity photoshoot.
 
The Mission Inn, like the city of Venice, Italy and the Greek Isle Mykonos, feels photogenic at every single turn and angle. You're just taking a picture of yet another building or corner, but somehow it feels like you still hadn't captured it all or this is even better than the last photo you took. So, sorry for the overkill. We're not even professional photographers (obviously LOL) so you'd think I'd be better off just downloading their own photos from their website or something but oh well.
 
Our room was in this corner along this rampart walkway. It was so dreamy!

















We found the mirror from our wedding night where we took a picture
(and neither of us remembered until we were going through photos later)
and we tried to recreate it. We didn't put it side by side until afterwards and
saw we were on different sides... oh well. Still kute though!


The parrots were out on our last day! Where the heck do they go when
they're gone and what do they do? And with whom??

Well when we weren't in the room, we spent time in the pool. We were down there for shifts in midday, early morning and a late night swim. It was so fabulous and relaxing, although really hot. The pool was nice and cool (unlike the pool at the Palm Springs inn last weekend LOL) so it was easy to dip in and out to cool off, but sure felt like it wore off quickly.



The nighttime swim was so delightful! Even being there around 10:30-11p, it was still so warm
outside it was so nice, and you could just go into the pool and come out and feel fine

I did venture out with AJ to get food for one of the meals, and we decided to take the long way and walk around the downtown just a bit. My God how much it's changed even since our wedding in 2018! So many art ventures and installations, lofts and apartments, new buildings, new restaurants. I was in love.


And talk about surprises - Donut Bar! This started in San Diego and I heard about it from Pam & Co., who discovered it and were so into it, Donut Bar catered their wedding desserts back in 2015. So we definitely had that for breakfast on Sunday. Such a treat for them to expand to Riverside.




I sought this out. A bunch of art pieces went up right in response to the George Floyd riots and
protests in Riverside, and this was my favorite one and I was adamant to find it. Ironically Rage
is from Irvine, but they're meant for everyone!

Any iteration of the Riverside Raincross is my favorite

This definitely was not planned as a mini babymoon,but it was so fun and refreshing, that it kinda felt like that in the end.

...and now we're probably homebound for the foreseeable future. Wahhhhh!