Inland SoCal Moms | Things To Do In Menifee

Recently when I asked my husband what there was to do in Menifee, his response was “nothing”. Which seems to be what most of our friends and neighbors seem to believe as well. But with a little digging I found that there was plenty to do, whether you wanted a free experience or you didn’t mind shelling out a few bucks.   Some of the things to do are not technically in Menifee but are so close you might as well consider it!

Here are just things to do in the city of Menifee.

Visit the Library! Visit the Library! I cannot say this enough times. It is AMAZING what is available for FREE to our entire community. We have two libraries!

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Photo Credit: Riverside County Library

Sun City Library –  Located at 26982 Cherry Hills Blvd. Sun City Library has FREE WIFI, several family storytimes and you can read to a therapy dog on the first and third Thursday of every month. There is something for every age group including Yoga and Meditation for the not so young and Anime Club for the teens. There is so much more to do that I couldn’t list it all.

Paloma Valley Library  – Located on the Paloma High School Campus at 31375 Bradley Rd.   The Paloma Libary has preschool story times, family game night, a chess club and elementary and middle school tutoring. ALL ARE FREE!

Menifee Valley Flyers – Even if you don’t have an RC plane, you can still learn how to fly one. Menifee Valley Flyers has a field located off Menifee Rd. in between McCall and Simpson. The cost for membership is $25 dollars plus the cost of insurance. There are instructors that can teach you to fly or you can bring your own plane. They also have flights over Heritage Lake 3-4 times a year and night flying too!

Menifee Lakes Country Club  –  Menifee Lakes Country Club  is open to the public and has lessons that are available for adults and for children as well. In the summer there are clinics for students at a discounted rate. Menifee Lakes Country Club has a practice range, a 27 hole golf course and a grill and cocktail lounge where they have karaoke and live music.

California Golf and Art  – California Golf and Art is an 18 hole, 72 par championship course in Sun City, CA. Located at 26583 Cherry Hills Blvd. SCGA’s “Youth on the Course” Participating Facility (which apparently means $1-5 dollar course fees for SCGA youth members!)

Menifee Parks - Take your kids to the park. Fly a kite, swing a swing. For just a moment remember life through the eyes of your child. Wheatfield Park is our family favorite because in addition to the play structures and basketball and baseball courts there are also tennis and racquetball courts. If you don’t have a kid, take your dog to a dog park, we have two. Is anyone else seeing a pattern here? Menifee seems to have two of everything! Aldergate park is located on Menifee Rd. and the other dog park is E. L. Pete Peterson Park on Murrieta Rd., Menifee has many parks and if you take a look at the city of Menifee website you will be able to view them all.

Chinese Bistro – Have you ever eaten inside of a train? Chinese Bistro is located off HWY 74. My kids enjoyed the atmosphere and I was pleased to be eating authentic Chinese food on real china. Not Styrofoam. It was delicious and a unique experience for the whole family.  This is a great place for train enthusiasts!

 

Pechanga Pow Wow

The Pechanga Pow Wow is scheduled for Friday, July 11 through Sunday, July 13.   If you have never been to a pow wor if is definitely an event to witness first hand. For additional details visit Pechanga 19th Annual Pow Wow.

 

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Inland Moms attended our first Pow Wow in Temecula last year.  Here are some photos from last years event.  It’s definitely an event to witness first hand.

Tour de Fork at Victoria Gardens

We’re excited to support the 2nd annual Tour de Fork at Victoria Gardens on Thursday, June 26th.   The second annual Tour de Fork at Victoria Gardens will benefit three local charities, including Rancho Cucamonga Community & Arts FoundationRancho Cucamonga Library Foundation and Rancho Cucamonga Animal Care & Services.  100 percent of the event proceeds will go directly to these organizations.

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The event provides participants with a great way to enjoy local cuisine and give back to charity.  2014 Tour De Fork event tickets are now on sale.  Tickets are limited to the first 500 people, and must be purchased prior to the event date. Each ticket entitles a guest to unlimited food tastings, as well as five alcoholic beverage tastings.

Ticket pricing is as follows:

  • $40 per ticket if purchased at the Rancho Cucamonga Cultural Center Box Office
  • $42 per ticket if purchased online
  • $50 per ticket if purchased the week of the event

For event details, participating restaurants and to purchase tickets online visit: www.VictoriaGardensIE.com

Here are our photos from the 2013 event.

2013 Participating Restaurants:

N7 Creamery

Corner Bakery

California Pizza Kitchen

Crepes de Paris

Johnny Rockets

King’s Fish House

T.G.I. Friday’s

P.F. Chang’s China Bistro

Lucille’s Smokehouse Bar-B-Que

Slater’s 50/50

Special Guest Restaurants:

Antonino Italian Restaurant and Bar

Haandi Indian Cuisine

Aria Restaurant and Lounge

Magic Lamp Inn Steakhouse

Things to Do in the Inland Empire With Your Pre-Teen

Once kids reach a certain age, there begins the lament of “There’s nothing to do,” or “I’m bored,” on a weekly, daily, or (on really bad days) an hourly basis.  While my usual philosophy to these cries is to assign a chore, once kids reach a certain age you can’t take it for granted when they want to hang out with you because it won’t last much longer.  To that end, here is a collection of fun stuff you can do with your pre-teen here in the Inland Empire.

Like a classic with staying power, skate parties, sessions, and rinks are still around because it’s simple fun, gets your blood pumping, and comes with dance music!  Our area offers us Skate Express in Chino, Cal Skate in Grand Terrace, Roller City 2001 in Riverside, and Roller City Plus in Fontana.  The Inland Empire area also brings us quite a few ice skating rinks like IceTown in Riverside, Ontario Center Ice Arena and Ontario Ice Skating Center both totally different places in Ontario, and last but not least Desert Ice Castle in Cathedral City.

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Laser tag can also offer an exciting time or a good party.  We have Laser Quest in Chino, Laser Island in Upland, and Triple O Lazer Tag in Moreno Valley.  Paintball takes this notion up a notch, Jungle Island Paintball & Airsoft Park in Lake Elsinore comes complete with a Little Warrior Arena especially for kids 6-12.  Along with Action Star Games Paintball Park in Colton and SC Village Paintball & Airsoft Park in Corona both with a minimum age requirement of 10, the inland has your pre-teen covered.  

If heart racing is how you like your fun, try indoor go kart racing at K1 Speed in Ontario, San Bernardino Raceway, or Pole Position Raceway in Corona.  Adams Motorsports Park in Riverside not only has outdoor kart racing but a Racing Academy with classes for ages 5-95 and a plethora of other motorsports available to watch.  The Auto Club Speedway in Fontana offers a quite a few races and other events to watch as well.

If your family enjoys watching sports together, save money on gas and support a local team.  Minor league baseball teams like The Inland Empire 66ersRancho Cucamonga Quakes, and Lake Elsinore Storm, have been around for years and offer tons of fun and great deals for families.  If baseball isn’t your thing, try heading to the Citizens Business Bank Arena to watch the Ontario Reign hockey team or the Ontario Fury arena soccer team or any number of other special events.

Lately my pre-teen has been singing “Let It Go” all day non stop on repeat so that must mean its time to take her to a show!  The Inland Empire has TONS to offer in terms of local theatre.  From a show at Landis Performing Arts Center in Riverside to California Theater of the Performing Arts in San Bernardino or the Lewis Family Playhouse in Rancho Cucamonga the inland has got you covered.  Plus there is even more theater in our community if you can appreciate all of it that exists on a smaller scale as well.  These theaters include but are not limited to: the Yucaipa Little TheatreLifeHouse Theater in Redlands, Redlands Theatre FestivalOld Town Temecula Community TheaterChino Community Theatre and the list goes on.  There are players and productions ALL OVER the Inland Empire.

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With the weather warming up, the days are quickly approaching when places like The Cove Waterpark in Riverside, Soak City in Palm Springs, Splash Kingdom in Redlands will be opening.  A brand new Drop Zone water park in Perris is set to open by Memorial Day.  There are a few local parks that also offer water play including Celebration Park in Moreno Valley, Doty Trust Park in Riverside, or Citrus Park in Corona.  Days vary as to when they “turn the water on” so check with your local park for the days and times. 

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View from Rancho Jurupa Park.

If you have an outdoorsy kid that loves to camp, fish, hike, bike, or just generally explore may I suggest Rancho Jurupa Park in Riverside or Lake Perris in Moreno Valley if you need to add boating to that list.  The former has a splash pad and miniature and disc golf courses and the latter not only offers you the opportunity to boat but to watch the occasional boat race.  To be honest though, growing up here some of my favorite parks were the San Bernardino County Regional Parks, Prado (for the tadpoles) and Guasti (for the pool) in particular.  Some city parks can offer up some great experiences too like Fairmount Park in Riverside (hungry ducks anyone?), look around and find one the whole family can enjoy!

things_to_do_inland_empire_riverside_fairmount_parkThe last thing I wanted to share was that good old Fiesta Village, an IE classic for almost 45 years, has kart racing, laser tag, a water park, outdoor rollerskating, and batting cages along with all the other fun stuff like mini-golf, arcade games, and amusement rides that accompany your typical Family Fun Zone.  There are reasons a classic remains a classic.