For those of you who don’t know, Palm Springs, was the playground for the rich and famous starting back in the 1930s. Today, it is a great get-away option, just a nice drive from Tucson (about five to six hours depending on whether you go through Phoenix or take the bypass off I-10, which I highly suggest). It has a population of about 50,000 people but is surrounded by other well-known towns such as Coachella (famous now for its annual Woodstock-type music festival), Cathedral City, Indian Wells (known for the BNP Paribas Tennis Open held each year) and La Quinta to name a few. Palm Springs is situated right smack in the middle of the desert on the Cahuilla Indian reservation. For sure, you can have a delightful time here in this laid-back destination, filled with lots of diverse things to do, including outdoor adventure, fun eating places, swimming and culture. The city is known for its majestic mountains which surround it, some as high as 8,500-feet (the same altitude as Machu Picchu, Peru), its mid-century, modern architecture, as well as its masses of white wind turbines. Yes, it can be very breezy in Palm Springs, as well as very hot during the summer months, and quite cold during winter months in the early mornings.
Once you select Palm Springs as your destination, your first challenge is to pick where you want to stay and there are many choices. Personally, I prefer to stay right in the center of downtown where it is easy to walk to restaurants and shops. There are a number of bed and breakfasts to choose from, most of which include delicious breakfasts on property, swimming pools and often an afternoon happy hour. One of my favorites is Casa Cody. Another is the Holiday House (really yummy breakfast spread including smoked salmon). Recently, I wanted to try something new which was the Margaritaville Resort, located just five minutes from the centro. This resort has over 400 rooms, a number of different pools, the tropical look/feel you would expect, along with several bars and restaurants on site. Others might like to pick the Marriott Resort, outside of town and surrounded with a golf course, or the Kimpton Rowan Hotel, right in town with rooftop bar and (I find this really appeals to Millennials). No matter what you choose, you do have choices.
If you are not coming for a music festival or tennis tournament, you will still find lots to do. One of my favorite adventures is the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. You can go online, or directly there to the site to purchase tickets and take a ride up to 8,500 feet. Be sure you don’t suffer from altitude sickness. Once there, you are in the Mt. San Jacinto State Park with trails for hiking and picnic sites. There is a great gift shop, café, nature exhibits and documentary theaters, plus panoramic viewing decks. Be prepared for a markedly different weather experience at that height and come prepared! For a different experience, plan to visit Moorten Botanical Garden, which claims to be “the desert garden for all seasons”. You can follow their paths to discover all types of desert plants, crystals, rocks and ancient fossils.
For a really superb cactus garden, one must go to Sunnylands, a majestic estate built by Ambassador and Mrs. Annenberg in 1966 as a winter home, including a nine hold golf course. They hailed from Pennsylvania (owners of TV Guide, Seventeen, Racing Forum, among other publications) and Mr. Annenberg had a distinguished career as an ambassador under several presidents. The estate is a real treasure and a place of incredible solitude, where many world leaders came to meet different presidents. Today, you can do a guided self-tour, although all of the specific rooms have not been left as they were when it was a “home”. There is a very good documentary video to help give as well as many photos and didactics to explain its history, plus a lovely gift shop and café. But the crowning feature here are the outside cactus gardens, planted with care and precision, where you can wander freely.
For me, a visit to the windmills (i.e., wind turbines) is amazing as they fascinate me. I love to be up close and personal with them, learning about 40 years of wind farm evolution. You can choose to drive around on your own or take a tour with a guide. Lastly, I love to visit the Palm Springs Art Musuem, which recently acquired a notable building called Aluminaire House, first created in 1931 in New York City by a pair of Swiss modernist architects (Kocher and Frey, who once worked together in Paris under the tutelage of the French architect Corbusier). The house received incredible attention in those days, as it was truly the first modernist design of a home entirely created from aluminum. It was intended to be mass produced and affordable as the first metal house in the U.S. Over its time, it had several homes on estates in Long Island, but most recently was packed away in pieces in a container. Good luck between art lovers and architects, both in New York and in Palm Springs, resulted in an agreement that it could be a permanent part of the Palm Springs Museum collection. Recently, it arrived in pieces and was reassembled in an outdoor lot next to the museum where people can now tour it.
Finally what fun is a get-away adventure without some fun food. There is plenty of that in Palm Springs. Yes, I enjoy the downtown area with lots of restaurants you can walk to such as Kaiser Grill right on the main drag, definitely a cut-above its other neighbors. I also like Fusion Five right down the street. They serve really delicious Thai food with some Asian fusion crossover. They have a full bar, complete with beer from Laos and good wine selection. Another favorite of mine is Bar Cecil, a five-minute drive from downtown, with a really attractive long bar with French flair and both inside/outside dining. Spencers is another favorite, and just a short drive away. Reservations are a must for my last two suggestions!
Linda Stack is owner of TRAVELINDA, LLC and can be reached via email at llstack9597@gmail.com.
