Pick your pleasure in Palm Springs
Attractions abound in desert playground
to Where Palm Springs, once snowbirds Calif., for flocked the sun is today and a the vibrant golf, the hotbed desert of oasis arts, nightlife and music.
Here are 10 cool things to do in Palm Springs and the eight other desert oases that make Southern California’s Coachella Valley a must visit.
1.
The Coachella Valley is gaining a reputation for shopping, from the high-end El Paso retail district, often called Rodeo Drive East with its Saks Fifth Avenue, to the outlet malls in Cabazon, where you’ll spend an entire day, to the Uptown Design District, where you’ll want to check out the trendy Trina Turk, Shag and Just Fabulous boutiques.
2.
Even the night markets are chi-chi. The 20-year-old VillageFest street fair is held every Thursday from 6 to 10 p.m., on downtown’s Palm Canyon Drive with outdoor food, artisans, street musicians, chefs, handcrafted souvenirs and, yes, even a pot-bellied pet pig named Stuart.
3.
Walter and Leonore Anneberg of Chicago bought 81 hectares in the middle of Palm Springs and built a winter getaway called Sunnylands complete with a nine-hole golf course. Today, you can tour the 25,000-square-foot, 1966 Quincy Jones-designed house with its original furniture and extensive art collection, along with the manicured grounds. Ronald and Nancy Reagan sunned by the pool. In mid-February, U.S. President Barack Obama entertained President Xi Jinping of China at Sunnylands.
4.
In the 1950s stars like Frank Sinatra and Cary Grant discovered the perfect getaway from the glare of Hollywood. Coupled with architects looking to indulge their love of the Desert Modern style, the two made for a perfect marriage. From Donald Wexler and John Lautner to E. Stewart Williams and William Krisel, Palm Springs soon boasted what many consider the finest collection of mid-century modern homes in North America. To celebrate it all is Modernism Week, a mid- February, 10-day festival (with a fall version in mid-October) of films, tours, lectures, live entertainment, parties and, of course, all those fabulous homes.
5.
The mountain ranges that ring the Coachella Valley and dwarf its nine little towns, including Palm Springs, provide a soft backdrop for the oranges and purples of the spectacular desert sunsets. One of the region’s most popular old-school attractions remains the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway, providing access to mountaintop hiking trails, a view of the Salton Sea and a mountain and desert vista that will literally leave you breathless (thin air up there).
6.
It’s billed as the biggest professional tennis tournament outside of the Grand Slam four. The BNP Paribas Open attracts tennis buffs from around the world who gather to see top pros. The $78-million Indian Wells Tennis Garden features 16,000 seats in the Main Stadium and thousands more in seven other match courts. With $9 million in prize money and as many as 400,000 tennis fans in attendance, you could call it a love match.
7.
The Purple Room, which bills itself as “the place where Palm Springs plays” could be the hippest little watering hole this side of the Blue Note Jazz Club in Manhattan. The 1960s-style supper club, located in Club Trinidad and once the haunt of legendary partiers like Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra, was refurbished and reopened last October, with a new sound system, white walls, purple accents, life-size photos of the Rat Pack, an intimate dance floor surrounded by dining spots for 140 people and a stage with acts that range from rockabilly to bossa nova. This Dean Martin bon mot covers one wall: “I once shook hands with Pat Boone and my whole right side sobered up.” If Martin were alive today, though, you might also find him canoodling with the pretty young things in the Amigo Room at the Ace Hotel & Swim Club.
8.
You might think Palm Springs is just for duffers (there are more than 100 golf courses in the region) and outdoor enthusiasts, what with the living desert, botanical gardens and all those miles of hiking trails. But Palm Springs offers so much more. Desert Art Tours offers tours of art and architecture. There’s the El Paseo Art Walk in Palm Desert, Fashion Week El Paso, free con- certs at Palm Desert Civic Centre Park, the Palm Springs Air Museum, the Palm Springs Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and even an Oktoberfest and Stampede Wild West Show. And, of course, a must-see is the venerable Palm Springs Art Museum. Check it out on your way back from the celebrity-packed Coachella Music Festival in Indio.
9.
The Coachella Valley began attracting health tourists in the early 1900s. They were drawn to the dry desert air, 300 days of sunshine and abundant mineral springs. Hotels and sanatoriums became a destination and the Hollywood crowd began building desert-friendly houses and spending their weekends partying poolside. There are more than 20 mineral springs in Desert Hot Springs alone, including clothingoptional retreats. Don’t say you weren’t warned.
10.
When was the last time you went to a polo match? Exactly. Polo season in Indio runs from January to March, with two matches on Sundays and some matches played at night. General admission bleacher seats and tailgate spots on the side of the field are free, or you can pony up for a private cabana or a VIP seat.