Palm Springs, California

There's a lot to be said for having your parents "snow bird" it down in Palm Springs. It gives me a great reason to go thaw out in the dessert at least once a year; and, lets face it, I don't need a "great" reason to visit southern California. . . any half-assed reason will suffice. But for the purposes of this blog, I find it hard to put together a post because my primary focus on a visit to Palm Springs is to visit my family, much the same way that I had a hard time discussing Denver. I don't really travel there to ride the tram, or hit the links, or to go hiking; I go there to enjoy some time with my folks. Consequently, my time is spent more on family time than city exploring, but fortunately I've been there enough times to feel confident in mashing together this post about visiting Palm Springs. I hope you enjoy it.

THE SITES

Joshua Tree National Park

Just outside of Palm Springs is the amazing Joshua Tree National Park. This 790,000 acre park has an otherworldly landscape, filled with huge rock piles, and the bizarre looking trees for which the park was named. The rock piles have become a popular destination for rock climbers, and the southeastern portion of the park is more of grasslands, and sandy dessert dunes.

But what we REALLY loved about Joshua Tree was it's inky black sky that was absolutely perfect for astronomy. Last year, I had bought Ursa a telescope for Christmas and we took it out to Joshua Tree for a test drive. What an amazing night of stargazing! We could see Jupiter's bands, and all of it's moons, and the Great Orion Nebula was absolutely stunning. Even without the telescope, the view of the Milky Way was breathtaking.

I'm not big on shopping, and I typically don't include it as a "must do" for purpose of this blog, but I need to include it this time because shopping in Palm Springs is different. What the citizens of Palm Springs  lack in population, they make up for in money, and where the money goes, Giorgio Armani is sure to follow.

Downtown Palm Springs has tons of cute boutiques, restaurants, and services; but the shopaholic's mecca can be found on El Paseo. Sometimes called "the Rodeo Drive of the dessert", El Paseo boasts one of the finest collections of high end clothing stores, art galleries, and salon/spas anywhere. Even if you're outpriced by some of these stores it is well worth the time to just get out and walk this street if only to appreciate the ever changing lineup of sculptures adorning the center of the road. Another full day of shopping can be found at the Cabazon Outlets where they have an impressive array of clothing and outlets. Believe me when I say that this isn't a trip to you're local outlet stores, this is an all day shopping extravaganza. One thing is certain and that is that Palm Springs takes it's shopping VERY seriously!

It just wouldn't be a trip to Palm Springs without going on one of the many hikes through the San Jacinto Mountains. Trails abound in the rocky hills around the Coachella Valley and they cross all ability levels. Mom and Dad go hiking 4 to 5 times per week and have become pretty rugged as a result. Their favorite trail is up to "The Cross", a trek that I try to make with them at least once or twice every visit. At the top of the hill is a stellar view of the whole Coachella Valley.

Did you really think that I was going to make it all the way through a blog about Palm Springs without mentioning the game of golf? C'mon now! Palm Springs is golf freaking central! There are more than 125 golf courses in the Palm Springs area, and they run the spectrum from economical to opulent.

But here's the rub: neither Ursa or I really play golf much. So instead, we made a point to challenge each other to a round of putt-putt golf at a local family fun park. In our last putt-putt outing, I had CRUSHED Ursa (by 1 stroke) and this time I, again, jumped out to an early lead. Yet she was undeterred and whittled her way back to finish tied! And while I was mostly convinced that the tie was an act of pure, dumb luck; I was nevertheless in a state of inconsolable shame for the remainder of the trip. (I must give Ursa some credit however, because she does always beat my ass when we go bowling. . . which is part of the reason I've never mentioned bowling in this blog before)


THE FOOD


As I said earlier, my primary reason for traveling to Palm Springs is to spend time with my family, especially this last month when I got to be there for a rare Xmas with the fam! The truth be told, I don't get too into the gift giving, or the decorations or the yuletide spirit as much as I ought to; but the one part of Xmas that I really, truly enjoy is cooking dinner with my mother.

We spend the day in the kitchen, sometimes joined by my aunt, Traci, making an afternoon of just cooking and conversation. Mom's got this holiday dinner thing pretty well figured out: she always gets turkey detail, which pretty much just bakes all afternoon, gravy and stuffing which doesn't take long, giving Mom the afternoon to stuff olives (her signature hors d'oeuvre of black olives stuffed with cream cheese is easy enough, but a little tedious and time consuming) and chatting. Dad always has his special cranberry sauce prepared the day before, Traci always seems to be good for a dessert, which leaves me with side dishes (which are my favorite thing to make anyway because you can always break out something new that hasn't been tried before). This year I was requested (told) to make a carrot and pecan souffle which has managed to catch on nicely with everyone, and brie-topped mashed potatoes which turned out pretty well.

Tongue sandwich at Sherman's Deli

Unfortunately I think that my Mom would be pretty disappointed in me if the only place that I recommended to eat at in Palm Springs was her house; so here's some of my favorite area restaurants. For lunch I'd try Sherman's Deli, which is a delicious, kosher style, New York deli. I had the tongue sandwich and is was great! My father's favorite choice for dinner is having some barbecue at the Jackalope Ranch which is a huge restaurant and bar, and is a beautiful facility. The food is great and the service is impeccable.

Jackalope Ranch

Home Cooking

As that I made a couple of side dishes for Xmas dinner, I wasn't sure which one to post here. I decided that I'd post the Carrot and Pecan Souffle mostly out of personal convenience, because I've given this recipe out enough times that now if someone else wants it then I can just direct them here and spare myself the hassle of copying it down again.

Carrot and Pecan Souffle
2 lbs carrots (quartered)
1 stick of butter (softened)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup whole milk
3 eggs
1/2 cup chopped pecans
2 Tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Soften the carrots in boiling water then drain and allow to cool slightly. In a food processor wiz together the butter, carrots and sugar then add the remaining ingredients and blend. Transfer to a  souffle dish and bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the souffle comes out clean.


THE TUNES


If it's live performances you're looking for it's best to first consider who the target audience is in Palm Springs. This is first and foremost a retirement community, and the bands that book here reflect that. If the bands seem a little dated. . . well, it's because they are. That being said, there are a few good places to see a show. There are some solid, main stream shows that play at Agua Caliente Casino. Another good venue to look up is the McCallum Theatre, where Ursa and I were able to catch Colin Mochrie and Brad Sherwood from "Whose Line is it Anyway" doing an improv show that was hilarious!
Every spring the polo grounds in Indio play host to a 3 day music and arts festival called Coachella which is one of the premier music fests in the country. This year it will be held from April 13-15 and is always an epic lineup.


Well that about wraps up my perspective of Palm Springs, but wait, there's more! Because Ursa and I had a wonderful road trip around Southern California including stops not only in Palm Springs, but also San Diego, Los Angeles, and San Luis Obispo; so you can expect some upcoming posts about them over the next few weeks as well. Until then remember that Buddha says, "It is better to travel well than to arrive." See you all next week, bye!

Happy holidays everybody!