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What a difference a few years can make in Palm
Springs!
A friend and I decided to make it a
two day girlfriend getaway to Palm
Springs from our beach abodes. And boy, are we glad we took the time to do so.
The question we asked each other is, "Why did we wait so long?" While
we answer that question in photos and a story about our own special trip,
Maxine Sommers went on a
Palm Desert vacation and came back with a different take. That's the beauty
of travel. People can see and do things in Palm Springs that don't add up to the
same experience but time after time, they end up having a ball.
The face of Palm Springs is changing and for travelers, change is good.
Throughout my years of visits to this desert oasis where lawns are extremely
green and throats are dry and parched, the city has always been a pleasure. I
simply don't go there in the summer because I can't stand the heat.
So visiting one spring (mid-March), I went with a friend and we
couldn't have timed things better. The hills that rise to the San Jacinto
mountains the north of the city were covered in yellow flowers, that, en masse,
look like a blanket covering the hillsides.
Our timing couldn't have been more to our liking. The temperature was
slightly below average, hovering around 78 degrees--perfect! And what we
discovered was that we were visiting on the waning days of the tourist season.
Unlike our beach homes where the action just begins in late May, Palm Desert
closes some of its tourist attractions in June or July, keeping them shuttered
or only partially open until the weather mellows around October. Out in the
desert parks, often there are signs advising that you should check in with a
ranger before heading on the hiking paths. The heat can take its toll so by
doing head counts, the locals have a way of watching out for us dumb tourists
who haven't the faintest idea about the dry heat and its hazards. Locals know
darned well. They walk in the morning our at night, and they dine late--after
dark in the cooling desert air at outdoor cafes. That's when temperature is
ideal.
Riverside County takes pride in its Palm
Springs Desert Resorts, the eight desert resort cities of the Coachella
Valley: Cathedral City, Desert Hot Springs, Indian Wells, Indio, La Quinta,
Palm Desert, Palm Springs and Rancho Mirage. The Palm Springs Desert Resorts
is a premier tourist destination located in one of the world’s most glorious
deserts.
Palm Springs Desert Resorts
Communities of Riverside County: 8 Cities, 1 Destination
CATHEDRAL CITY
DESERT HOT SPRINGS
INDIAN WELLS
INDIO
LA QUINTA
PALM DESERT
PALM SPRINGS
RANCHO MIRAGE
Cathedral City. Regarded as “A City Where
Living is Better,” Cathedral City offers a $5.1 million IMAX Theater
with a valley-wide Visitor Information Center. Named for its divine mountain
terrain, Cathedral City is home to family fun, including the Camelot Park
Family Entertainment Center, and Big League Dreams Sports Park which is
home to three baseball fields, soccer fields, a roller-hockey rink and
more.
Cathedral City Hotels & Resorts
Desert Hot Springs. Known as “America’s
Natural Hot Tub,” Desert Hot Springs is famous for its hot mineral waters
which bubble from underground at 90-200 degrees Fahrenheit and flow into
the thermal wells of more than 40 hotel spas. Sought by visitors the world
over for its soothing, curative effects, Desert Hot Springs also serves
as the gateway city to Joshua Tree National Park. The city won second place
in a national drinking water taste test in 1997.
Indian Wells. “The Desert’s Perfect Playground”
has been synonymous with top-ranked golf and tennis since former President
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s numerous golf vacations drew national attention
to the city, and Rod Layer won the desert’s first major tennis event. The
birthplace of the Bob Hope Chrysler Classic, Indian Wells hosts over 500
golf and tennis tournaments each year, including the California State Open
and the Newsweek Champions Cup/State Farm Event Cup. The city is home to
the nation’s only international jazz festival at New Year’s, and the prestigious
Desert Town Hall Lectures.
Indian Wells Hotels &
Resorts Indio. Could it be that the flavor of Indio
comes from the date shake or the annual Tamale Festival in December? The
“City of Festivals” has been home to the National Date Festival for more
than 50 years, and locals are proud that 95 percent of the dates in this
country are grown and harvested here. Indio is the site of the Sport of
Kings with year-round polo matches, the largest hunter/jumper horse show
west of the Mississippi, Indian gaming centers, the Southwest Arts Festival,
and hot air balloons gliding over date palms so closely that you can almost
pick a date.
Indio Hotels & Resorts
La Quinta. “The Gem of the Desert” is home
to the oldest resort in the Coachella Valley. Surveying the landscape,
it’s no wonder Ginger Rogers chose to marry here, and Frank Capra had his
very own hotel suite! La Quinta is a pearl the magnitude of a golf ball,
with world-class golf courses including the often-televised championship
layouts at PGA West. Discover the nationally top juried La Quinta Arts
Festival and the fine dining of intimate restaurants.
Palm Desert. Palm Desert is “Where The
Sun Shines A Little Brighter.” It’s a golfer’s fairway to heaven and a
shopper’s haven, with a thriving retail and business community including
the famous shopping boulevard of El Paseo. With star-studded performances
lined up at The McCallum Theatre For The Performing Arts, the beauty and
wonder of The Living Desert wildlife park and botanical gardens, as well
as many spectacular restaurants to choose from, you’ll marvel at Palm Desert’s
dynamism. The nation's only citywide golf cart parade takes place here
each fall.
Palm
Desert Hotels & Resorts Palm Springs. World famous as “America’s
Premier Desert Resort,” Palm Springs is home to many popular desert attractions
including the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway and Oasis Waterpark. Palm Springs
Desert Museum is a showcase of Western an~1 contemporary art, natural science
and performing arts in the Annenberg Theater. Palm Springs Air Museum showcases
flying aircraft from World War II. The Indian Canyons, owned and operated
by the Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians, is North America's largest
palm oasis. The Nortel Palm Springs International Film Festival attracts
stars and cutting-edge films. The city boasts more than 140 hotels and
the impressive Palm Springs Convention Center. Fine dining and shopping
and the weekly VillageFest are magnets for international travelers.
Palm Springs Hotels & Resorts
Rancho Mirage. Ambassador Walter Annenberg
took up residence here, and former President Gerald R. Ford lives and golfs
next to the bighorn sheep mascots of the desert who dine on flowers by
the pool of a local world-class resort. Excellent restaurants, the annual
Bob Hope Chrysler Classic and the Nabisco Dinah Shore championship golf
tournaments give the city an unparalleled shine and a distinctive sheen.
Tennis and golf by day, nightclubs by night, and some of the finest country
clubs on the map lend a bright flair to this residential community known
as “The Playground of the Presidents.”
Rancho Mirage Hotels & Resorts
Courtesy-Palm Springs Desert Resorts CVB
For more information on the Palm Springs
Desert Resorts, call 800-41.RELAX or write: PSDRCVB, 69-930 Highway 111, Suite
201, Rancho Mirage, CA 92270. Visit the website at desert.resorts.com
Indian Wells Racquet Club
Resort.
46-765 Racquet Club Drive, City of Indian Wells 760-772-3009
Members, resort guests, public Tennis: 8 courts, 4 lighted. Shop, lessons,
ball machine, mixers, clinics, private groups.
The Palm Springs Aerial Tramway
has the steepest vertical cable rise in the United States and is
the second in the world. Located in Chino Canyon at the 2,643 foot Valley
Station, a 15-minute Tram ride through five different life zones in the
world's largest rotating tramcar provides a spectacular 360 degree view
of the valley floor and City of Palm Springs. Phone: 888-515-TRAM pstramway.com
Tahquitz Creek Golf Resort
is a beautiful, public course played by numerous celebrities, whose signed
photos adorn the club house walls.
The WYNDHAM PALM SPRINGS
888 East Tahquitz Canyon Way Palm Springs, California 92262 is located
at Palm Springs Convention Center near downtown Palm Springs, Within easy
walking distance of five of the major hotels: Wyndham Palm Springs, Palm
Springs Hilton, Marquis Resort, Hyatt Regency Suites Palm Springs and Spa
Hotel and Casino, attending conventions here is like being at a resort.
See the Wyndham Palm Springs Resort.
Wyndham Palm Springs
Resort Reservations
Not far from Palm Springs are two additional delightful destinations,
Cabazon with a resort
& casino, and
Idyllwild, which is located on the other side of the steep-faced San Jacinto mountain
range that abuts Palm Springs. Often topped with a white frosting of snow,
one can only surmise when standing in the warm Palm Desert what must be on the
other side of that mountain. Two ways to find out or get an idea include 1)
taking the tram up the mountain side. How can the desert be so hot, yet there is
snow up there? 2) Visit the other side of the mountain, which includes
Idyllwild. What a different world! Pines, mountain resort living and a paradise
so close, yet so far away. It is one more amazing artifact of California's
historic past that can be seen today in its cities and regions with starkly
different climates.
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