10 Things to do in Palm Springs

1.  Visit Old Town La Quinta
Old Town La Quinta is beautiful! The archways, the Saltillo tiles, the flowers, the mountains, every building is lovely to look at. It is an experience, not just pulling up to some strip center on the highway. The bogenvilia was beautiful climbing up the columns.  I love Saltillo tiles, especially on star risers.

 
Old Town La Quinta Palm Springs

This is definitely my car of choice to drive in Palm Springs
  
Old Town La Quinta Saltillo tiles on stair risers

 
Carthusia Note Fiori di Capri Home fragrance left /Caldi Caldi Boutique Old Town La Quinta Palm Springs

Check-out the wonderful boutique Caldi Caldi. I was lured into this home furnishings store by the most delicious smelling scent from Capri called Note Fiori di Capri, which apparently was the home fragrance used by Jackie O when she was in Capri. Now every time I spray this scent I am transported to another world and time.

2.  Go on a Palm Springs Windmill Tour
When driving or flying into Palm Springs, one of the most striking sights you will see in the Coachella valley is the vast array of wind turbines that sprout from the desert floor. The words "wind turbine" have evolved into what the locals call windmills. My curiosity was piqued so we arranged a tour which was excellent.  Our tour guide Ken Huskey was very knowledgeable, with a lot of the facts and figures that went right over my head. But what did stick with me was how huge the windmills were close up.  To give you a perspective of the scale of these windmills (in the picture below on the left) if you look closely you can see the small figure of a maintenance person dangling from a wire.

Palm Springs Windmill Tour Coachella Valley
Palm Springs Windmill Tour at the Spa Resort & Casino.

3.  See a rainbow over the Palm Springs Desert mountains
It was unfortunate on this trip to Palm Springs that there were heavy rainfalls which resulted in flooding and the closure of many roads, but I was fortunate to see this beautiful rainbow one afternoon when the rain had stopped.

Rainbow over the Little San Bernardino Mountains Palm Springs

4.  Richard Avedon Photography Exhibit at the Palm Springs Art Museum

The Richard Avedon photography exhibit at the Palm Springs Art Museum runs through January 30, 2011 and showcases 90 black and white images of notable Avedon subjects including Marilyn Monroe, Bob Dylan and, of course, some of the Richard Avedon’s iconic shots of Dior’s early work.  I went to the Museum with friends not knowing what was showing. I have long admired Avedon’s photography from afar, so you can imagine my delight in being able to see his iconic photographs up close. His photography is mesmerizing and I had to be dragged out of the exhibit.  I quickly rushed into the Gift Shop and bought Avedon postcards and the Richard Avedon book Women in the Mirror, so I could continue to feast my eyes on his work.

           Richard Avedon, Self Portrait 1980 / Amazon Book: Women in the Mirror
 
Richard Avedon, Twiggy 1968, gelatin silver print
      
Richard Avedon, Dovima with elephants 1955, Evening dress by Dior

5. Look at Mid Century Modern Real Estate in Palm Springs

Mid Century Modern Real Estate Palm Springs

 
Mid Century Modern Real Estate Palm Springs

6.  Shop at the Cabazon Outlet Mall

The prices and selection are fantastic!!  Some of my favourite stores are Tod’s, Gucci, Prada, Elie Tahari, Michael Kors, Dior, Ralph Lauren. 

  
 

7.  Have supper at Jillian’s Restaurant on El Paseo Drive, Palm Desert

Jillian’s Restaurant is housed in a historic 1946 hacienda style building.  The building was originally built as Fort.  It is still intact complete with the artillery room in the rear.  At the front entrance at Jillian’s you can look at interesting pictures of it in the 40’s.  I found it amazing that when it was was built it was the middle of the desert with nothing around it.  That is hard to imagine today, as it is in the center of the busy and thriving Palm Dessert El Paseo Drive shopping area. Below is what I had for Supper at Jillian’s, which was absolutely delicious.  I think the Apple Dumpling has to be the best desert I have ever tasted!

 Jillian's Restaurant El Paseo Dive Palm Desert

Appetizer
Tower of Fresh Crab 
Fresh Dungeness crab meat layered between diced avocado,
sweet tomatoes and toasted brioche
Entree
Rack of Lamb
Rack of Colorado Lamb rolled in Dijon herb crust,
roasted and presented on a fresh Rosemary scented demi glace
Dessert
Apple Dumpling
A tart apple cored and filled with cinnamon and pecans, encased in puff pastry,
baked then drizzled with a luscious caramel sauce and served with vanilla bean ice cream

8. Visit the Salton Sea & Thousand Palms Oasis Preserve

 
Salton Sea

 
Thousand Palms Oasis Coachella Valley Preserve

9. Pick an orange from the tree

Picking fresh, juicy, sweet oranges right from the tree.

10. Swim in Palm Springs Natural Hot Mineral pools
The pool I swam in had water that flows from springs 300 feet deep in the earth and comes out of the ground at 115 degrees Fahrenheit. These Palm Springs therapeutic pools claim to be beneficial for arthritis and back pain, heart and diabetes, weight loss and insomnia. What I like best is that the water is odorless and tasteless.  It is a treat to swim in water that doesn’t smell like chlorine.

PATRICIA GRAY INC is an award winning interior design firm writing about lifestyle and
WHAT'S HOT in the world of interior design, architecture, art and travel.
2011 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™

Palm Springs Salton Sea

This year I was fortunate to be able to spend Christmas and bring in the New Year in Palm Springs with my Dad. Although the weather was not the best because of the torrential rain and flooding that hit most of Southern California, I did manage to get in some pool time, check out the Real Estate Market, see some of the sights and do some power shopping at Cabazon Outlet Mall – more on all of this in another post.

En Route to Salton Sea

One of the first things that I wanted to see this trip was the Salton Sea. The last time I was in Palm Springs I got a glimpse of the Salton Sea from a distance and it has stayed in my memory ever since. I was so transfixed by this far away glimpse that when I got back to Vancouver I tried to recreate an image of it in a piece of artwork. So on this trip an all day outing was planned. I was anxious to see if the Salton Sea was really like what I had painted it to be. The night before, in preparation for the trip, we watched an informative video of the history of the area. Early in the morning we loaded up the car with a picnic lunch of sandwiches of leftover Christmas ham, trifle for dessert and beverages and we set off on an all day adventure.  

Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge Rest Area

Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge Rest Area

The Salton Sea is a salt water lake located directly on the San Andreas Fault in Southern California. The lake occupies the lowest elevation in the Colorado Desert in Southern California.  It is currently 226 ft below sea level.

The creation of the Salton Sea of today started in 1905, when heavy rainfall and snowmelt caused the Colorado River to swell, overrunning a set of head gates for the Alamo Canal. The resulting flood poured down the canal and breached an Imperial Valley dike. Over a period of approximately two years this newly created river sporadically carried the entire volume of the Colorado River into the Salton Sink.

The Southern Pacific Railroad attempted to stop the flooding by dumping earth into the canal's head gates area, but the effort was not fast enough, and as the river eroded deeper and deeper into the dry desert sand of the Imperial Valley the basin filled and it resulted in the formation of the Salton Sea.

In the 1920s, the Salton Sea developed into a tourist attraction, because of its water recreation, and waterfowl attracted to the area. Celebrities used to trail their toes in the brine, but few people dare take a dip today.

The Salton Sea has had some success as a resort area in the past but today it is not exactly a thriving area as evidenced by what I saw in the town of Bombay Beach which was built on the eastern shore in the 1950s. Today the inhabitants of Bombay Beach live below the poverty level.

Bombay Beach Salton Sea

The Salton Sea is a major sanctuary for migrating and wading birds.  When Sonny Bono was alive he was a major activist in promoting the preservation of this area.  It is now feared that without intervention and support the lake will dry up.

 
Parched Earth Salton Sea 

Vegetation Salton Sea

Vegetation on the shore of the Salton Sea

My Dad taking pictures with his new camera. Around the Salton Sea geothermal plants are being built to harness the heated water below the earth’s surface to power electrical generators. The Salton Sea area is located on the San Andreas Fault.

A view of the rich farming fields around the Salton Sea which are a feeding frenzy for wintering birds.

Salvation Mountain at Slab City

Slab City is an off-the-grid community where squatters and seasonal snowbirds live in RVs and vehicles among the concrete remnants of an abandoned Navy base. Located close to the Salton Sea, east of Niland, Slab City isn't actually a city at all - it's more a loose community of squatters, snowbirds and nomads who've pitched camps across 640 acres of open desert.  Slab City and Salvation Mountain are quite a site to see, although a bit scary for my eyes.  It seems to be locked in the 1960s with the only evidence of current times being solar panels, satellite dishes, fancy RVs and off road toys.

 
Salton Sea 23" x 36" Mixed Media on Paper Patricia Gray

Painting of my vision of The Salton Sea

Photographs Patricia Gray 

Other travel posts you might like:
Cabo San Lucas 
New York
Palm Springs Post Modern Architecture
Drinks at the Viceroy Palm Springs
Sunday in Milan
VENICE - Bauer Palladio Hotel & Spa, Giudecca Island, Redentore
ROME - Hotel Mascagni, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Piazza Barberini
FLORENCE - Hotel Santa Maria Novella, Uffizi, Accademia Gallery

Patricia Gray Inc is an award winning Interior Design firm in Vancouver who blogs about Lifestyle and WHAT'S HOT in the world of Interior Design.
2011 © Patricia Gray | Interior Design Blog™