Palm Springs
July 30th was my first flight of 2021 and man, it was about. time. I missed the jittery & electrifying feeling of packing up and heading to somewhere new. This wasn’t my first time to California, but it was my first time staying in Palm Springs! I rallied up 3 of my best girls and we settled in to celebrate my birthday weekend.
We picked up our rental car and took the 5 minute drive from the airport to our trendy, gorgeous AirBnB that came with our own private plunge pool! We wanted to make our trip across the country worth the time & money so we opted for a house and wanted to find a pool that was included too (temps were reaching as high as 115!).
After grabbing snacks & plenty of water for the weekend, we snagged dinner & tropical drinks at The Reef.
Palm Springs is known well for their golf courses, but was also the vacation spot for Old Hollywood. Elvis’s honeymoon house can be toured, Frank Sinatra’s home can be rented out (for a pretty penny), and more are all still standing in Palm Springs. Knowing that this town held Hollywood history, we knew the antique & vintage shops were sure to be a treasure troves. Here are the spots we hit up over the weekend:
-Sunny Dunes Antique Mall — I found & bought 4 drinking glasses here that are from the 1930’s!
-Antique Galleries of Palm Springs
-Angel View Resale Store
-Little Shop of Treasures
After a morning of hopping around, we settled in at Bill’s Pizza for lunch. Bill’s is a no frills spot, but is set in the heart of downtown. This pizza… y’all. So delicious and the service was fabulous. After filling our bellies to the brim, we drove up the road to Frank Sinatra’s house. Although we couldn’t come onto the property, we were able to snap some photos on the front walkway.
We spent the rest of the afternoon hanging poolside & snapping photos in the dry heat. Our dinner spot for the night was at King’s Highway — don’t let the small menu deter you! We all chose different dishes and all were great choices. We spent the rest of our quiet evening back at our house, still adapting to the slight time change!
The next morning, we headed into the Indian Canyons to take more photos. We opted for Palm Canyon, which we did not hike, but it inhabits the world’s largest California Fan Palm oasis so we spent a couple hours exploring and this dreamy, seemingly hidden spot. Coming into Indian Canyons, you’ll pay a $9 per person fee and will be given a map if you’d like to explore other trails.
After a quick change, we headed to the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. This is the world’s largest rotating tram car and takes you up to Mt. San Jacinto State Park which has two restaurants, observation decks, natural history museum, two documentary theaters, gift shop and over 50 miles of hiking trails. We relished in the cool 73 degrees (it was 20 degrees warmer at the bottom - yikes!) and had ourselves a drink and took in the views of the vast desert below.
We came back down and headed to lunch at Spencer’s. Reservations were not required here, so we were able to walk up and get seated immediately in the cool indoors. After filling up & hydrating, we headed back to our house to rinse off and get ready for a golden hour / evening photo shoot in Joshua Tree. The drive from where we were to the north and south entrance were both about an hour drive so we picked a route and got into the Park just as golden hour started! As the sun went down, the heat dialed down too and were able to take in the peaceful moments of the sun setting. We made the drive back home and made spaghetti for dinner with funfetti birthday cake for dessert! This day was FULL and we were exhausted. The dry heat can really take it out of you so even with hydrating and snacking as much as we were, we still ended our days completely and totally worn out.
The next morning: yay 28! I woke up feeling so loved & celebrated. We hit up brunch at Wilma & Frieda’s with cocktails, a homemade poptart, and yummy breakfast to kick off our day. We circled back to a few more shops along with date shakes and a Dole Whip float from Lappert’s — yes, the real Dole Whip is found smack dab in the middle of downtown Palm Springs! From there, we took our inevitable trip to In-N-Out and made our way to the airport.
Palm Springs is a quiet & laid back town, but full of history and plenty to see and do. You don’t have to go far to hike or explore the beauty of the desert within Palm Springs or a short drive to Joshua Tree. You can also enjoy your time leisurely with drinks poolside and a slew of antique shops scattered all over town.
In September 2020, I was in Joshua Tree on a work trip and was able to come into Palm Springs one evening for dinner. With COVID, wildfires, and extreme heat, we weren’t able to see anything around town. I’m so grateful that I was able to come back and enjoy all that it has to offer! Each year for my birthday, I take a quick trip somewhere and with airline tickets becoming more and more expensive, I had a hard time trying to nail down where I wanted to go. Everywhere I looked was out of my budget for that weekend and something told me to randomly look at Palm Springs. To my surprise, it was the cheapest flight I had seen yet and quickly decided that California is where I ought to be!
Here’s to another year fulfilling more of my travel dreams!
“We take photos as a return ticket to a moment otherwise gone” – Katie Thurmes
