Palm
Springs, California, draws Canadian snowbirds like a
neodymium super-magnet. Visitors love the posh, clean, multi-malled region
of gated communities where golf carts roam the streets, happy hours rule, and
the sun beats down from a cloudless sky. This urban paradise is set in a hot,
hilly desert terrain which is starkly different to anything in Canada,
especially in winter.
My dearest
and I discovered that Palm Springs first gained prominence in the 1950s when
movie stars including Frank Sinatra and Rat Pack settled here so they would be
within driving distance of Hollywood studios. We saw memorabilia at the Hard Rock
Hotel, which is like a museum. Sammy Davis Jr.’s day and night funky suit was
one of my favourites.
Many
activities kept us busy. I loved walking amongst and clambering into about 45
airplanes at the Palm Springs Air Museum, all lovingly maintained by volunteers.
I chatted with Chris Demarest, an artist who has painted about 100 pictures of the
airplanes and related scenes.
Ally enjoyed
the Sunnylands Center & Gardens, part of the historic Annenberg estate,
with its phenomenal desert gardens. And there was much more including the
Living Desert Zoo and Gardens featuring a train set that stretches over an
enormous area — as a wannabe “engineer” I was enthralled.
Sprawling
malls are everywhere inviting shoppers to enter. Golf courses abound. Restaurants
and bars are numerous, and they all offer great Happy Hours, and with real
deals!
One day we
passed through the San Gorgonio Pass, the northern entrance to the Coachella
Valley and a place of mighty winds. The air was hazy with dust and desert sands
blew across the highway. More than 2,500 (!!!) giant turbines were spread everywhere
across the desert and hills, looking like an enormous plague of giant white
locusts.
The surrounding
hills proliferate with good hikes and fantastic views including the trace of
the feared San Andreas Fault. Best is the nearby Joshua Tree National Park with
its rolling desert landscape of precariously piled reddish granite boulders and
distinct, isolated Joshua trees. We climbed to the top of a large
granite massif and enjoyed hauntingly beautiful rock formations like the
Jumbles and the Skull, which became more intense and blood red as the sun sank lower.
Little
wonder snowbirds flock here.
If You Go You Gotta Know
General Palm Springs info: www.visitgreaterpalmsprings.com
Air Museum: www.PalmSpringsAirMuseum.org
Sunnylands Gardens & Annenberg Estate: www.sunnylands.org
Hard Rock Hotel: HRHpalmsprings.com
Joshua Tree National Park: http://www.nps.gov/jotr/index.htm
No comments:
Post a Comment