Palm Springs and Palm Desert

[HartAttack]

If you have time, check out El Paseo in Palm Desert. It's their '17th Ave' equivalent, with trendy shops, nice places to eat, etc. Go to Tommy Bahama's for a good upscale meal.
Also try Wang's in downtown Palm Springs (yes that's the actual name), great modern style Chinese food.

[Nage Waza]

You could try The River for dinner, multiple restaurants and shops to check out.

Also, the Palm Springs Aquatic Center is great, there is a pool shallow enough for a five month old to sit and splash in.

[Nage Waza]

Originally Posted by aaronck

I'm also heading to Palm desert on Saturday for 4 days there, then heading to LA to try Disney/ Universal studios with the kids (first time for all of us)
We're going to do the outlet mall, probably Joshua tree, and maybe buy a Groupon or 2 for a couple of different restaurants.

It is a two hour drive from Palm to Disney, but don't leave too early or you deal with rush hour (assuming you are driving to Disney). The Candycane Inn is cheap, clean and within walking distance.

The outlet mall is perhaps the only place where you may regret not bringing a sweater - it can be windy and the breeze a little bit chilly.

The worlds worst dinosaur museum is near by, can be worth checking out.

[Canehdianman]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

Headed down to Palm Springs this Saturday.

Love how CP always has a thread for anything I'm doing

Thanks all, (and feel free to leave any recent advice here). Headed down for a week with the wife and the 5 month old.

Quoting myself, but we are headed back to Palm Springs in April.

Anyone have any good craft breweries to recommend? I'm planning on wandering along South Palm Canyon Drive with my brother sampling some brews, but I'm looking for other recommendations.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by Canehdianman

Quoting myself, but we are headed back to Palm Springs in April.

Anyone have any good craft breweries to recommend? I'm planning on wandering along South Palm Canyon Drive with my brother sampling some brews, but I'm looking for other recommendations.

I've been to this place in old town la quinta....

http://www.laquintabrewing.com/our-beer

Here's a game changer though. El Mexicali Cafe in Indio. You'll know you're there because the presidential cross streets start getting dodgy...going from Van Buren and Munro to Clinton and Taft ending at Nixon. Your can of Tecate will taste better than any micro brew you try because the Gueritos are so damn good. The passing trains make conversation difficult. And the bathroom is outside. But you need to eat there.

[Northendzone]

We are headed to Palm Springs next month for a week at the end of march. First time there.

Looking forward to the outlet mall, and getting my eat on at some Mexican joints.

We are also planning on hitting the Joshua tree, does it have a gift shop and snack bar?

Any other recommendations or advice? The wife and I are going with the kids, which is like travelling with 65 yr old geriatrics......my kids are both getting into their teens, so doing anything before noon is like pulling teeth.

[Cappy]

Desert Adventures Tour is a good way to see some of the local ecology and flora. They take you to the fault area which is like an oasis. http://red-jeep.com/

Hot-air Balloons are prevalent in the morning. They mostly take you over the city, but a neat experience if you have never done it. http://www.fantasyballoonflight.com/index.html

The living desert zoo has some great desert and Serengeti animals. You can feed a giraffe too. http://www.livingdesert.org/

For night life, you have to go to the Nest http://www.gotothenest.com/ That is a cougar bar if you ever saw one!

Also, outlet malls are scams. Poor quality clothing strapped with a brand name. The markups are worse than paying more for the real thing.

[Calgary14]

Palm Springs is about an hour drive from the original McDonald's in San Bernadino. I thought it was cool. Might be worth checking out. Just take into account traffic, as anywhere near LA can get ugly during rush hour. https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attractio...alifornia.html

The aerial tramway is very cool. It's a bit pricey but worth it IMO. https://www.tripadvisor.ca/Attractio...alifornia.html

For food if you're into the In-N-Out thing there are a few in the area. Trader Joe's has some really cool foods and I always go there when I can. Go check out Elmer's if you can.

The Desert Palms outlet mall might be interesting to teens, just beware that not all stores have deals. There's a Bose store there that has absolutely no deals (mind you, I bet they're all like that). It's a bit cooler in temperature there btw as its a higher elevation.

[photon]

Agree the Living Desert Zoo is very cool, maybe even for teens.

Boomers is decent for minigolf and go-karts and stuff. There's an indoor go-karts that we never tried, don't know if it's still there.

The aerial tramway is nice too, with a bunch of hiking at the top.

[jeffh]

Aerial tramway is kinda weak for what you pay. You do get a decent view of the desert, mind you. I like the idea of a hot air balloon ride, I'd like to do it one day.
Went to Joshua Tree last year. Pack some pants and a hoody or jacket, it can get breezy out there. It is pretty barren out there so pack the car with a good lunch and water. There is a fair-sized town just before the park that you can get some food and gas, probably even souvenirs.
Thursday nights they have a street fair in downtown Palm Springs, teens should enjoy it, lots going on.
Las Casuelas in dt palm springs too, has excellent frozen margaritas.
Go to Boomers on tuesday, cheap cheap, has go karts, bumper boats, mini golf, and a good sized arcade, tho the whole place is a bit run down.
There is a waterpark there too, its pretty good.
And on the weekends they have a big flea market thing at the 'college'. Easy way to spend a morning.
There are a ton of good places to eat, plenty of gems. I'd just read reviews online unless people on here want to suggest some. We like LuLu's for patio lunch.
Enjoy the sun and heat, don't forget pool days are great too.

[bizkitgto]

Check out the Ace Hotel, the Riviera and Hard Rock Hotel in Palm Springs! Lots of nightlife & restaurants nearby.

[OMG!WTF!]

Originally Posted by Northendzone

We are headed to Palm Springs next month for a week at the end of march. First time there.

Looking forward to the outlet mall, and getting my eat on at some Mexican joints.

We are also planning on hitting the Joshua tree, does it have a gift shop and snack bar?

Any other recommendations or advice? The wife and I are going with the kids, which is like travelling with 65 yr old geriatrics......my kids are both getting into their teens, so doing anything before noon is like pulling teeth.

There's nothing in Joshua Tree park at all but the little tow just for the entrance has some stuff. Maybe look into rock climbing with or for the kids. I think it's about $400 for the day. But world class climbing. Could be a fantastic experience.

You guys might love the Drag Me To Brunch at the Rio Azul restaurant. I've never laughed so much and had such a blast. Spoiler..drag queen Whitney Houston shoots drag queen Dolly Parton in the best duet of I Will Always Love You I've ever seen.

[Nage Waza]

Here are some good highlights for the kids (I have been to the area countless times for the last 24 years):

Kids Activities

• Palm Desert aquatic centre (Swimming with a very shallow pools)
• Palm Desert Civic Centre park (Pokemon Go)
• Palm Desert Westfield Mall shopping centre
• Palm Spring Air Museum - Awesome
• Blaze Pizza and Pieology - Almost a subway sandwich for pizzas, great for the kids, something like 7.85/pizza
• The theatre in Cathedral City is high tech and cheap, great for movies.
• Depending on age (13+) there is a great hike behind the Target in Palm Desert. If the kids are younger, I would go to Indian Canyons, spend a couple hours there.

[EverfresH15]

Go check out The Nest. The Living Desert is pretty cool. Not sure what its called but if you going by Indian Canyon golf course there is a place where you can ride horses through the mountains. Lulu has decent food and is always busy. Always a good time down there, getting married at Desert Willows golf course this August.

[Northendzone]

We are just wrapping up our last night in Palm Springs and I thought I'd put my thoughts down while the vacation is still somewhat fresh/raw.....first I have two teenagers, a son who loves sports and is currently rehabbing a knee injustice and a daughter who does not like sports and apparently has an intense dislike for heat.

While I am grateful for the opportunity to have to come down here, I do not foresee us coming back.

The good stuff:

. The weather, was 30 or more every day
. Indian sprinGs canyon, very interesting place to hike, wish we could have stayed there longer
. Joshua tree park, very different hiking there compared to Alberta
. Was great to have a house with a pool, was awesome to eat outside all the time, and no skeeters. Wife and I spent outside together every morning, houses in this neighbourhood are single family, with very private back yards
. We took the tram up, some great views of the valley
. Traffic is relatively light everywhere
. Sonic, now that friends is good eating (I missed my chance to go to in and out burger)
. Had great pizza and a place called spaghettini's or something like that
. Had Mexican at las cueles and a placed called something like mongo's - liked mongo's better
. The air museum is cool and the docents could talk your ear off, love listening to these guys

The annoying stuff - some of it is picky:

. The wind here...it is nice until about noon, then a breeze starts and it just keeps getting stronger for the rest of the day. One day it had to be gusting at 70 mph or more, it seemingly blows until around 2am or so
. Buying gas is a pain, you pull up to the pump, run in and give them cash, pump gas, get change, a drink, smokes, a tacquito and come back out. The places I went did not take visa, only debit and they charged $0.35 to use debit. This is a savage way to buy gas and has to be a huge inducement to drive an electric car
. Have I mentioned that it is windy here
. The city of PS seemingly decided that street lights are not important. The sun goes down at around 7.15, I was caught with only my sunglasses twice
. The drive from PS to Joshua tree features a stretch of road that may have been 15 to 20 miles thru several small towns, the highway had lights, made for a tedious drive back
. Stupid amount of wind here

[Calgary14]

Agree about the wind. I was there at the end of March as well and found it to be windier than usual. I've been down there about 5 times and this most recent trip was easily the most windy. The open valley just south of Palm Springs (Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert) seems o be the worst. Palm Springs (against the mountain) wasn't nearly as bad. We went hiking in some of the trails there and it wasn't bad at all, but Palm Desert would be very windy. I'm talking Lethbridge-type wind (well, almost).

Few more random thoughts:
- Blaze Pizza is great and cheap
- In N Out is cool but I dont think I've ever been there without a lineup out the door
- went to the Cabazon outlet centre for some shopping. Good deals but it's also a different climate up there. Probably 10 degrees cooler than Palm Springs when we went
- don't rent a car from Budget. I rented from Thrifty and the attendant said Budget overbooks their rentals so not everyone who booked a car would get one. I counted over 60 people in their rental lineup
- Trader Joe's is a neat store that has relatively cheap healthy foods

[SeeGeeWhy]

Pinocchio's in the desert for great eavesdropping, people watching f and the brunch comes with bottomless champagne for $5 that's actually decent!

[Knut]

Originally Posted by Calgary14

Agree about the wind. I was there at the end of March as well and found it to be windier than usual. I've been down there about 5 times and this most recent trip was easily the most windy. The open valley just south of Palm Springs (Rancho Mirage, Palm Desert) seems o be the worst. Palm Springs (against the mountain) wasn't nearly as bad. We went hiking in some of the trails there and it wasn't bad at all, but Palm Desert would be very windy. I'm talking Lethbridge-type wind (well, almost).

Few more random thoughts:
- Blaze Pizza is great and cheap
- In N Out is cool but I dont think I've ever been there without a lineup out the door
- went to the Cabazon outlet centre for some shopping. Good deals but it's also a different climate up there. Probably 10 degrees cooler than Palm Springs when we went
- don't rent a car from Budget. I rented from Thrifty and the attendant said Budget overbooks their rentals so not everyone who booked a car would get one. I counted over 60 people in their rental lineup
- Trader Joe's is a neat store that has relatively cheap healthy foods

We had Booked the largest SUV a possible (expedition) because we had 6 people plus suitcases and golf clubs. They tried to tell us we only booked a Ford Escape. It took about 10 minutes of arguing for us to be "upgraded" back to the car we actually rented. I'll pay extra next time for better service.