The Windmill City a.k.a Palm Springs

Over the weekend, the husband and I celebrated our anniversary in Palm Springs, California. It was the first time since my trip to New York in February I got 3 days off of teaching! I was excited to be able to relax and enjoy each other’s company. When I think of Palm Springs, I think of desert, windmills and heat. Growing up I visited Palm Springs in the summer for vacation to go to the water park with my family. As a kid, you knew you were almost there when you saw those windmills across the desert. Luckily, as a grown up the drive was much easier, only taking us a bit over an hour to get to our first stop in the desert.

Lets kick off this week’s Travel Thursday with a recap of my weekend in Palm Springs.

We started our weekend off on an active foot by taking the Aerial Tramway up to the San Jacinto Mountain. At the bottom of the mountain it was a beautiful 70 degrees. However by the time we got to the top, it was foggy and a much colder 38 degrees. Although we were bummed we could not do our original planned hike due to 2 feet of fresh snow, we made the best of it and picked another trail to explore.

We were able to hike about 5 miles through mostly paved trails with a few spots that took you through some very beautiful blanketed areas of snow. I could imagine when the clouds are cleared away you would get gorgeous pictures from the views at the top. The ticket up the tramway is worth the hiking trails as well as for the nature views. After we left the tramway, we headed to lunch at Sherman’s Deli (since we worked up quite the appetite) which boasts NY deli food including kosher eats. A recommendation from my dad, the food was very good but the dessert made the meal. They have a large selection of pies, cheesecakes and cakes but the strawberry shortcake was the perfect end to our meal.

We finished our Saturday off by checking into our hotel and hitting the pool in the late afternoon. We relaxed by the pool until we decided it was time to go out for some food and drinks. Luckily, we stayed at the Riviera which is more resort than hotel as they have 2 pools, lounges and restaurants. We decided to do dinner at the hotel when we heard a real live piano man who even sang “Piano Man.” He was an enthusiastic entertainer who covered many songs from the 80s to todays hits. It was a great night of music, drinks and food.

Sunday was a blast as we got to spend the majority of the day soaking up the sun! I had a stack of fitness magazines and a book to keep me entertained as I got my tan on. Summer is officially here so its time to get as much Vitamin D for this very very white girl! We enjoyed a solid 5 hours by the pool before we left the hotel to get shakes from Great Shakes. Yelp had great reviews so we figured it would be our major indulgence for the weekend. Let me tell you if you are in Palm Springs, you MUST make a stop at Great Shakes! They should also think about changing their name to Amazing Shakes or Spectacular Shakes because great does not do justice to the delicious treat! It was the best shake I have ever had- so creamy and flavorful. I cant wait to go back to Palm Springs for the shake alone.

We walked back from Great Shakes to experience some of downtown Palm Springs. When we got back to the hotel, we went back to the pool for some more water & relaxing. We ended our pool day next to the bonfire that starts when the sun is going down. After getting ready, we took the free trolley (love that option) to downtown for dinner at Trio Restaurant. I loved the ambiance and modern decoration of the restaurant. We shared fried artichokes for an appetizer and I thoroughly enjoyed my crawfish pot pie for dinner. I love when restaurants offer unique twists on dishes and the pot pie did not disappoint. The cajun crawfish reminded me of my New Orleans trip! The night ended at The Spa Casino where we enjoyed latin music at their lounge and of course wasting a few dollars on slot machines

Monday was our last day which included sleeping in (my favorite thing to do on vacation)! We skipped breakfast and had an early lunch at Lulus. With the three restaurants we visited this weekend I would definitely say that Palm Springs is a must for their food options alone. Lulus had an open patio with simple but exquisite design. I enjoyed a delicious lobster ravioli and flourless chocolate cake.

Palm Springs is a destination that should definitely be on your list to visit. The city is a quick destination from most places in Southern California but worth it if you are traveling from further.

Happy Anniversary to the sweet, smart and sexy love of my life!! 

Have you been to Palm Springs? Would you visit?