When your long time, dear friend has a key birthday, you celebrate.
Anne had a big birthday in February, so in June we went to Palm Springs to celebrate. Why Palm Springs in June? Really, there is no magical reason other than we couldn't get our act together in February. Plus, isn't it fun to extend birthday celebrations for as long as possible?
When we booked our trip, airfare into Palm Springs was quite spendy, but airfare to LAX was almost free. I, Carrie Hamilton, the author and editor of this fine blog sold Anne on the idea that we should fly into LAX and drive to Palm Springs. While it was a fun adventure, we didn't take into account the time that it would take to get the rental car, which was off site. Or, any of the other odds and ends that eventually put us in Palm Springs around 2:30 in the morning. Um... ya... we're not young whipper snappers anymore. 2:30 AM should always be accompanied with a wild night out on the town, if you're going to stay up to see that time on the clock. As an added insult, In-n-Out Burgers were closed by the time we drove by. Ugh!
Regardless, it gave us some great quality time to talk and catch up. Anne talked about her youth as we drove through San Bernandino, where she grew up. We caught up on what we had each been up to since we don't get many opportunities to do that these days. We also talked about how wide open the 6 lanes of freeway were and how we could have a much different experience on Monday morning (don't worry, it turned out fine). We also felt like Sully and Sully (X-Files) as we approached the red blinking lights that were lined up in rows for miles in the bleak and dark dessert. Come to find out, they were wind turbines, not an alien landing strip.
After some much needed sleep, we dined on our breakfast poolside of the Riviera Palm Springs. Ahh... Vacation at last!
The history of the Riviera Palm Springs is quite interesting. In 2008, the hotel was "unveiled with the glamour of the 60's" as quoted at their website. Anne and I found it quite interesting to walk around the property and admire the decor.
Our first order of business was to scope out the town and get our bearings on our environment. We were very surprised with the vacancy of the main street, but we were pleased to see it come alive as the sun went down.
Our drive through town may have landed us at Nordstroms Rack, filling our bags with new threads.
When it is well over 100 degrees, an afternoon in the pool is a great solution.
We never saw 110 as predicted, but it was SO close.
One thing is for sure, the two of us love to find great restaurants. As an added bonus, it was restaurant week which gave us ample opportunity to try several new locations with one great price. First up was Zin American Bistro.
Saturday called for a higher elevation on the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway.
I was questioning the advertising of cool mountain air and pine trees as we drove the long and climbing road to the tram.
When we finally arrived, we were greeted with a sign at 2,645 ft.
The tram coming down.
On the rotating tram, we were up up and away!
Down below, you can barely see the rows and rows of wind turbines.
At the tram arrival point, we were at 8,510 ft. We climbed nearly 6,000 ft.
As promised, we were surrounded by cooler mountain air and pine trees. It was a welcome treat after the dessert heat.
It was time to head out for a hike in search of the five view points (which we viewed each and every one of).
Apparently, there are pine trees that smell like vanilla, the Jeffrey Pine. I had NO idea!
There are also pine trees that you can eat needles from. This is what you learn when you follow a pack of girl scouts for a short while.
The trees were definitely large and in charge at nearly 9,000 feet in elevation.
I was also impressed at how thick the bark was.
One of five view points of the desert valley below.
Anne and Carrie having fun at view point #1.
View Point #2
More sightings of wind turbines.
View Point #3.
Living on the Edge!
Something about this view point made me want to throw out a jazz hand.
View Point #4.
View Point #5 and a tricky balancing act.
We had a fantastic time hiking at the top of the tramway. It was one of my favorite parts of the trip, other than the pool, fantastic dinners and shopping. Ok, it was all a favorite but the tippy top best part was spending the weekend with Anne.
On the way down, we had a closer view of the wind turbines, AKA the alien landing strip.
This Saturday just happen to be the day that California Chrome was racing for the Triple Crown. I hadn't been following the race, but Anne filled me in on all of the details. Per her request, we found an Irish Pub to watch the race. As it turned out, it was a true gem and we loved spending the rest of the afternoon with Dickie O'Neal and his friends.
That night, we had a bright full moon shining down on us while we dined.
We were also dining in the glow of some Oooh la la!
Based on online reviews, we dined at Sammy G's.
We left saying that it was fair, but not high on our list of dining options.
They did get some bonus points for the complimentary amarato and biscotti.
Carrie and Anne enjoying our amareto at Sammy G's.
Sunday was saved for the pool and spa, which we took full advantage of both.
I also took a moment to photograph my new swim suit.
Anne and Carrie loving some time by the pool.
Really? Where else will you find shrubbery on the walls?
For our final night, we chose to dine at Copley's, which received rave reviews and appeared to have great casual Sunday courtyard atmosphere.
Copley's delivered and we loved it. It was a great way to end our weekend.
As an added bonus, the restaurant was formerly Cary Grant's guesthouse estate and our waitress was kind enough to give us a brief history. Apparently, we were sitting in or near his pool.
This weekend was planned as a celebration, so celebrate we did. On our last evening, we had a special birthday dessert complete with a candle to celebrate Anne's birthday.
On Monday morning, we hit the road bright and early after a stop at Starbucks. The wind turbines that guided us in, bid us adieu.
Happy Birthday, Anne!
Thanks for a truly fantastic weekend filled with great fun, lots of laughs and enough calories to last me until ... well... for a while. I loved every minute of it and can't wait to plan another Carrie and Anne weekend!
