Palm Springs with Cindy Pt. 1

To begin our three day sojourn, Cindy and I spent hours on a very productive scavenger hunt in Desert Hot Springs at the wonderful Angel View Clearance Center.

Not only are the prices unbelievable ($2.10 a pound) but the cause our shopping supports is a worthy one. Angel View’s mission is helping children and adults with disabilities reach their maximum potential. Getting a bargain and helping hundreds of people make significant gains toward independence. So very cool.

After a picnic lunch we checked into our hotel. “The Rat Pack is back, baby! – or at least its hangout is …” write the editors of LonelyPlanet.com.

Sinatra, Martin, Davis, Elvis, and many others in the 1960s, were frequent visitors to The Tropics, the tiki and Polynesian-style resort motel now completely remodeled and renovated and known as the Caliente Tropics Resort Hotel.

"In the 1990s, a new generation fell in love with the city’s retro-chic charms, including steel-and-glass bungalows designed by famous architects, boutique hotels with vintage décor and kidney-shaped pools, and hushed piano bars serving the perfect martini." My deep appreciation of this desert oasis came a couple of decades later and it is so awesome that Cindy shares it with me.

After unpacking, we headed to the Village (Downtown).

We meandered the streets, ogling art and popping into boutiques. It is the perfect Palm Springs pastime.

We ended the day with a driving tour of Little Beverly Hills.

"In February 1954, Songold Land Development Company purchased a 40-acre tract from the Agua Caliente tribe and named the tract Ramon Rise Estates with 84 lots for homes. They built the first 21 homes, priced between $14,000 and $16,000. In late 1955, the remaining 63 lots were acquired by George Alexander and were built between July 1957 and February 1958; priced between $18,950 and $19,775. The architecture firm of Palmer & Krisel created floor plans, with five exterior styles created; El Dorado, Enchantment, Fiesta, Fleetwood and Suburbia." What fun to drive throughout the neighborhood trying to decide which exterior was what!

Little Beverly Hills earned its nickname from enterprising real estate marketers in the 1990s, and onwards, since most of the street names are identical to famous streets in Beverly Hills.