# Palm Springs--Our First Trip



## Fern Modena (Apr 23, 2007)

We are going to Palm Springs soon.  It will be our first trip.  We'll be there for five days.  Already have tickets to The Follies.  Don't golf.  We're staying at Vista Mirage.

What are some of the things you've done there that you liked doing?  Any restaurant recommendations?  Not breakfast, but possibly lunch, and definitely reasonably priced dinners.  We'll be visiting with friends from England we met on a cruise.  They will be there three weeks, so their budget is somewhat limited for eating out.

We're staying at Vista Mirage, and I understand there is a Ralph's nearby.  What else?

And yes, I know it will be *hot*.  I live in Vegas, remember? 

TIA,

Fern


----------



## rifleman69 (Apr 23, 2007)

Eat early dinners, you'll save a fortune.   Go visit Joshua Tree or the Living Desert, and of course the tram.


----------



## barndweller (Apr 23, 2007)

Hi Fern
Be sure to go to the Thursday evening street fair if you are there on Thursday. It's fun even if you are not into shopping. Also, we enjoy the Palm Springs Museum. It's free entry after 4pm on Thursdays but pretty large to see in only a short time. The Air Museum is nice, too, but only if you are into vintage airplanes & such.

There are a couple of Costcos for groceries if you have a membership.


----------



## Fern Modena (Apr 23, 2007)

I've been on the tramway, but it was 30+ years ago (I was a child then ).  The guys are planning on the airplane museum, and we are staying thru Friday so we can do the street fair, if my knee holds out.

We don't mind eating early.  Any specific restaurants?

Fern


----------



## tashamen (Apr 23, 2007)

In addition to the PS street fair, there is the College of the Desert (in Palm Desert) street fair every Saturday & Sunday year round.  It soudns as though you may miss it, but maybe the folks from England can go there.  It is enormous - though perhaps not as large this time of year as it was in March.  They have everything from arts and crafts, to a farmer's market on one end, to clothes and household appliances.  I've never seen such a hodge podge of stuff.  And that's where I had my best breakfast in the area.

I liked the Village Pub in downtown PS - they have a bit of everything.  I would recommend sitting outside rather than inside, which was less inviting.


----------



## mjkaplan (Apr 23, 2007)

There is a nice little French/Belgium restaurant right on Palm Canyon in the heart of P.S. that usually has a Prixe-Fixe dinner special for a reasonable price, and you can sit out on the patio and watch all the people walking by.

Here is their website, the special is a bit out of date, but you can always call to check on it.

http://www.pomme-frite.com/

Another favorite of ours is the casual restaurant at the J.W. marriott in Palm Desert, you can sit on their patio and enjoy the views of the lake while you dine.  The bugers and sandwiches were quite nice.

http://www.desertspringsresort.com/palm-desert-restaurants/fine-dining.asp


Have a great time,

Mike


----------



## barndweller (Apr 23, 2007)

We generally don't eat out all that much when we timeshare. So I only have 3 recommendations for Palm Springs area.
1) Uptown Cafe on Vista Chino, PS  2 for 1 Early bird dinners, medium priced, nice decor & good service. Nice eclectic menu. Live piano music in the bar.
2) Las Casuelas downtown PS  Typical Tex-Mex food. Huge place with some outdoor seating. Very inexpensive & excellent service. There is more than one of these but we've only been to the one downtown.
3) Macario's in Indio Recommended to us by one of the Mexican gardeners at Marriott. Long established family owned. Authentic Mexican food (not Tex-Mex.) Tamales are excellent. Didn't care for the Mole dish. The owner walks around & plays guitar & serenades. Can be crowded since it is small.


----------



## Elli (Apr 23, 2007)

Fern, if you like seafood there is a reasonably priced one downtown. I think it is called Fisherman's Market or something like that.


----------



## gary01 (Apr 23, 2007)

Fern, We stayed at Vista Mirage on our first trip to PS.  We were not too impressed so I hope it has improved a little.  As far as restaurants go, be sure to try Sherman's Deli.  They have two locations, one of which is downtown.  It's one of the best in the area.  Take a look here....

http://www.palmsprings.com/dine/shermans/index.html


----------



## BSQ (Apr 23, 2007)

we second Las Casuelas .. reasonably priced and muy excellente margaritas.


----------



## John Cummings (Apr 24, 2007)

Fern Modena said:


> I've been on the tramway, but it was 30+ years ago (I was a child then ).  The guys are planning on the airplane museum, and we are staying thru Friday so we can do the street fair, if my knee holds out.
> 
> We don't mind eating early.  Any specific restaurants?
> 
> Fern



The Tram is always a good choice and it was renovated not long ago. The dinner buffet at the the SPA casino in downtown Palm Springs is pretty good though I imagine you may have your fill of buffets and casinos from Las Vegas. We have stayed at the Vista Mirage on bonus time. You should really enjoy the follies. I also recommend the street fair though it is like many outdoor markets.


----------



## Diane (Apr 24, 2007)

Don't miss the Indian Canyons.  If you can catch a Ranger talk so much the better.  We also like Joshua Tree State Park, the art museum (free after a certain hour, I think or on a certain evening) and the Celebrity Tours.  

If you want to splurge on a great steak one night, try JB's (or maybe it is JR's) on the main street, not far from the Follies. It is expensive, though.

Diane


----------



## MULTIZ321 (Apr 24, 2007)

*Palm Springs Aerial Tramway*

Hi Fern,

I second the suggestion of the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. As John mentioned, the trams have been totally renovated and are entirely different from those you would have ridden on 30 years ago. The new trams rotate 360 degrees while you make the the trips up & down.

As you probably know, if you want to be adventersome, there are hiking trails up at the top of the mountain. Also, don't forget the temperature differential from the valley floor to top.

If you decide to go - there are two different pricing categories - Tram Only prices and Ride 'n' Dine Prices.  You can chose from the Peaks Restaurant,
the Pines Cafe, and the Lookout Lounge. Or consider taking a picnic up with you.

Another possibility is to go up before sunset and then come back down after sunset in the dark - the views of the stars is awesome.

For more info - http://www.pstramway.com/

Enjoy your visit with your friends

Richard


----------



## damorgan (Apr 28, 2007)

Fern,

Are you using a car?

Try The River for a selection of dining, from Jonny Rocket's, Cheesecake Factory to more expensive options etc  www.theriveratranchomirage.com  It's a ten-minute drive from PS centre.

I'd also recommend a place called Picanha at El Paseo.  www.picanharestaurant.com.  Unusual style, great food, relaxed atmosphere, you control what you eat!  Another five minutes beyond The River.

To really splash out, and experience some PS history (not to mention the chance of bumping into current celebs) try Mervyn's Restaurant at the Ingleside Inn.  www.inglesideinn.com  Right in PS.

Tramcar, Follies, Market, Indian Canyons, Air Museum, Joshua Tree - yes to all of them.  Add the Living Desert www.livingdesert.org

Also, take a trip to Cabazon (20 minute drive on the I-10 towards LA) for great outlet shopping  www.cabazonoutlets.com and www.premiumoutlets.com

By the way, it's Palm Springs, you really must take up golf!


----------



## Fern Modena (Apr 28, 2007)

Thanks everybody for their help.  We only really have four days there...I think it looks like Follies, the Street Fair on Thursday night, the Living Desert, the Tramway, the Outlet Mall (for our friends), and the Windfarm if its open.  And restaurants, there are some great suggestions there!

Thanks all!

Fern


----------



## Fern Modena (May 8, 2007)

*Short Trip Report*

The resort is probably a converted apartment complex.  Dumbo's child was in the unit above us, but otherwise it was fine.  Very roomy, a large kitchen for a timeshare.  It had a dishwasher (and soap) but skimpy cooking items....no baking dishes at all.  There were two large pools and hot tubs and tennis courts.  No planned activities.  A very short drive to Ralphs, CVS, Starbucks, etc.  Downtown Palm Springs was a long walk but doable in good weather if you were in good shape, I suppose.  It was less than a 10 minute ride.

We met friends from England there (we met them on a cruise last year).  They accompanied us on our various excursions.

We went to the Aerial Tramway one day.  It was interesting to see how the cars pivoted, and the view was wonderful.  Didn't care for it much when it passed the towers going up.

We went to the Living Desert another day.  Its a large eco-conservation area in Palm Desert with various areas devoted to different animals and plants.  Its sort of a zoo in the wild.  Jerry loved it, and got pictures of many of the animals.  Its fairly spread out, at least for me.  I brought my cane, but it turned out that they had a shuttle, for an extra $5. that you could hop on and off at about ten different places.  It was very handy.  Most of the areas were in loops, so that when you walked around you'd end up right back on the main road near the shuttle stop.

We went to the Palm Springs Follies the third day.  The show was fabulous.  The MC had great timing, and we loved all the various acts and singers and dancers.  I called a couple months ahead to see if they could accommodate me in special seating since the show is three hours long (and my leg needs to stretch more often than that).  They had nice comfortable chairs set up for us in the front row on the left side, in the accessible area.  Really giood seats, and they only charged us for section "b" tickets.  What a surprise.

We left Thursday morning instead of going to the street fair since I didn't know if I'd be able to walk enough to enjoy it.

The food was mostly really good.  We ate at Pomme-Frite the first night.  We ate inside (since it was over 100º that day), and it wasn't air conditioned!  I couldn't believe it.  That spoiled the meal and we couldn't wait to get out of there.

The second night we took Eric and Joan to Las Casuelas.  Neither of them had ever had Mexican food before, and Eric is a lacto-ovo vegetarian.  I ordered for both of them (a bean and cheese burrito, bean and cheese enchilada and black beans and rice for Eric, and a shredded beef taco, chicken tomale, and refried beans and rice for Joan).  They nearly licked their plates clean!  Everybody had a good meal there.

The third night Jerry and I went to Sherman's.  Thanks for the recommendation, Gary.  Its about the best deli I've been to on the road.  I knew I was in the right place when they gave us a dish of pickles right off the bat!  I had a corned beef sandwich, half for dinner and took the other half for lunch the next day.  Jerry had a pastrami and chopped liver combo.  It was open faced with piles of pastrami on one side, and about 3/4" of chopped liver on the other.  And then he added cream cheese under the pastrami.  How do you say "Gentile special?"  Gives me heartburn just to think about it, but Jerry enjoyed it.

Well, as the cartoon says, "That's all folks." Thanks for the help.

Fern


----------



## taffy19 (May 8, 2007)

Fern Modena said:


> Thanks everybody for their help. We only really have four days there...I think it looks like Follies, the Street Fair on Thursday night, the Living Desert, the Tramway, the Outlet Mall (for our friends), and the Windfarm if its open. And restaurants, there are some great suggestions there!
> 
> Thanks all!
> 
> Fern


All your choices are great but Joshua Tree National Park is a must see too. You can do most of it from your car and hardly have to walk any distance at all to see what you like to see. Of course, there is nice hiking and rock climbing too. 

I would go later in the afternoon when the light is softer and when you can stay around long enough to see the sunset too behind the Joshua trees. You will never forget the view. It will be cooler here too because it is a little higher than Palm Springs. 

Here is a photo of what I cannot describe in words, but you get the idea. Jerry will be in seventh heaven and he can take beautiful photos himself.  We love it every year again when we come back to this park.

http://www.photo.net/photo/pcd0278/joshua-tree-75

http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np-image.jotr1123.html

http://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.joshua-tree.all.htmlhttp://www.terragalleria.com/parks/np.joshua-tree.html


----------



## tashamen (May 8, 2007)

Fern Modena said:


> We went to the Aerial Tramway one day.  It was interesting to see how the cars pivoted, and the view was wonderful.  Didn't care for it much when it passed the towers going up.



Last March when I was on the tramway on the way down, there was a man who had just climbed on top of one of the towers and was standing on it with his arms outstretched - talk about making me queasy!  He had on some kind of uniform, so we assumed he was officially supposed to be on there but it still was rather odd.  I couldn't get my camera focused fast enough to take a picture - that would have been a contest winner!


----------



## gary01 (May 8, 2007)

Glad you enjoyed Palm Springs, Fern.  We love Sherman's Deli and go there frequently.  You didn't mention it, but I hope Jerry and Eric were able to visit the  huge model train layout in the Living Desert.  It's a hoot and any guy would be fascinated with it........Gary


----------

