Palm Springs & Joshua Tree

Palm Springs had long been on the list of places I’d hope to visit, one I pictured as an oasis of pools, palm trees, and mid-century modern architecture, surrounded by desert. Though it was bigger than I’d imagined and less remote, it coupled perfectly with laid-back Joshua Tree for a long weekend getaway. It was great that our friends Eric and Casey were in the area for their babymoon too, and the four of us had fun exploring the cities together.

In the midst of one of the worst Wisconsin winters we’d ever experienced, we visited at the end of February, after Palm Springs’ busy modernism week but before the April chaos of Coachella. We were worried that we’d be too early for ideal pool weather, but we lucked out with a perfect 80 degrees and sunshine, and I think the weather stays this way throughout March.

We flew into LAX on Wednesday night, picked up our rental car, then stayed in a hotel in West Corvina, a far eastern suburb of LA. This location meant a bit of a longer late night drive after the flight, but allowed us to skip rush hour traffic on Thursday morning so we could enjoy a full day in Palm Springs. On Friday night we headed to Joshua Tree before heading back to LA on Saturday to spend a night with our friend Nicky before leaving on Sunday.

Where we stayed

There are all sorts of accommodations in the Palm Springs area: luxury hotels, midcentury ranch Airbnbs with pools, party hotels, budget chains, golf course resorts. Hours spent perusing options forced us to prioritize. We knew we wanted a good pool with comfortable chairs and tropical cocktails, but without the pool scene: we didn’t want crowds or DJs. For this, Arrive was perfect. We loved it. I think it might get more crowded and scene-y on weekends (there’s a DJ every Saturday, I believe), but for the Thursday and Friday we were there, it was perfect. Arrive is open to the public, so I’d recommend a pool day visit even if you aren’t staying at the hotel.

There was so much to like: the hotel was small and stylish, we got free cocktails upon check in, and the room was large and modern, stocked with Malin & Goetz body products and carafes of sparkling water that somehow made it feel extra special. We felt it was totally worth it, but we did make a point to stay there on a Thursday night; the nightly rate would have been almost $200 more had we stayed on a Friday or Saturday.

A quick stop at the brightly-colored Saguaro hotel

Palm Springs Favorites:

We stopped at The Saguaro during golden hour to see the famed rainbow-colored balconies.
Rooster and the Pig: The four of us visited this buzzy Vietnamese restaurant on Thursday night and waited about half an hour. All night, a large crowd was gathered outside, waiting for tables, but it was worth it. Everything was delicious; our favorites were the beef spring rolls, the crispy beef noodle dish, and the Vietnamese beef stew (I guess we were really digging beef that night). I had a delicious cocktail as well.
We drove through the Indian Canyons neighborhood to lust after the amazing mid-century modern houses, choosing our favorites and wondering what the pools and interiors looked like behind the brightly-colored front doors. Drew, Casey and Eric generously indulged my paparazzi-like effort to get good shots of the houses. I found this door tour really helpful. While planning the trip, I noticed that there are options for paid walking tours of the area of you’d like to hear more about the history of Palm Springs, its neighborhoods, and the houses.
Our hotel is attached to Wexler’s Deli, which runs the food and drink service at the pool. All of the cocktails were great, and the pastrami burger we split for lunch was awesome.

Another great house in the Indian Canyons neighborhood

Skippables:

While planning the trip, Cheeky’s came up in all the articles and blogs we read, and while we all found the breakfast to be fine, we didn’t understand all the hype and probably wouldn’t go back next time. It seems like the kind of travel spot that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: everyone reads about it, so all of us go, and then we in turn talk about it, so other people go, and so on. We arrived at 8, just as it was opening, so we got seated right away; I would have been especially disappointed had we waited in their infamous two hour line, especially during prime sunny hours that could have been spent elsewhere.
The Moorten Botanical Garden was another place that was frequently-referenced by previous travelers online, and while it was cute and fun for a quick stop (especially for photo opportunites), it’s also really small and perhaps not worthy of the $5 admission. It felt like we were paying to walk into a cactus store (which we were. It is a cactus store) rather than the “garden” the name suggests.

Desert X

I’m so thankful that the timing of our trip meant we could visit several pieces in the annual Desert X art exhibit, where large-scale sculptures are installed at locations throughout the Coachella Valley. We were able to see three striking pieces, all of them colorful and and intriguing.

We stopped at Sterling Ruby’s neon-orange “Specter” during a sudden wind storm, which made it all the more memorable. It was fun seeing the different ways visitors were interacting with the giant box; a group of teenagers was took turns doing photo shoots while a pair of little girls used it to play hide and go seek. Located just off the freeway northwest of Palm Springs, loop this one in on your trip to or from PS or JT.

Our first Desert X stop was at Adams Park in Palm Desert, at “Dive In” by the Danish collective Superflex, who created a bright pink sculpture meant to echo coral as a reference to the geological history of the Coachella Valley and as a reminder of Global Warming. Many visitors headed went on to hike in the park; the path starts just beyond the sculpture.

John Gerard’s “Western Flag” is right next to the Palm Springs Visitor Center, which makes it an easy place to stop if you are staying in town. It is a digital simulation of the spot in Texas where oil was first discovered, striking for its size. We were glad to have visited just before twilight; the bright sunlight might make it harder to see during the day.

Joshua Tree

Our trip to Joshua Tree was a quick one. We entered Joshua Tree National Park from the south entrance and drove 45 minutes along the uncrowded road, past wide vistas of the Pinto Basin, up to the Cholla Cactus Garden, where we walked around their short, flat trail before it got dark. The sunset was a pretty subtle one, but it was cool to see the giant field of chollas “glow” in the fading light.

From there, we drove to the town of Joshua Tree, which spread out beneath us as we drove from the hill of the park’s north exit station. Like Palm Springs, we’d found plenty of great-looking options for places to stay. Our Airbnb was cute and if we’d had a longer (warmer) visit we would have taken better advantage of the outdoor spaces, but as it was we were tired and went to bed pretty quickly (after grabbing slices of decent pizza from Pie For the People, on Joshua Tree’s main drag).

In the morning, we had breakfast at cute Crossroads Cafe before heading back into the park. (Note that when we arrived at the park around 9a, there was only a short line of cars ahead of us, but when we left in early afternoon, we noticed a long line waiting to get in.) Fields of the park’s namesake trees, which we first spotted right after the entrance, were amazing to see. They are so distinct and otherworldly, and I totally agree with those who’ve compared them to the illustrations in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. Our stop to walk around, photograph and take them in was maybe my favorite part of our visit to the park. As a half joke, Drew insisted we play U2’s Joshua Tree album as we drove through around, and it was easy to see how these trees have inspired artists of all kinds throughout the years.

We did a quick walk around the Hidden Valley Nature Trail, where ranchers supposedly used to hide their cattle. The rock formations and cacti were great and it was a compact 1 hour stop.

We drove out to Skull Rock, past more fields of joshua trees as well as boulders where climbers scaled the steep rocks. If we had more time it would have been fun to watch them for longer. We intended to do a hike in the Baker Dam area, but the combination of a full parking lot and rapidly darkening skies helped us make the call to leave the park early.

Pioneertown

Before heading back to LA, we stopped at Pioneertown to see their Old West Set, which made for some fun photo ops. We’d heard great things about the bar Pappy and Harriet’s, which seemed like a great place for a show. It was full of people eating lunch, and the food looked good!