Activities ‘n Stuff

A few of our favorite things to do in and around Palm Springs....

Walking The ‘Hoods

If you like mid-century architecture, take your car up to Vista Las Palmas and walk around this "Tony" neighborhood. Fantastic examples of various mid-mod styles, including “Swiss Miss” A-frames. We usually park at the intersection of Via Monte Vista and Crescent Drive. Walk up Crescent and turn right on Rose Avenue and go up the hill. At the top, to the right, is the Elvis Honeymoon house. Explore the side streets on your way back. It’s a good pup walk. Another good walk: we often drive to Ruth Hardy Park first thing in the morning (like 6.30am) if it's going to be hot. Park the car near there, walk around the park and then stroll through the Movie Colony neighborhood to get to Koffi (which also does a puppuccino). There’s usually a hilarious “keep fit” class going in the morning at the park. Pleather shorty-shorts! Excellent people watching. Also nearby, close to The Frank Sinatra House, is the crazy sculpture house. No point in trying to describe it. It’s at 1077 E Granvia Valmonte. Pic below.

The Way of The Pickle

Yeah, we admit it, we’ve been bitten by the Pickleball bug. The best free courts are in Demuth Park, past the airport. It’s a ten-minute drive away and they are floodlit, so you don’t have to pickle in the searing desert sun. Beware though, it is next to the "water treatment" plant. Usually wind is blowing away from that direction. But be warned....

Ariel Tramway

A must-do if you haven’t been before. The tram climbs to over 8500 feet, so you can expect snow from December through March. The views are incredible and there’s excellent hiking up top. One tip is to bring your own picnic and eat it outside, if the weather is good. The food and drinks up there are nothing special.

Biking

There's a lot of well marked cycle lanes in Palm Springs, if you want to toddle around the city and check out the neighborhoods. Road biking out of town is a bit hair-raising. The roads are terrible, sand sometimes collects at the edge (making it treacherous) and some of the areas, if you go over Highway 10 and do a loop, look straight out of Breaking Bad. Beware exploding caravans! The best bike store is https://www.pscyclery.com and I believe they rent. They can also tell you places to drive, further down the valley, that have better roads better for bikes if you have a rack.

Palm Springs Vintage Market (https://palmspringsvintagemarket.com)

This happens the first Sunday of every month, from October-May. $5 entrance fee after 8am, $10 for the early birds who want to get there at 7am. It's an eclectic market, with some tat and some very good mid-century stalls. A couple of premium vinyl purveyors ($$$) and the furniture and glassware are usually worth a look. Vendors come from as far as Arizona and Los Angeles. There's coffee trucks and food stands if you want eats. We've bought a bunch of stuff there, including the side tables in the living room and our tiki bar ensemble. It's a fun way to start your Sunday. They allow pups, so Archie has been a few times and not disgraced himself.

Palm Springs Air Museum (https://palmspringsairmuseum.org)

Right by the airport you'll find the Air Museum. Impressive collection of WWII planes. Though there are some newer jets - our friend Sean (see eating and drinking blog) had flown one. And there's even a Stealth Bomber (currently being refurbished). The WWII hanger has good sections on the history of the war, uniforms, memorabilia and some weapons, though inevitably skewed to US experience. For The Brits in the house, there's a Spitfire. It's an awesome piece of machinery. Docents are usually around and have interesting stories before they tell you to vote for Trump.