Boozehounds, a date farm, architecture tour, and aerial tram in Palm Springs

After staying up late finishing Don’t Look Up last night, Abe and I were inclined to sleep in. But our kids were not! So as a compromise we got out of the door in time to be first in line for Boozehounds’ opening…at 10am. Sadly, this felt like a major win for us.

Clarissa often likes to brush her own hair before getting help from a grown-up. Here she’s being silly 🙂
We saw a massive wind farm as we entered Palm Springs

We loved Boozehounds! There were so many dogs that the kids loved petting and seeing, and the food was oh-so-amazing. It was Filipino food but I couldn’t exactly tell where the Filipino came in, other than the fact that my salad had an asian dressing. But every dish was just so good.

I had read that Palm Springs is a great place to order mixed drinks, so I ordered one with breakfast.

Either it has been so long that I drank that my body could barely handle it or the mixed drinks in California are a lot stiffer than in Utah. But after two sips I started feeling woozy. I completely stopped after four sips. But those four sips were delicious.

Then we spent the next two hours driving around trying to find a pool for the kids to swim in. The weather was beautiful and I regretted not just paying for an airbnb with a pool. I almost did and was just kicking myself the whole time.

We drove from the Ace Hotel to the Seguaro Hotel. Neither were currently available, but I did note that the Seguaro was dog friendly and chic. Lydia wants to come back to Palm Springs on her birthday and bring Basil to Boozehounds, so I will need a solution that is dog friendly and has a pool. Seguaro checks both boxes!

After we determined there were no pools or hot springs open to children right now, we went to town and tried to find some celebrity houses. But then I realized that Shields’ Date Farm closed their cafe in one hour, and we needed to get there if we wanted to try a date shake.

So we drove to Shield’s Date Farm, tried date shakes, walked around their biblical sculpture garden, admired their date trees, watched their movie, The Romance and Sex Life of Dates (actually a very, very tame movie about date propagation), and bought some dates. My only regret is that I did not get a coffee date shake. If we go again I am noting to self to try that next time.

Now that the trees are so high, and with technology advancements, mechanical platforms are currently used to help workers to the top of the trees.

female date palm
95% of the dates made in the US are made in this valley.
There were Christian statues throughout the gardens

Then we drove back to town and drove around the Palm Springs celebrity houses. The kids were so enthusiastic and interested, even though they had no idea who most of the famous people were. We all did know Lucille Ball, though, and they were so excited to see her house!

Zsa Zsa Gabor’s former place. Won Ms Hungary in 1936, had 7 husbands (her sister married one x-husband).
Nat King Cole’s former place
Elvis & Priscilla’s honeymoon hideaway home during 1966 and 1967
Elvis’ Palm Springs home later in his life. When he died, the only homes he owned were this and Graceland.
I think daughter of a cosmetics mogul lived here.
Lily loved the triangle-shaped entry-ways
Mary Martin’s former place (played Peter Pan)
I think this is Frank Sinatra’s former home
Lucille Ball’s former place
Lucille Ball’s former place
Lucille Ball’s former place

Then we drove to the aerial tram and rode that to the top, where we ate dinner. The tram was such a surprise. I expected it to be a normal ski lift, but it is much closer to a Disney ride. The floor rotates, the person operating the tram seems to function like a DJ, and on our ride everyone sang and danced along to the songs in the tram. It was really fun.

At the top we ate at the restaurant, which would have been a severe disappointment had we not been grateful to just learn for ourselves that that is an experience we need not repeat. The food was not up to trip standards, but it was still fun to eat it together.

Then we drove home to blog. The kids all fell asleep en route, and I just chugged a lot of Nyquil so that I can follow their excellent example.

We loved eating dates in the car! Lily’s favorite was the the Blonde date, and her least favorite was the Deglet Noor date. Ammon was so cute in the car and said something to the effect of, “mom, I am so so sorry to yuck your yum, but I like the Deglet Noor the best.”

Abe and I treasure every trip we have taken together, no matter how short, small or humble, and so far this trip ranks wonderfully for novelty, fun, and refreshment.