PALM SPRINGS - A Californian Summer - Part Eight

Palm Springs. That delicious deserty hot spot where heat and 70’s chic reign on. We hit Palm Springs on a Friday for the weekend. It was an opportunity for pure relaxation and having trouble deciding where I wanted to stay between The Parker at Palm Springs, a long term dream with a hefty price tag or the hip Ace Hotel, I decided to split our funds and stay at both to get the best bang for our buck! Knowing nothing about Palm Springs except it’s hot, deserty and home to Coachella Music Festival I decided two nights at the affordable and hip Ace Hotel and one night at The Parker.

It was an average of 117 degrees whilst we were there in August so it’s not really time for traipsing between hotels but I’m so happy we did. On the way through we drove through a gorgeous strip of shops and restaurants. Lots looked shut as I think many close or reduce hours for parts of August whilst the temperatures soar and people stay inside the air conditioning or glue themselves to the side of a pool. I mean I’m pretty sure I could have fried an egg on our car bonnet. But there’s something special about a palm tree that makes it all ok. For three days we decided to make the most of these two amazing hotels. We managed to venture out for a ride past the windfarms and a trip up the Aerial Tramway (2 and a half miles up above the desert floor for a birds eye view) . It was also the time to stop off at one of the famous designer shopping outlets they have here for a browse and to buy another suitcase for all the extras we seemed to have collected along the way! In 100+ degree heat, the air conditioning feels marvellous though nick managed to also buy a winter featherdown coat which was the most bizarre experience to purchase in 117 degrees. Gives me the sweats just thinking back about it now.

The Ace. We like the Ace. It’s got a hip, relaxed vibe. I’d describe it as army barracks for rock stars. And for us! It’s not glamorous in contemporary comparison but it’s old school cheese and pineapple sticks glam. The bedchairs have head shades, there’s inflatables in the pools left by previous guests, you can drink and swim til’ the early hours. The rooms are a little small and dark and if the neighbours above aren’t of the quiet persuasion you might mistake them for elephants, but it’s unarguably a FUN place to stop for a couple of nights. We hung out in the pool all day on the first day next to a bandmember from an English band from my teenage years which took me back! The kids fitted in just fine and The Kings Highway restaurant attached has a really slick Wild West vibe, a great menu and a cracking breakfast. We ate here for dinner too and it’s available to visit, even if you aren’t a hotel guest. I can confirm the coffee is also excellent.

The Parker. For our final day we discovered the magical world of The Parker. Will we ever be the same again? Oh Parker, what a place. Continuing with the old school vibe but this time, it’s like you turned up to some zillionaire’s estate who is actually a fully fledged rock star. The star of course is the Parker itself. Everything was beautiful and chic in a 70’s relaxed Cali vibe. The bedroom, the toiletry tray, hello Hermes and Aqua de Parma! The French onion soup delivered by room service came via heaven. Outside, there’s 10 different flavours of lemonade at The Lemonade Stand and a mean frose. (Frozen rose, with Cointreau and strawberrieswas my bang) The hotel has class, beauty, art, style, a warm pool and wonderful happy valet boys in their pink shorts. I’m not going to lie, it’s full on bougie country club and if your kids are nightmares then stay well away. This is civilised chic, but we met loads of new friends at the pool from LA couples who travel here every year for a week long vacation just to drink and have fun, to hip young families with toddlers and even a hen and stag party who were all drinking champagne and beer in the pool and welcoming us to join them. It was an experience to say the least. We ate at Norma’s their outdoor restaurant in the evening which was delicious. a small menu but they catered for the kids on request too. The tiny extortionate smores box may not have been up to Ojai Caravan Outpost standards and the Security were a bit precious on our check out day when we wanted to hang out for lunch in the aftenoon, but if you can cope with that it a freaking dream of a place. Parker - you have my undying love.
.

Where we Stayed

The Ace Hotel - 701 E Palm Canyon Dr, Palm Springs, CA 92264. Cost approx £430 GBP for 2 nights in a family room. (£215 a night) via booking.com

The Parker at Palm Springs - 4200 E. Palm Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, CA 92264 Cost $308 USD for one night in a deluxe double room. Booked direct with the hotel. Note we spoke to them and had to miss out one of the kids on the form so that the computer would say ‘yes’. The classic trick of telling them 3 kids will share one bed saved us an extra $308 . This was a bargain rate as the hotel was having some construction work whilst we were there and some of the areas weren’t available. It didn’t seem to make any difference to us though and for that price we were over the moon!

We also Visited

Palm Springs Aerial Tramway - 1 Tram Way Palm Springs, CA 92262. Phone: (888) 515-8726. This is apparently the world’s largest rotating tram car and takes approximately ten minutes each way. At the top the temperature can drop by 30-40 degrees which wasn’t a problem for us as it took us from ‘so hot it’s hard to breathe’ to ‘rather pleasant’! At other times I’d imagine you’d need to take a jumper! At the top there’s restaurants, observation decks, a natural history museum, documentary theaters, plus a gift shop and hiking trails. It’s not snazzy or modern. More like going back to the 1970’s, but even if you just stop for an ice cream and a drink and enjoy the views its definitely worth a trip. Cost - between $16.95 and $26.95 per person for a both way ride.

Desert Hills Premium Outlet - 48400 Seminole Drive, Cabazon, CA 92230 All the shops you can want or need in a large but walkable designer outlet. It is outside though so remeber the sunscreen for when you aren’t inside! There are several shopping areas like this. Do a simple Ecosia Search for shopping in Palm Springs to find the one that suits what you are looking for.

In and Out Burger - there are a couple on the map surrounding the area. We came for a drive in meal on the way home from the shops. It’s basically an institution in the States. A fast food burger joint with good fast food - if you like that kind of thing. Cheap, easy and convenient and whilst in America you got to try eating American!

LOS ANGELES - A Californian Summer - Part Seven

There’s no other way to describe it. LA is cool. There are whole hashtags used for describing LA in 3 words but one seemed to fit. It’s a diverse, urban, sprawl. It has everything a City could ask for with palm trees and sunshine, beaches and buzz and the only thing causing more drama here than the celebs is the traffic. Let me be perfectly clear. If you come here, you WILL need a car and it’s best to assume any drive will take at least 40 minutes because of the traffic!

I feel like if i came back here every experience of the City would be different. We came not with the tourist stars of Hollywood on our list but with neighbourhoods, cafes, shops and instagram recommendations a plenty. though we did drive down Hollywood Blvd early one evening just for the eyeopening experience of characters roaming around. Personally, I wanted to drive down Mulholland Drive, explore Laural Canyon and architecture like Schindler’s ‘The Lovell Beach House’, hike the mountains, take a swim in the Annenburg Pool House, take a show at The Hollywood Bowl, visit the museums and feel my way around the City. In the end we hardly ticked anything off my list but what we did manage to cram in was equally cool.

The areas of LA are diverse and it’s hard to work out the best area to stay in. Prices are high and walking from one street to the next can feel a little like walking from civilisation to the wrong part of town. We decided the best fit for us was an Air BNB outside of LA above the Topanga mountains not far from Calabassas. If you check out a map of LA you’ll realise choosing a place to stay is hard because it’s just so damn big. We were pretty happy with the house we choose for its homely feel, price and calm away from the action, but if i came again i’d love to try another area to stay like Beverly Hills for a different experience.

Places to go, People to see, shopping to do. (Where we actually visited)

We arrived on Friday afternoon and headed to our accomodation to unpack. I love to build in Air BNB stops on longer trips as it gives us a chance to get basic essentials like washing and drying clothes. Then we headed out for dinner in our new City. Not knowing where to start, we headed to The Grove. An outdoor shopping experience with restaurants and cafes and great parking onsite.

SHOPPING

The Grove - 189 The Grove Drive, Los Angeles, CA 90036 - A great purpose built shopping experience in LA, meaning you can park and walk around without having to drive in between streets. Shops include Charlotte Tilbury, American Girl, Nike Store and other high street quality retailers. We ate at La Piazza which i’d highly recommend. We loved it so much we ate here again when we returned to buy Lola her ‘American Girl’ doll! That store has to be seen to be believed. A multi level store where you can pick a doll like you, take it for high tea, to the hairdressers, get it’s ears pierced and purchase a plethera of accessories. It is magical for little girls but don’t expect a cheap experience!

Rodeo Drive - (You know the famous expensive street Julia Robert’s character gets turned away from in Pretty Woman!) We drove here expecting a nightmare to park but we managed to be surprised with free Valet parking right in the centre at Two Rodeo Drive. This is designer shopping heaven or maybe even just window shopping heaven! But it is also fully surrounded by some beautiful streets like Beverly Drive & Canon Drive with more affordable vibe. You can shop everything from sunglasses to toy shops and spend a whole morning just strolling for sure. James Perse was our favourite shop ‘experience’. This shop is a slice of heaven on Earth. The design is minimalist and beachy with surfboards and an outside beach area complete with sand! The kids mostly hung out playing in the sand and sitting on the chairs I wish I had in my garden.

Melrose Avenue - This is a beautiful avenue which is walkable though long and home to the infamous Paul Smith and its pink instagrammable wall plus stores like Stella McCartney and coffee shops and smaller independents too. Just off of here is Melrose Place - A cute little green shopping area just next to Melrose Avenue, with little boutiques like Isabel Marant and Chloe. We drove this area in the car and jumped out at a few spots for coffee and handmade ice cream from Salt and Straw with its bizarre but good flavours. I’ve earmarked this to return to next time we come, maybe without all 3 kids in tow!

West 3rd Street - not far from The Grove, is another great street where we visited Anine Bing, and the Vanderpump dog shop! We also got delicious Fonuts (baked donuts) and the best coffee I had in LA at Groundwork Coffee. I love a little Bing joy. The store is beautifully designed architecturally and visually. I think I could wear everything in the entire store and that’s rare. They were really welcoming to the kids who were happy to sprall around on the pink velvet sofa and we had almost a private shopping experience. I came away with a few key pieces that are my favourite items from the whole trip.

Abbott Kinney - in Venice If you are searching for street art in Los Angeles, Abbot Kinney and the surrounding streets of Venice is the place to come. Feels like every wall is a work of art, but it’s also home to lots of local designers, French labels like Maje and some independant and vintage boutiques PLUS loads of gorgeous cafes and restaurants. We ate in The Butcher’s Daughter - Our first solely vegetarian restaurant. Not that you’d mind if you were a total carnivore. The food was so good.

Whole Foods - These are the organic supermarkets of dreams. Plastic on veg is a distant memory and everything you ever wished to see in a a beautiful food space is here. If you are staying somehere you can cook, come for the best supermarket experience of your life. And they have pink trollies.

STUFF TO DO!

The Griffiths Observatory - 2800 East Observatory Road, Los Angeles, CA 90027 This was one of our first spots. not only is it architectually stunning, educational and home to the planetarium which I definitely recommend if you can get a ticket, it also holds a great view of the City and the ‘Hollywood Sign’ in the background. Parking can be tricky on the surrounding roads so my advice is to go early to beat the crowds.

The Broad - 221 S. Grand Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012 With parking underneath the building or Valet on the street next door it’s an easy place to visit on a busy city street. I love modern art. It can be moving but also fun, and yeah there’s always something you probably could have knocked up in your back shed in under an hour floating around there somewhere probably worth billions but I just love the experience. When we visited we managed to see #soulofanation art in the age of black power 1963-83’ which was particularly poignant. I learnt so much about The Black Panther and had to explain to the kids that even today some of the issues faced have not moved on that far particularly in America. We also saw two of Yayoi Kusama pieces here which was a total delight after her first mirror and light room captivated us on a visit to Copenhagen last year. If you visit any special exhibitions here reserve your tickets a week or so ahead. They are FREE for the main exhibition spaces and it saves you queuing over 45 minutes to get in.
Its also a great area for architecture hunting. Lots of beautiful concrete and it sits next to the Walt Disney Concert Hall designed by Frank Gehry, which you buy tickets for musical experiences but is worth coming even just to see the building itself.

I made everyone walk downhill from the Broad Museum for 20 minutes to the Little Tokyo district just so we could get charcoal pineapple ice cream. We had fun sharing an electric scooter to explore the area renting out we rented out and then got an Uber back uphill back to the car though! Too many little legs but the ice cream was totally worth it!

Bae’s Little Tokyo - 369 E 2nd St, Los Angeles, CA 90012

Other Areas to explore
Venice - We spent our morning in LA here, mostly in Abbot Kinney i wrote about above. It’s also home to the iconic Venice sign, the beach, the iconic muscle beach and some seriously cool skateboarding. You can also walk or bike the Venice canals. I’d say you need a day here at least to appreciate the area. We parked in Abbott Kinney, shooped and ate then tried to visit the beach area on foot, but got lost walking to find it and ended up in a dodgy part of townso we bailed and went back for the car. The airport was looming so we cut our losses and added it to the list for next time.

Santa Monica - Another area that needed more time than we had. We spent a few hours one evening driving and exploring the Pier for the most beautiful sunset. We had dinner in one of the sportsbars on the pier and watched the cornhole championships. The pier is quite rough and ready at night with some tasty characters, but fun to experience once. It’s a whole area in itself and needs far more time to appreciate everything here.

Where we stayed.

2 bedroom family guesthouse in Tarzana with parking via Air BNB.

Cost £1028 for 4 nights.

Quite frankly there’s so much to do here in LA - you’d never see it all even if you tried. We also spent a day at Universal Studios and Disneyland and a few magical days in Malibu - coming later in the week but first tomorrow - check out our trip to Palm Springs!

Santa Barbara - A Californian Summer - Part Six

From the PCH we took a detour to Ojai and then drove back for a short nights stop in Santa Barbara. First stop en route we decided to visit The Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens which conserves Californian native plants and habitats for the health and well-being of people and the planet, mainly because they had a brilliant childrens playhouse and den trail. It was well worth an hour or two. The kids even managed to do a whole nature photoshoot with their new Maileg mice they bought in Ojai.

We then went straight to our hotel for an afternoon of chilling out. Santa Barbara is a beachside town with rolling hills and bridges and the longest strip of South facing coastline along the West Coast. It’s surrounded by the most striking backdrop of the Santa Ynez mountains. It was decribed to me as a smaller more laidback walking version of Los Angeles with a slower pace. There’s so much to do here i’d love to come back and explore more. Our friends had recommended staying near Montecito as the beach in that area was meant to be a great spot and it’s a slightly more Preppy Californian feel, but I found a beautiful hotel called The Californian that I was desperate to check out. We ended up here downtown in the Centre, just a short walk to the beach and main shopping on State Street. Up to now we’d spent a lot of time on the road so we hit up the pool for the afternoon.

The Californian, is a monochrome majesty split into two parts. We checked into one building with its lavish velvet and tile interior and walked across the road to the building where our room was. The family double had ample room for all 5 of us including a large marble bathroom and a small balcony. They left warm cookies and chocolate milk for the kids and 3 mini robes and slippers which was a first for us this trip. It’s definitely an adult’s luxury hotel but one where kids are welcome too.

The rooftop pool was exactly what we needed. Our first experience of true lounging. It was a small hub of activity, cocktails and people. We chatted with families from around the world including a family from England who recommended the restaurant next door to eat in called Finney’s where we found ourself hanging out later. We hadn’t booked and had to wait at the bar which gave us the impression of a kind of ‘Cheers’ vibe from the 1980’s sitcom. Didn’t take long for some great food - American dining with a bit of a twist. Our new Engligh friends and their kids came in to join us for drinks and then took us to their favourite ice cream shop McConnells which is open late. The queue outside told us we’d come to the right place.

Next morning we took a stroll around checking out the shopping streets, street art in the area and hiring our family car bike from Wheel Fun Rentals to cruise up and down the beachfront as far as the pathway goes. Last stop was lunch at Goat Tree before heading to Hollywood!

Where We Stayed

Hotel Californian - 36 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. The 121 room monochrome dazzler is apparently a hot spot for the Hollywood elite. And us as it seems. We parked a short walk from the hotel in a public carpark for a very reasonable price. Parking is restricted in the Centre and this was 2 minutes away from the hotel lobby.

Cost - £386 via Booking.com for a large family room that sleeps 4 very comfortably, 5 if you like to squeeze like us!

Highlights

The Santa Barbara Botanical Gardens - 1212 Mission Canyon Road, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. Phone: (805) 682-4726   - From here its a great drive into the Centre giving you a really great feel of the outer areas and neighbourhoods.

Finney’s - 35 State Street, Suite A Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Phone: (805) 845-3100 . Family owned and operated American Tavern that serves craft beer on tap and excellent American dining.

McConnells Ice Cream - 728 State Street, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. The queues tell you its good but the ice cream itself shows you why! The finest available, from Central Coast, grass-grazed milk & cream to organic, cage-free eggs. No stabilizers, preservatives or fillers (natural or otherwise).

Goat Tree - State Street (Opposite The hotel Californian). Casual all day dining with a moroccan twist and an excellent all day brunch menu. I recommend the Kale Caesar.

Wheel Fun Rentals - 24 East Mason Street. Offering bike rentals of all types that seat up to 5 people, including electric bikes and tours.

Paseo Nuevo Outdoor Shopping Centre - a boutique experience walking through this shopping hub with restaurants, cafes and shops all surrounded in Spanish influenced architecture.

Funk Zone - an arty district, which spans the area between the ocean and Highway 101 and is adjacent to the Amtrak station, featuring cafes, boutiques, graffiti murals and contemporary art galleries.

Next Stop …LA Baby!