Sa-wah-roh

Have you ever gotten back from vacation, and feel like you need a vacation to unwind from your other vacation?  Maybe I am the only crazy person who feels that way, but sometimes after doing a busy vaca, the hubs and I feel like we just need to get away from it all and quiet our minds.  You know, decompress a little.  Vacate from vacating.  And there is one place that always gives us that feeling, Palm Springs.

I don’t know what it is about Palm Springs, but somehow we always feel transported much further than 2 hours away; maybe it’s the desert oasis, maybe it’s the stuck in time mod-architecture, or maybe it’s the fruity drinks.  But whatever it is, we were craving it when we got back from Yellowstone.  And when Palm Springs calls your name, you always say yes.

We’ve been to Palm Springs enough times now that we have a pretty good routine:  leave San Diego early, avoid traffic, stop and take pictures as we enter town, and then stop for some coffee.

Typically post coffee, we head straight to our hotel to start our pool time, but we actually changed up our routine this time.  (Shocker, right?)  Iced coffees in hand, we headed to a place that has long been on my list of things to do in Palm Springs, the Moorten Botanical Garden and Cactarium.

And you know what?  It turned out to be adorable!  Besides all of the cacti that we expected, we became completely enthralled with the large desert tortoises eating their lettuce breakfast.  (They were so cute!)  I guess that I kind of have a thing for animals right now.  First the buffalo, now the tortoise.

By the time we finished at the garden, the hubs and I had both worked up quite a hunger, but luckily we were just mere minutes from our brunch stop, Elmers.

This was our first time at Elmer’s, so we did what any first time diner would do – we ordered way too much food.

Eggs benedict, a Dutch Baby pancake, a shorty stack of buttermilk pancakes, and we even snuck in a little fresh fruit.

And I’m sure you’re wondering how we made out?  Well, everything was “slamming” as my husband says.  But beyond the food being delish, we had some of the best and most attentive service we have had anywhere in years.

Completely stuffed, we rolled ourselves out and headed to most likely our final stop for the day, our hotel.  Another first for us on this trip, the Saguaro has long tempted us with its colorful decor and promise of margaritas and Mexican food.

But make sure you say it right….Sa-wah-roh.  (Honestly, I am still trying to get it right.  I drop the ‘g,’ right?)

Correct pronunciation or not, we checked in early, and they thankfully were super accommodating and had our room ready for us.  We parked, unpacked the car, and both oohed and aahed as we entered our room.  First we were loving the air conditioning.  Second, all of the colors.  And to have a moment of honesty, my husband’s favorite color is fire-cone orange, so he couldn’t have been more delighted with the bathroom decor.

After getting settled in, we had just one thing we wanted to do for the rest of the day, lounge by the pool.  We headed down, grabbed some chairs with misters over them, ordered a couple of fruity frozen drinks, and lounged.

We lounged on our chairs, we lounged in the pool, we lounged by the bocce courts, we lounged at the bar, we lounged under the misters.  We do what Palm Springs is all about – lounging and doing nothing.

The end.  That was the end of our quick getaway.  Just kidding!  If you know us, then you know that eventually we got hungry enough to stop lounging and start thinking about food.

But before we officially made it to the dinner hour, I somehow convinced my husband to go for a bike ride with me (in 100° heat).  I tried to work the angle of: “the breeze will keep you cool.”

Well, there pretty much was no breeze.  What’s the opposite of a breeze?  Oh yeah, heat.  Well, even though it was crazy hot, we were excited that the Saguaro has complimentary beach cruisers for you to take out.  And if I can’t convince my husband to go out because of a “breeze”, something free will always close the deal.

We biked around Palm Springs, stopped to take a few (sweaty) photos, and enjoyed the amazing homes that make this cute little town so special.

Post bike ride, it was without a doubt dinner o’clock.  Since we had such a tough day, you know, eating and lounging, we decided to just wander ourselves over to one of the hotel’s restaurants, El Jefe.  And although it wasn’t Taco Tuesday, it was Taco Sunday for us!

We started out with some killer fried zucchini flowers and a round of drinks (the margaritas are so good here), and then decided to get right down to business, street corn and tacos.  We tried one of each taco that were on offer, and they were all so good.  Seriously.  We each had some favorites picked out, but then immediately changed our minds to other favorites…resulting in the realization that we loved them all.  (And, might I add, I was completely surprised and blown away by the cactus taco!)

After dinner, we were beat.  The combination of a long day in the sun and full tummies had us craving an early sleep.  But we couldn’t have asked for a better day.  It was everything we were looking for – relaxing with coffee, relaxing at the pool, and relaxing at dinner.  If you’re looking for us tomorrow, you’ll know where to find us…relaxing at the Su-wah-roh.

the view from our balcony