Palm Springs: My Kind of Place

Palm Springs Trip in a Nutshell

A couple weeks ago I was lucky enough to be able to tag along on my sister's work trip to Palm Springs and I have officially fallen in love. What a fun place! It's hot and sunny and full of good food, patios and fabulously gay men. Think Vegas with a more relaxed vibe and less puking. 

The event we attended was the Palm Springs 75th Anniversary party which was a big shindig to celebrate the history of the city through the decades. My job for the weekend - besides working on my tan - was to shoot a few pics for my sister's client, one of the event sponsors.

{Sidebar: As an wanna-be photog, I was shocked at how hard it was to shoot in a real-world scenario where there are a million people in the way and constantly changing lighting. To date, my experience has been mainly limited to inanimate objects and small backyard BBQs. My respect and amazement for actual professional photographers has increased immensely. Bravo!}

When you go, make sure to grab a meal or a drink at Lulu California Bistro, a vibrant, airy restaurant right on the main drag in downtown.

Once you get past the feeling of being in a time warp back to a 1987 Miami (white leather high-backed booths!), you begin to appreciate the details of the place that make it memorable. Service was perfect - not rude, not overly nice, just cool - menu was varied and interesting, yet familiar (very "California Cuisine"), and their pre-meal bread was to die for, not to mention it came with olive oil and vinegar instead of butter which, in my opinion, is the correct way of doing it.

Our Picks:

Tower of Avocado & Ahi Tuna Tartar

Maui Onion, Gorgonzola and Pear White Pizza

The most impressive thing about the place - besides the decor - is their bar menu. Everything under the sun including a couple gluten-free beers which I thought was pretty cool. Come early because the patio fills up quickly, however the bar feeds right into it and they even manage to make the very back tables feel like you're damn near outside.

I can't wait to go back!In fact, I've been thinking about doing a series of travel posts focused on fun places to go for a quick weekend getaway. Once I get back to Palm Springs it will be featured. As always, stay tuned!

Have you ever been to Palm Springs and if so do you have any recommendations??