Complaining about the winter weather in San Diego is like complaining about driving a Lexus while the Ferrari is in the shop; it shows a pattern of spoiled behavior and may cause your Hyundai-driving friends to give you the cold shoulder. So I’ll just say just say that it has been unusually cold in San Diego lately.

Fortunately, the weather report had some encouraging news a couple weeks ago; a warm weekend was on the way. Being the sun-loving people we are, we decided to maximize our exposure to those life-giving rays and head out to the desert resort community of Palm Springs.

Never having been to Palm Springs, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. Elvis used to hang out there, so did Howard Hughes. Heck, Sonny Bono used to be the mayor. What kind of place was this? Turns out that it used to be the “playground of the stars”, and although this title has worn away over the years, one can still see the attraction. The city is not quite as glitzy as its former nickname may sound, but compared to many desert communities it is very pleasant and clean. Imagine a retirement community smattered with resorts, then add a gooey cultural center.

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