La Quinta Organic Market

La Quinta Old Town on Calle Tampico hosts a small but nice Farmers Market on Sundays from 8:00-noon.
Bring your dog, your kids and friends to enjoy a cup of coffee and listen to the music of the day.  Today there were two musicians one playing Calyspo type music and the was Joe Baldino who plays Latin inspired Jazz.  Organic veggies including all kinds of greens, root vegetables a large selection of mushrooms, tomatoes and berries were beautifully displayed.  Also available were flats of wheat grass, honey, nuts, bakery items, and flowers at $5.00 a bunch.

Celebrity Tours

Celebrity Homes

                                                                   Elvis Honeymoon House
There are always celebrity spottings in the desert, personally I have seen Goldie Hawn, George Lopez, Suzanne Sommers, Jessica Simpson, Lily Tomlin, Jack Jones, also many minor and old time celebs.  As a realtor I go into many homes that have a celebrity past which is always a bit exciting.   I hear the celebrity tour that passes all the homes is alot of fun.  While my mother was out visiting I decided to take her on the Celebrity Tour.  Our guide Anne, who doubled as the bus driver is an 18 year veteran on the job.  Her tour was full of fun facts including geography, history, and climate points.  It was so much more than local celebrity lore, my mother loved it. 
The 2 1/2 hour trip was entertaining and even included a date shake from a crazy little market in north Palm Springs that was nestled amongst the windmills.  According to Anne, each of those windmills cost $4 million dollars each; can that be possible?
It was a very interesting city tour, at $44 per person it was well worth it.

For more information: 760.770.2700        http://www.thecelebritytour.com/

High End Shopping in the Desert

                                                             El Paseo

By far the finest shopping in the desert is in Palm Desert on El Paseo.  Located in Palm Desert at Highway 74 & El Paseo, you will find stores such as Gucci, St. John Knits, Apple, Kate Spade and many more.

The center piece of the area is The Gardens, where you will find Tiffany's, Saks 5th Avenue, Coach, J. Crew, Cole Hahn, Louis Vuitton and many other high end shops.  If you like seafood be sure to stop by Pacifica, I love the Bass in Green Curry.  They also boast of having over 100 brands of vodka to choose from, all costing around $6 for any vodka drink in the bar.  I also like Sammy's they have wonderful salads, you can order half a salad which is for me the perfect size.  For the steak lovers try Sullivan's Steak house, they have a great quality of meat served in a high end steak house atmosphere.  From January to April there are jazz concerts on Saturday night, each week the approximately $10 donation, which includes wine and cheese helps out a different charity.

High Desert Day Trip #2

                                                                Pioneer Town

 A fun afternoon trip is to head up Hwy 62, you will drive through the fabulous Joshua Trees that are so prolific to this area.  Pioneertown is a fun stop, it was originally built as a set for the old westerns, according to the website:"Pioneertown was built in 1946 as a movie set for western movies, including the movies of Gene Autry, The Cisco Kid with Duncan Renaldo, Annie Oakley with Gail Davis, Judge Roy Bean with Edgar Buchanan, Range Rider withJock O. Mahoney, and Buffalo Bill Jr. with Dick Jones.  The movie set was to provide a place for the actors to live, and have their homes used as part of a movie set."  Whenever I have gone it was quiet so we just looked through windows and then headed to Pappy and Harriets.  The gunfight on Saturdays is supposed to be fun.
Saturdays at 2:30 the Pioneertown Posse; a re-enactment troupe performs an old west type show with a shoot out.

                       For more information: http://www.pioneertown.com/f-index.htm

                                                                      Pappy & Harriets

When you are done checking out Pioneertown, head over to Pappy & Harriet's for great mesquite wood barbeque, a fun atmosphere.  There is always some type of music happening at night and the musicians are quite good, the people watching is fabulous and the decor one-of-a-kind.

For more information:  http://www.pappyandharriets.com/

Directions: From Palm Springs Take I-10 west to Route 62 (29 Palms Hwy - Joshua Tree Nat'l Park). Take Route 62 NE about 25 miles into Yucca Valley.At the second stop light (Pioneertown Road), make a left and take Pioneertown Roadabout 4 miles up. Pass the sign Pioneertown 1946" and just ahead on the right, you'll see the neon lights.
Reservations are not required but highly recommended 760 365-5956.

Free Real Estate info with No Obligation

The website http://deserthousesales.listingbook.com/  offers a fun program that allows you to see about 99% of the listing information formally only available to agents.  There is no obligation, and no cost.  You simply input information about your neighborhood or neighborhoods you are interested in and you will begin to recieve daily listing updates in your email box.   Some of my clients have been using it and love the simplicity, I hope you will enjoy it also.