Palm Springs

Memorial Weekend was approaching rather quickly and my hubby and I still didn’t have travel plans.  Rule of thumb in our household, if you’re off from work this equals vacation time 🙂  I believe that Tuesday or Wednesday before the holiday weekend I found a deal you couldn’t pass up on Hotels.com better known as Old Faithful.  I am the BEST person to find a good deal on hotels if I do say so myself.  Saturday we hit the road a little after 8am and headed for our first adventure in Palm Springs.

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During our stay, we stayed at Musicland Hotel.  It was absolutely perfect.  We had a nicely renovated room which reminded me of a nice studio apartment in NYC for some reason.  Possibly the layout instantly put me back into NYC circa 2014. The feature that got me the most was the cute swimming pool.  This is what sold me in the first place.  Needless to say, upon arrival we changed into swim gear and had a real pool day.  I think I stayed on the watermelon float for at least 2 hours.  The weather was perfect.  We even had chilled wine poolside which was also an instant hit with the other guests staying at the hotel.  During the day, my mother-in-law mentioned a site by Food Network (my fav) that lists places Guy Fieri suggests trying.  You just type the location where you are and his food recommendations appear.  How genius!  One of the recommendations included Frankinbuns which was perfect for a midday snack.  I went with the Chicago-style hot dog and it did not disappoint.  For future reference, I will be using this website all the time because sometimes it does become difficult to make a solid restaurant choice.  Thank you mom and Guy Fieri!

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For the nightcap, we found a burger spot called Johnny’s located downtown.  This was a cute place which was reminiscent of like Johnny Rocket’s.  We decided to stop by Ace Hotel before heading in; this was a great decision by the way.  They have a quaint bar called Amigo Bar with about 3 booth seating areas and standing room only for everyone else.   I did not catch the DJ’s name but he definitely was in tune with music and the flow of the crowd.  What a perfect nightcap.

For this particular trip, we did not plan one single thing which worked in our favor.  Just a “go with the flow” vibe this time around.  For brunch on Sunday, I yelped a few places and decided to try Broken Egg Café.  I’ve gotten kind of hooked on bloody Mary’s as of lately so I started with that and ordered the country chicken steak for my meal. Neither one let me down.  Did I also mention they had $6 mimosa flights and there were like 20 flavors to choose from?  We also tried this and I think the strawberry flavor was my favorite.

Since LA weather has been sort of weird and rather cool temperature wise, we hung out by the pool again for a bit.  This time just to enjoy the sun rays and the book I brought along on the trip.  Nothing like being poolside with a good read.  I found a couple of rooftops that looked very promising and decided to check out High Bar at the Rimowa Hotel.  The ambiance here was unmatched.  They had mini booths, dozens of pool chairs and private cabanas for you to sit back and enjoy cocktails and small bites.  There was also a pool on the roof so if you wanted to take a swim or just be cute and put your fee in like me, that was perfectly alright too J I watched the sunset and became mesmerized by the shades of pink and blue that lined the skies as the sun went down.  I would highly recommend visiting this bar if you take a trip to Palm Springs.  You have to experience this for yourself.  The restaurant 4 Saints is also located in this hotel.  I did not din here this trip but definitely will on the next.  For Sunday’s nightcap, we decided on a good pizza from none other than Pizza Hut.  We enjoyed this right in the comfort of our hotel room and watched TV until we passed out.  I’m leaning everything does not always have to be planned or require an itinerary.  Sometimes it’s just best to go with the flow.  Palm Springs provided just what we needed.  Pure relaxation and chill vibes.  Until next time….

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My first winery visit

 

imageGeorgia is the home to some of the most beautiful cultural attractions, best restaurants and perfect go to spots for pretty much any occasion.  One place that I had never been to was the winery and resort, Chateau Elan.  I heard such great things before and even thought about having my wedding here.  Luckily, my mother-in-law booked a wine tasting and dinner reservation as a surprise gift after our wedding.  How sweet is she?

Chateau Elan is a little over an hour outside of Atlanta, specifically located in Braselton, Georgia.  Driving into the resort was an experience itself.  It looked a like a mini castle from afar in la la land like in the movies.  My hubby and I drove mesmerized all the way to the front of the ‘castle’ and just stared in awe.  We started with a nice tour of the winery.  Great way to learn more about wine and its origin.  After the tour, we participated in the wine tasting which included a sample of 8 wines.  Of course to go with the ambiance, I added a nice cheese plate.  It was nice to enjoy the scenery and walk the trails of the vineyard.  This was our first time at an actual vineyard so we were sure to enjoy every minute of it.

The day at the resort was topped off with dinner at one of the fine dining restaurants, the Versailles.  I was highly impressed with the decor, attentiveness of the staff and food presentation.  We started the meal with the pickled Georgia shrimp which looked like their take on a classic shrimp cocktail.  The shrimp laid on top of a homemade spicy tomato sauce with lemon and basil.  The flavor of that sauce added such a great taste.  For the entree, I decided to have the filet and truffled whipped potatoes.  My hubby got a little fancy and went with the pan roasted snapper topped with a lump crab salad.  I normally pick the better dish but I think he may of beat me this time.  Both were pretty amazing!  To top it off, we shared the lemon cake with a light butter cream and blueberry compote garnished with a piece of candied ginger.  The overall experience at Chateau Elan was nothing shy of amazing and most of all, memorable.  Checkout more pictures in the gallery of our day spent at our first winery visit.

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