Palm Springs | Desert Modern Oasis

I am completely enamored with Palm Springs, California. This Old Hollywood, Mid-Century Modern, desert oasis awash in palm trees, pools, and fine art galleries, shining with bright aqua blues and vibrant oranges surrounded by majestic mountains gives off the best vacation vibes, ever.

Stay @ The Twist. Please look no further than these sparkling clean, perfectly decorated in Palm Springs modernism Airbnb apartments located in the Uptown Design District of Old Las Palmas - close to downtown yet secluded from the noise.

At The Twist you can count on your desert pool party guests to be a flamingo, a swan and a peacock. Perfect companions! There's a king bed, a full kitchen, a luxurious couch, a patio with a fire pit, and bicycles to enjoy at your leisure.  

Bob got me a fish-eye lens! I was using it for the first time on this trip and having so much fun with it. I feel like the distorted images work well with this colorful vintage vibe?!



We strolled by artist Elena Bulatova's gallery in Laguna Beach and then again in Palm Springs. Those LOLLIPOPS and that Popsicle are everything! All of her art installations were majorly eye-catching. 



The stylish galleries, retro boutiques, and interior design shops along Palm Canyon Drive reign with a cool sophistication - although I admit we mostly window shopped. (Not wanting to miss a moment of that desert sunshine!)

A lot of my love for this city can be attributed to where we stayed and the neighborhood we were immersed in right outside our door. We didn't have much of an agenda when in town besides quality relaxation time at the pool and a bike ride to see the area. As style, design, art, furniture, and décor is such a major part of this cities vibe, it was great to have a home base that embodied the local flare!



I would recommend travelers with a similar mindset pass on the strip of overpriced hotels located south of downtown. The hotel pool party scene is enticing - but rooms are smaller costing almost double the price and the location (when we drove by) didn't seem nearly as picturesque. I was so close to booking The Ace Hotel and The Saguaro on different occasions before I actually read some of the reviews and before I stumbled upon The Twist. 



I love mid-century modern architecture so biking through Old Las Palmas and The Movie Colony really solidified the vibe of Palm Springs as I imagined it and made me really, really happy. 
 

The entrance to Frank Sinatra's house, below!
 

These houses have perfected mid-century modern style in every element; from the cacti, succulent and rock gardens, to the mailboxes and the house numbers. Everything speaks to you as a unique piece of modern art. The QUARTZ rock garden at the radical hose below was so enchanting.

The Coachella Valley is an amazing part of California and I'm so glad we decided to spend some time here. Thanks for being so wonderful, Palm Springs!

Aquinnah | Martha's Vineyard

This might have been my favorite day of summer 2016. Visiting Aquinnah and seeing the Gay Head Cliffs have been on my bucket list forever! Staying in Menemsha presented the perfect opportunity to finally get there. We grabbed the last set of bikes available at our inn and stopped for a lovely breakfast of lox and bagel sandwiches with cafe au lait at Beetlebung Coffee House (24 Basin Road) before catching the bike ferry at the end of North Road. Convenient and scenic, the $5 ferry ride crosses Menemsha Creek in about 3 minutes and drops you at the remote tip of West Basin Road in Aquinnah. 

The bike ride from West Basin is quiet and flat to begin but once you get past the marshlands and Lobsterville Beach, taking a sharp right onto Lighthouse Road it is almost entirely uphill. Reaching our destination we took in the immense beauty of the cliffs and brick lighthouse from afar, explored the tiny village shops, and then walked through the Aquinnah Headlands down to Philbin Beach. The colorful dune-cliffs are so unique and stunning up close. We walked for awhile and settled on a remote spot just before where the beach curved and became entirely rocks. (FYI the farther you venture to the right, the more nude sunbathers begin to appear.) It's a little challenging to take a swim out that way since boulders dot the shoreline and strong waves crash in. 

We had a late lunch at the Aquinnah Shop Restaurant (27 Aquinnah Circle). The clam chowder and the spicy tuna tacos were spot on! Definitely go for a table on the back deck. Salty, sandy and sipping a glass of Sauvignon Blanc perched at a weathered turquoise table overlooking a majestic view of nothing but vibrant greens and blues was a very happy moment indeed. But the best feeling was knowing the 5 miles we had to bike home were all downhill; and we cruised back to the ferry in no time. 

The 9th Ward

Shotgun houses + Shrimp Po Boys. A look at our time in the Lower 9th Ward - the neighborhood most affected by Hurricane Katrina. We biked through here with a Confederacy of Cruisers tour guide and it forever changed me. It was a moving experience and a lesson in recent history combining fun times on bikes with the girls that remained. 

Full New Orleans recap here.