First trip to Palm Springs in October
 

I'm excited to have an opportunity to stay for a week in a mid-century modern home in the Racquet Club area of Palm Springs this October. I have already started my research and planning. From my reading here and elsewhere I have on my list the aerial tram, the Living Desert, a Hummer tour, an Eichler tour (waiting to hear back on this), the art museum, the Mooten botanical gardens, the Indian Canyons and the Village Fest. Have I missed anything important? We will be cooking in often, so I'm interested in good places to shop for food and farmer's markets for local food. Also, I'd like to visit as many restaurants as possible for Happy Hour apps. I know this is a lot, but any advice would be appreciated.

Might want to add Joshua Tree National Park.

Shame on the Moon in Rancho Mirage is very good.
http://www.shameonthemoon.com/

Seems like you have a lot planned for a week.
Take some time to ride a bike and take in the mountain views.

Shields is nice for a date shake and a movie on the sexy life of the date. (I think they still show the short movie)

http://www.shieldsdates.com/

The "swapmeet" market in Palm Desert at College of the Desert includes a farmers market section. There are a number of topend supermarkets, Jensen's, Bristol Farms, the Vons in Rancho Mirage, the Albertsons in Palm Desert are especially nice for produce. There is also a Costco in Palm Desert near the freeway, and Trader Joe's in a number of locations.

Your activity list looks good. Thursday is a good night to do the PS Art Museum since it's open til 8pm.

The men usually like the Palm Springs Air Museum. If you like art you can go browsing the galleries in Palm Desert. (There is a first Thursday Art Walk but you can go whenever they are open also).

Pick up a copy of the Desert Weekly for info on entertainment and happy hours, for HH I'd try the Falls. Also recommend a meal at Spencer's Restaurant on the patio.

Thanks for the tips so far. We will add Joshua Tree to our list. I will definitely try to rent a bike. I'd love to rent one for the week, but it might be too pricey.

We like to do happy hour because it gives us the chance to sample a lot of different restaurants and we usually only order apps anyway because they are smaller and we can try a lot of different foods that way. We like light, fresh innovative California cuisine. Quality over quantity.

We always try to hit Costco when renting a house. I'll look for Desert Weekly, thanks!

We did a trip to PS last November. Our first time and enjoyed it very much. Stayed at the Palm Springs Rendezvous. Nice decor, but a little out of the way. You will be staying close to the thick of things.

The things we did:

Aerial Tram - great views and hiking

Short hike in Murray Canyon - also great and interesting hike in Native California Palm grove.

DH golfed. I had a tour of the historical O'Donnell House. This was not cheap, but I love historical/archectectural tours. A 1920's era home built by one of the original developers of PS. Get more info from the Willows Palm Springs Inn.

We also did a little tour of our own of the historical motels near the downtown. We had a guide book called the "Historic Inns of Palm Springs", so just did our own thing.

We also headed east past Indio to the Oasis Date Garden for date shakes and date cake.

I can't remember any particularly great meal, but there are plenty of places to try out.

Good luck.

Michelle, I just added the Date Garden to my list of possibilities. Thanks for the heads up!

And Joshua Tree National Park, thanks dbdurand.

We are going in Oct. as well, one of the best months to visit. A great place for cocktails is Piero Acqua Pazza at The River in Rancho Mirage. Fun outdoor patio along the lazy river.

http://www.acquapazzabistro.com/

Lots of other restaurants along the river, PF Changs, Cheesecake Factory, Flemmings and the Crazy Water Lounge.

At the Las Palmas Resort is BluEmber

http://www.dinebluember.com/

JW Marriott in Palm Desert has a great lobby, with boats that take you to the restaurants.

http://www.marriott.com/hotels/trave...esort-and-spa/

Piero Acqua Pazza looks nice. Living in snowy Michigan we do al fresco dining every chance we get. I'll check out that area, thanks!