Travel + Leisure
November, 2003
40 Best Destinations in the world to spend the Holidays
Retro Palm Springs
Excerpt by H. Scott Jolley
Do the time warp in a desert oasis where the 1950’s never went out of style. For warm days and way cool nights, there’s no place like California’s Mid-Century Modern capital in winter. Where to Stay: Pieces by Eames, Paulin, Rison and other mod masters fill the sleek rooms at the Orbit In’s Hideaway. Whip up a drink from your own wet bar (stocked with vintage melmac dishware), and stroll out to the pool for unbeatable views of the San Jacinto Mountains. Smart Food: The menu at the stylish Johannes tmpts with oxotic offerings such as meatballs in a daffr-lime sauce and chilled apple-and-pear soup infused with curry. But it’s Austrian chef/owner Johannes Bacher’s signature Wiener schnitzel that has scores of hungry diners waiting in the street for an open table. That’s Entertainment: Old showgirls never die, they just kick up their heels in Palm Springs. At the Fabulous Palm Springs Follies, an extravagant musical revue now in its 13th year, no performer is youger than 56 (a handful of men are in their seventies and eighties). Don’t let their ages fool you, though: these leggy lovelies are as limber and energetic as any Rockette, and their lavish costumes would make Liberace green with envy. Object Lessons: If you don’t know your Breuer from your Bertoia, consult the extensive collection of interior and architecture books at Sublime, a quirky shop that also sells funky handmake martini glasses and CD’s from Shirley Bassey and Sinatra. Once you’ve done your homework, pick up Knoll sofas and Barcelona chairs at Modern Way, where owner Courtney Newman carefully selects furniture designs form the 1940s through the 1970s.