HITTING THE HOT SPOTS

HITTING THE HOT SPOTS
Story and photography
by Eric Anderson

PALM SPRINGS
Palm Springs spreads across California's Coachella Valley -the ultimate mirage in an American desert. It's hard to know what's real and what's not in this odd patch of green that someone other than God created from dust in the middle of Nowhere, U.S.A.

The money 's real enough to smell -- almost. It shouts at you from the boutiques along El Paseo. It purrs past you in $230,000 Rolls-Royce convertibles on Palm Canyon Drive. It waves at you from country clubs whose membership lists read like a "Who's who in the West."

People come here to be seen, and a vacation in one of the nine or so townships that make up Palm Springs offers that opportunity. You can't walk along the boulevards during its mild winters without noticing The Beautiful People.

What is there to do in Palm Springs? You can challenge one of its 100 courses in the golf capital of the world, play tennis on one of 600 courts or swim in one of 30,000 pools.

Then there's shopping. You can spend time trying on clothing owned by the stars, including items from the Ginger Rogers Private Collection, at Celebrity Seconds on N. Palm Canyon Drive, or hunt for fashions and accessories designed by local Palm Springs Desert Resorts artists at Frenchy's on the same street, or negotiate for a vintage Rolls-Royce, Bentley or Jaguar at Exotic Motor Cars on East Ramon Road.

You can even shop for a new face if you're tired of the, er, hand nature dealt you. The Yellow Pages feature more plastic surgeons than pediatricians -- about 30 at last count. But maybe you just want someplace to stay someplace quintessentially Palm Springs. Try the Ingleside Inn, breathe in its great Hollywood past and dine at its restaurant, Mervyn's, all Californian Victorian with chandeliers, lace tablecloths, soft lighting, pink jackets and pink cocktails -- restaurant as theater.