Tag Archives: palms

SPRING BREAK IN PALM SPRINGS — PART I

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Last year we had a spring break trip planned to Palm Springs, which didn’t happen due to Covid-19.  We were fortunately able to rebook the rental house for this spring break, and looked forward to this first travel adventure in more than a year.

We rented Sun Haven Escape through Acme House Company, an immaculate, cheery, comfortable, midcentury-style home that sleeps 8 and was perfect for our gang:

The Palm Springs Mod Squad driving tour — a 90-minute midcentury architecture tour led by the entertaining and extremely knowledgeable Kurt Cyr — should be required on the first day of any vacation in Palm Springs.  After all, Palm Springs is “a modernism mecca for mid-century architecture and design.”

Pre-Covid, Kurt would drive you around the city in his van.  In the Covid era, however,  you follow behind the van in the safety of your own car, connected by cell phones.  It worked surprisingly well.  And off we go!

Here are a few examples of brise soleil we learned about:

And desert stonework:

And wonderful midcentury homes:

The tour began and ended at the eye-popping Saguaro Hotel:

Another activity our family really enjoyed was the San Andreas Fault Bones of the Earth tour with Red Jeep Tours, with our awesome tour guide Greg:

The approximately 4-hour tour takes place on the private Metate Ranch.  The first stop was a palm oasis:

We learned a lot about palms that afternoon.  Did you know that palms are not trees, but are actually a type of grass?  Did you know that there are more than 2500 different types of palms?  (Actually, I knew this.)  We now know that palm trunks are composed of something akin to thousands of straws, and do not have rings by which you can count growth:

We also learned that the very resourceful Cahuilla Indians used the fibers from the palm fronds as thread:

So much palm knowledge. But wait — there’s more!  We had so much fun bouncing around the desert in the jeep, learning about tectonic plates, the San Andreas fault, and all sorts of geological facts (so many steps closer to being Cliff Clavin):

Everyone got a little creeped out seeing the home of rock-boring bees:

Climbing through a slit canyon was a highlight of the desert tour:

Next up was the fabulous gardens at Sunnylands and a tour of the historic Annenberg estate.

We all enjoyed the 45-minute golf cart tour around the beautiful estate, led by our delightful guide Dan:

No historic estate would be complete without a totem pole

After the tour we strolled around the spectacular gardens filled with cacti and succulents, admission to which is free:

 

Bonus points for all the hummingbirds flitting about the gardens:

Sunnylands is definitely worth a visit — go in the morning, when the sun is not so strong and you can get great photos.

We wrapped up our trip with a day at Joshua Tree National Park.

The park’s landscape, with its Joshua Trees and huge rocks, is surreal, vaguely prehistoric feeling.

The trail to Barker Dam (which unfortunately was dry due to drought conditions) is easy (trust me) and interesting, with lots of great photo opportunities.  In fact, the whole park is pretty much one giant photo opportunity.

Along the trail to Barker Dam

Cap rock

Skull rock

Sweeping views of the Coachella Valley and Salton Sea

The Cholla Cactus Garden was fascinating: 

 

The kids spotted an Influencer in the Wild among the cholla cacti, which was entertaining to say the least, and begged the question “Is she wearing underwear?” (It had been a long day):

After a year of Covid-19 restrictions, it was great to travel (although I declare airport security a superspreader event), and this was thankfully a trip that everyone enjoyed and won’t soon forget.  Check back for Part II, which will feature some of the restaurants we enjoyed in Palm Springs (this is a food blog, after all).

HOLIDAY TRIAL IN CORPUS CHRISTI

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Last week I traveled to Corpus Christi–the Sparkling City by the Sea located on the South Texas Gulf Coast–to assist with a jury trial. Unlike some of the small Texas towns I’ve been to for trial, Corpus Christi is the big city, with a population of approximately 325,000, making it the 8th most populous city in Texas. In fact, the Port of Corpus Christi is the third largest port in the United States.

The Nueces County Courthouse, where our trial was being held, is a moderne style courthouse, built in 1977.

 

The city has a historic courthouse, built in 1914, which sadly has been abandoned since 1977. The six-story building’s facade is gray brick, with white terra cotta trim, a red tile roof, and Ionic columns. Whether the once-majestic building will be redeveloped, rehabilitated, or torn down is the subject of debate, and a recent plan to convert it to a 4-star hotel fell through.

Image: Google Maps

Corpus Christi means body of Christ in Latin, and it seemed a fitting place to have a trial during the Christmas holiday season. Each afternoon, as I entered the courthouse, I was greeted by local school children rocking Christmas carols:

The Omni Hotel, where I spent the night, was cheerfully decorated for the holidays. Just look at Rudy at the front desk, who can hardly contain his holiday cheer amidst all the sparkly shrubbery:

Rudy granted my Christmas wish for a room with a view:

That ship in the distance is the USS Lexington, now an aircraft carrier museum:

My room was comfortable, but more importantly, it was all mine:

Although I couldn’t help but think how much Jasper and Maisy would have enjoyed the extra bed:

The trial concerned trees that our client had removed from an easement, to the landowner’s dismay. Many of the trees were palms. (Did you know there are around 2600 different species of palms? Learn something new every day!) The landowner brought some palm fronds for the judge and the jury to see:

My partner (as in law partner, not life partner) couldn’t resist doing a little dance with one while the jury was out:

The courtroom’s ceiling reminded me of an alien space ship hovering overhead, like something out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind:

Trial had been going on for 2-1/2 days by the time I was summoned. I got to watch the last witness’s testimony, and then we had a short conference with the judge before recessing for the day. We headed to the Republic of Texas Bar and Grill on the 20th floor of the hotel for dinner before retiring to our rooms to prepare for the final day of trial.

Most of the group had steak, but I opted for Shrimp Republic — jumbo shrimp in a white wine scampi sauce — which was very good:

Honorable mention goes to the epic hash browns my partner (law partner, not life partner) ordered:

The restaurant had a spectacular view of the water, and we enjoyed watching night fall over the water:

Even better was the full moon over the water:

Back in my room, I settled in to draft VERY IMPORTANT DOCUMENTS and earn my keep. I was up until 1:30 a.m. drafting them, and then, of course, I was too wired to fall asleep. Flipping through the channels on the TV, I landed on “My 600-Pound Life,” and eventually fell asleep from sheer exhaustion coupled with depression brought on by the show.

The next morning my boss and partner (yeah, yeah) were up and at it at the crack of dawn. I was not. I joined them in time for the 10:00 a.m. jury charge conference, at which I had a rare speaking role. Our opposing counsel was starting to get on my nerves with her insignificant changes to the charge that I had been tasked with drafting. I didn’t have access to wifi, which I needed to circulate the charge to everyone, but my boss helped out by telling me to “get in his hot spot.” We had a break for lunch, and then the jury returned to the courtroom, the judge read the charge to them, and they retired to the jury room to make their findings.

The jury didn’t take long to reach a verdict. They awarded the landowner more than our client would have preferred, but a whole lot less than the landowner asked for, so who won? You tell me.

As the jury was leaving, a few of them stopped to talk to my boss, who continued to argue his theory of damages to them. I could almost hear the theme song from Frozen, “Let It Go,” softly playing overhead. Gotta admire his passion!

We didn’t waste any time loading up the car and heading back to Houston. Kinda fun running into Santa buying jerky when we stopped for gas. 🙂

With the trial behind us, we are all looking forward to the holidays. Wishing you a Merry Christmas!