This post is long overdue, but I am so excited to share about my roadtrip to Palm Springs this past December with my best friend—and two of our dogs in tow! I’ve written about visiting Palm Springs here and here, and honestly, I don’t think I’ll ever get sick of Palm Springs. This trip was especially sweet because it is part of a tradition my friend Sarah and I have of going on trips together to dream about our goals and renew our friendship. In the past we have gone to Asheville, NC, the Chesapeake Bay, Lake Arrowhead, CA, and now Palm Springs. Culling through photos from the weekend to write this post, I was getting chills remembering what a beautiful, restorative, and life-giving weekend we had. Making it a priority to get away for “bestie weekends” is sometimes hard in the hustle and bustle of life, but so worth it!
Photos in this post are a mix of iPhone photos (taken by me) and DSLR photos (taken by Sarah). Chances are, the really pretty ones are taken by Sarah!
We stayed at the Ace Hotel in Palm Springs, and it was my second time staying here—I love it and would definitely keep going back. Best of all, it’s super dog friendly!
We set out on our trip on a Friday afternoon. The sunset was unreal, which we both took as a good omen for the weekend ahead :)
On the way, as any good California roadtrip starts, we stopped at In-n-Out for dinner.
We got to our room and got settled in for the night! We had booked a room with a patio and outdoor fireplace, which was a huge highlight. We spent the first night chatting and enjoying some rosé! Both our boys (I brought Bean, and Sarah brought her corgi Butters) got cozy for the night.
We are both early risers (something I love having in common with Sarah) so we got a jump on our one full day in Palm Springs and went to Cheeky’s for brunch! I’d been to Cheeky’s before and it’s amazing, but it always has a long line. We got there by 8:30 and there was no line, and we got to sit right outside on the patio with our dogs. Heaven.
Little oranges (I think?) growing on the property at the Ace. So lovely!
The pups situated at Cheeky’s.
My bloody mary served in a glass boot!
My order: the vegetarian tamale plate.
Sarah’s order: french toast.
Plus a flight of bacon!!
After breakfast we headed to the Palm Springs art museum trail to do a quick hike. It’s a gorgeous but STEEP trail (which we didn’t quite realize), and to be honest, it was a little difficult for both of our dogs. So we walked up a little ways and then headed back, and that was fine with us! The views were still amazing even though we didn’t hike the whole thing.
After going back to our room at the Ace, showering, and dropping off the dogs to hang out inside during the warmest part of the day, we set out to the Moorten Botanical Garden. I firmly believe no trip to Palm Springs is complete without a visit here.
It cost $5 to go and it is THE coolest place. It’s a botanical garden, including an awesome, funky greenhouse, filled with the most strange and beautiful plants imaginable.
The colors, shapes, textures, and patterns are amazing. I could truly spend the whole day here.
They also have some baby cacti and other plants that you can pick up to take home! Sarah ended up getting a few things that are now living happily in her apartment.
We went shopping for a bit after Moorten. Downtown Palm Springs is super charming, and we shopped for some Christmas gifts and I also got a Dole whip. Yum!
We’d initially planned to go out to dinner, but once we got back to the Ace after an afternoon of exploring and shopping, we were so content we didn’t want to leave! We canceled our dinner reservations and dined on delicious snacks and cocktails by the pool, followed by a room service dinner.
Sweet Butters.
There’s something so simple yet satisfying about ordering room service in your robe with your best friend :)
The next morning we woke up and knew we needed to check out by 11am, so we took a slow morning staying in the room (after walking the boys), ordering room service breakfast, and dreaming about our 2019 goals.
My order: an everything bagel, two eggs over easy, and soy chorizo!
Sarah’s order: a bagel with lox and pickled red onion.
We also both got coffees and date shakes. Date shakes at the Ace are my FAV!!
And there you have it—a simple, sweet, dog-friendly trip to Palm Springs shared between two best friends. Palm Springs is one of the easiest and most TRULY dog friendly getaways in Southern California, in my experience. I cherished this weekend and can’t wait to plan the next one.
Thanks for reading!