Tag Archive | Temecula

BNP Paribas Open

Jan2

Indian Wells, CA

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BNP Paribas Living Wall

I am a huge tennis fan, a Roger Federer groupie to be more exact. One of my all-time favorite vacations has been to Indian Wells, California to watch the BNP Paribas Open each March. I have had the opportunity to attend this professional tennis tournament several times and would go again tomorrow if given the chance!

What makes this tennis tournament so special? How long do you have?

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Roger Federer – greatest of all time

The location is spectacular! Indian Wells is located in Southern California in the gorgeous Coachella Valley. You can fly into Palm Springs or Orange County and easily drive to beautiful Indian Wells. This is the perfect setting for tennis in early spring and includes snowcapped mountains, blue skies, palm trees, citrus trees, colorful bogainvilleas, and dessert breezes.

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on the grounds at the Renaissance

The hotels and resorts located around the Indian Wells Tennis Garden are all top-notch. We have had the opportunity to stay at the Renaissance and the La Quinta resorts and both were enjoyable in their own way. The Renaissance is a favorite of the tennis pros and coaches and you get to “rub elbows” with some of the world’s top players on a daily basis. A beautiful pool, fantastic breakfast buffet, firepits, ping pong tables, and great restaurants make this a great choice. The elegant La Quinta is more spread out and provides you with a private “casita” and beautiful desert-landscaped grounds. Each set of 8 casitas surrounds their own private pool. There are several restaurants, bars, and grills on the property as well as nightly music in the common area. The spa and tennis center are both very upscale and everything here is near perfection.

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fire pit at the Renaissance 

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view from our room at the Renaissance

Transportation to and from the tennis matches is a breeze. This tournament has been going on since 2000 and travel options around the event are well-orchestrated. The local resorts offer bus service every 20-30 minutes. When staying at the Renaissance, we walked right out of the hotel lobby and caught a bus that dropped us at the gate. We purchased a parking pass when staying at the La Quinta and drove our own rental car and parked in VIP parking each day. We pulled into the designated lot and our car was valet parked for us – very nice! We left the grounds one day just to go have lunch in the town of La Quinta and enjoyed the freedom that a car provided us.

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behind our casita at La Quinta 

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La Quinta Tennis Center

 

The Indian Wells Tennis Garden is one of the best on tour. The 29 courts, the 16,000 seat main stadium, the grounds, the shops and restaurants, and the activities make this my “hands-down favorite” tennis venue. Try out tennis racquets, watch some pros warm up on the practice courts, buy some new tennis clothes, get some great vendor “freebies,”  take photos in a special photo booth, register to win prizes, or sip champagne under the palm trees. When you tire from all those activities, pull up a chair and watch matches on the big outdoor screen or grab a bite to eat from one of the various eateries and sit at a picnic table and enjoy people-watching. You may also see James Blake signing autographs, the Bryan brothers on stage with their band, Rod Laver walking around, or Chrissie Evert having a question-and-answer session with the crowd.  The grounds are alive and happening!

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night tennis

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maybe I can hit the ball with this!

 

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practice courts

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Chris Evert

Now for the best part – the tennis! I have had the opportunity to see my favorite players play (and win!) only a short distance from me.  Roger Federer, Rafa Nadal, Novak Djokovich, and Juan Martin Del Potro, etc. all speak about how much they enjoy this tournament every year and it is easy to see why. The stadiums give you the feeling of being “up close and personal” with the top players in the world. After having attended Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, I can honestly say this is by far my favorite tennis venue.

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Roger Federer

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Juan Martin Del Potro

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enjoying a match

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Rafa Nadal

 

There are also many interesting and fun things to see and to do while in the Indian Wells and Palm Springs area, so be certain to add a few days to the beginning or end of your tennis time here. Check out all the little restaurants and shops in Old Town La Quinta. Ride the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway for great views of the Coachella Valley. Explore Joshua Tree National Park for great hiking and rockclimbing opportunities. Drive into downtown Palm Springs for a great meal, a museum visit, and see the Walk of Stars. Drive a few miles to The Cafe at Shields Date Garden for a great meal on the patio, see the “date sex” movie, and have a delicious date shake. Take a day and drive over the mountains to Temecula and enjoy exploring and winetasting at some of the finest Southern California wineries.  Take a guided jeep or ATV tour and visit a desert oasis. Many possibilities await you!

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enjoying chardonnay in Temecula

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bacon-wrapped stuffed dates at Shields Date Garden 

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view of Palm Springs from the San Jacinto Mountains

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cozying up to Sonny Bono in downtown Palm Springs

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the Palm Springs Aerial Tram

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a joshua treet in Joshua Tree National Park

For all of you tennis fans, I hope that you get the opportunity to visit Indian Wells for the BNP Paribas Open at least once. We have had four great experiences and loved each and every visit (we book through Steve Furgal’s Tennis Tours and let them handle the hotels, additional days, and tennis tickets).

If you are interested and or would like more information, I will be glad to give you my two cent’s worth.

Go Roger!!

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sunset at the Indian Wells Tennis Garden

Temecula

Mar23

California

I have heard rumblings regarding Temecula for the past couple of years from friends who have visited the Southern California wine country. My husband and I had a tennis trip planned to Palm Springs and decided to add this excursion and La Jolla to the end of our California vacation. I must say – it was a great decision and we thoroughly enjoyed our day spent in Temecula. I just wish we had planned to stay longer, though it does gives me a reason to return in the future!

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The Temecula Valley Wine Country is located a short distance from Palm Springs (90 minutes), San Diego (90 minutes) and Los Angeles (2 hours). The name is actually a Native American word meaning “the sun that shines through the mist.”  This Mediterranean micro-climate with morning mist, warm midday sun, and cool evening ocean breezes makes this area perfect for growing all varieties of grapes.

For those of you who have visited Napa and Sonoma further north in California, the major difference is the landscape. Temecula has mostly hillside vineyards and more picturesque views with mountain backdrops. The wineries seem more casual, less commercial, less crowded, and are not spaced as far apart. This area reminded me more of Tuscany than the northern California wine country.

Though we did not have the time to experience all that Temecula had to offer, I would still like to share what we learned from friends. The Old Town area has historic 1800s buildings, antique shops and restaurants “fit for foodies.” There are over forty wineries in the area. Some are small & boutique, some are full-service wine and food resorts. There are spas, clothing shops, a casino, gourmet restaurants, golf courses, bike trails, horseback riding and hot air balloon rides. With three million visitors per year, there are a wide variety of places to stay. Choose from brand-name hotels, quaint inns, motels, vacation rentals or Bed & Breakfasts. Several of the wineries we saw also had their own lodging on-site.

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With only one day in Temecula we had to choose just a few wineries to explore. We began at Wilson Creek Winery and enjoyed their beautiful outdoor patio and sampled their high quality sparkling wines. This winery had come highly recommended from friends due to their Almond Sparkling Wine – delicious!  I also give two thumbs up for their Sparkling Sangria,  Sparkling Peach Bellini and Sparkling Rose’. This is one of the larger wineries with gardens, private tours, tasting rooms, and a restaurant.

Sangria and Rose’
Cheers!
Wilson Creek
Wilson Creek Winery

Our next stop was Maurice Car’rie Vineyard (another friend’s suggestion) which was housed in a large Victorian-style farmhouse. We sat at a table on the front lawn overlooking the rolling hills and sampled their Chardonnays (oak and non-oak) and ate lunch. They serve up a huge crusty round of sourdough bread with fresh-baked brie inside. It paired perfectly with their crisp white wine.  This little winery was friendly, relaxed and unpretentious.

Cheers again!
Maurice Car’rie
chardonnays
sourdough with brie

Next on our agenda, and only a couple of minutes away, was Bel Vino Winery. This was a little boutique winery sitting high on a hillside with great views from their back patio. I enjoyed their sense of humor with liitle signs leading up the walkway with sayings such as,”Wine not?” and “Get Merloaded This Way!” It was here that I enjoyed a most delicious port served in an edible chocolate cup. Perfection! This was a a very casual winery with picturesque views.

Bel Vino wine racks
Port in chocolate cup
Tuscan board

Our final stop of the day was chosen strictly because of location and the beautiful scenery surrounding the winery. Callaway Vineyard and Winery sat high on a hill surrounded by twenty acres of vines in the heart of Temecula.  This was a very modern, multi-storied building with lots of glass and clean lines. The outdoor seating areas were gorgeous with spectacular views below. I enjoyed something new here, a white wine called Roussanne. It was cool, dry, and tasted like a full-bodied chardonnay. My husband and I sat outside, drank our wine, snacked on mixed nuts, and hated that we had to leave this beautiful wine country so soon.

Callaway Winery
at Callaway

Though we didn’t have time to visit all the wineries and vineyards that we would have liked to, we enjoyed seeing many on our drive (this area is not too spread out). Architecture ranged from authentic farm settings, to Victorian style, to Spanish influences, to Tuscan inspired buildings.  All were unique and most were inviting. Besides the four wineries I mentioned in this blog that we experienced – other popular wineries in this area include Vindemia Vineyard, Avensole, Carter Estate, Gershon Brothers, Hart Winery, Foot Path, Lumiere, Miramonte, Falkner, and Fazeli Cellars. 

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I hope if you are a lover of travel and wine that this blog inspires you to take a trip to this little hidden gem in Southern California. I would recommend at least a two or three day stay here in Temecula. It is the perfect trip to add on to if you find yourself in the Palm Springs, San Diego, La Jolla, Orange County, or Los Angeles area. You will be glad you did!

Cheers!