Stroll Sunnylands (Before It Gets Sunnier Out)

The garden-glorious Palm Springs destination will close for the season in early June.

WHILE MODERN LIFE... has gifted we modern-life havers with all sorts of advances and perks and surprises, one thing remains clear, at least where seasonal getaways, weather, and higher/lower elevations are concerned: We can't have it all, all the time. And that's a good thing, certainly, in a world that tries to tell us differently, so very often. For some hotels and attractions in warmer climes do still take the summer off, while those that exist around very snowy peaks tell their guests to call again in springtime. Such is the case with some properties found in California's arid climes, and while it should be said the desert resorts have burgeoned into a year-round playground, bustling busily through both "J" months, as well as the "A" and "S" months, too, there are still a handful of spots that charmingly take time off while the mercury inches up, up, up. Especially, it seems, if those spots are built, at least partially, on outdoor enjoyment. One such place has something weather-related woven into its beautiful name — Sunnylands — but Sunnylands does not observe open hours on what just might be called the sunniest, or at least the longest, day of the year: the summer solstice. In fact, it will close about three weeks prior to that day, for the season.

THE HISTORIC PALM SPRINGS PROPERTY, the former estate of Walter and Leonore Annenberg, is a wintertime-into-springtime wonderland of shrubs, flowering trees, and outdoor sculptures, and, yes, it is even a late-summer-into-fall favorite, too. But for three months, from early June to early September, it is closed to the public, which is to say this: Visit now, or before Sunday, June 3, to experience a Palm Springs treasure, and all of its superb art, too. "Carved Narrative: Los Hermanos Chávez Morado" remains on view through June 3, and there are a few historic house tours over that final weekend (tickets are available on May 15). There are more events, too, before the house and gardens bid fans adieu for the toasty summer. Planning a P.S. sojourn before June 3? Stop in for a free visit, Thursday through Sunday. Planning a P.S. sojourn after June 3? Be gladdened: Plenty is happening, including the area's ever-growing Restaurant Week. If you time your desert sojourn to the first weekend of June 2018, you can do both.

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