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Every Spring, I’m online looking for that JW Marriott Desert Springs Resort deal that’s always offered through TravelZoo. Every Spring, it’s there for me to use for summer!  I immediately buy a few vouchers for my annual Mother-Daughter Desert Getaway.

We’ve been doing our annual trip for more than 5 years.  We hope to do it every year.  Maybe in the future, my daughter can drive the 2 hours to Palm Desert from Los Angeles.  Until then, I am more than happy to do the drive.  It really is an easy drive.

 

 

This year we got upgraded to an awesome view of both the pools and the lake!  I paid for the standard view room.  The standard view room is usually a view of the miniature golf course or the garage with a view of the mountains. This view is always fine with us, but this year, we scored! There was a big golf convention going on and a few other things going on.  Maybe the reason we why we were upgraded?  Thank you, Marriott.  We are so grateful!

 

 

The first thing we do is hit the pool, of course!  There are 3 pools in the main area.  There’s another pool on the other side of the hotel.  It’s considered the quiet pool.  In the main pool, there’s loud music blaring.  Luckily, the music is always good.  We love it!

 

 

So perfect that we had a view of the sign of our favorite Japanese Restaurant, Mikado’s, from our balcony.  It’s always our first night’s dinner spot ..

 

 

Mikado’s is a Teppenyaki styled restaurant, that’s great for families, groups and parties.  However, my daughter, Jazzy and I prefer the small sushi bar, that’s in the front of the restaurant.  It’s a quieter spot of the restaurant.  The sushi and poke is sensational!

 

 

 

My favorite cocktail that I get every year, is called a Watermelon-tini and it was created by one of Mikado’s bartenders.  It’s pretty darn good, especially in the desert heat.  It’s refreshing!

 

 

 

Day 2 and we’re back at the pool…

 

 

 

Because, there are 3 pools, there’s always one that’s less crowded.  We’ll jump around from pool to pool. This trip, there were a lot of guys there, due to the golf convention.  Footballs and stuff were flying around.  We opted for a quieter pool,  We just wanted to chill out.

 

 

After 4 hours of swimming and sunbathing, we head back to the room to cool off from the desert heat.  I sit on our balcony and enjoy the magical view of the resort and the beautiful desert.  The mountains are so breathtaking, too.

 

JW Marriott Desert Spring Resort has the coolest lobby!  There’s a great bar area, that includes a sushi bar and televisions to view sports.  However, my favorite part of the lobby are the gondola  boats that are docked there.

 

 

 

In the evenings, boat rides are offered and you can get dropped off at Mikado’s Restaurant and another one of our other favorite restaurants, Fisherman’s Landing. It’s all free!  Better deal than Uber, don’t you think? Haha!

 

 

The second evening, we always hit Fisherman’s Landing.  They serve all kinds of wonderful seafood.  Jazzy always has a bowl of clams.  I’ll try different things.  This time I had halibut tacos and yummy it was!

 

 

Every night we go for a walk around the resort.  I love the desert heat in the evening.  It’s like no other!

 

 

We always take a selfie somewhere on the grounds on our walks.  Why?  No reason, at all!

 

 

We always come across wildlife on the grounds.  Whether it’s rabbits or swans, they’re always there.  We love the black swans.  We always look for one that Jazzy named “Buddy” when she was little.  All the black ones are known to us as “Buddy” now!

 

 

Beautiful exotic birds can be found in cages, through out the lobby, during the day, too! They are brought in for the evening.  That’s when you should walk outside to see the wildlife on the grounds.

 

 

 

 

 

We leave on the day three and we are always depressed about that.  So, we make sure we take a side trip, on our way home.  We always stop by the Cabazon Outlet stores for some therapy shopping.  Okay, it’s not therapy, it’s just fun! We love to shop for flip-flops!  Cabazon Outlet shops can be found at 48750 Seminole Drive, Cabazon 92230

 

 

After shopping, we love to stop by, yet another seafood place.  It’s a seafood place that not many know about, located in Banning, off of the 10 freeway. Can you tell that we love seafood?

 

 

This little restaurant looks like a fast food restaurant, because there’s a drive-though window.   Makes sense, right?  However, you should go inside and enjoy.  There’s seafood and other good food here.  All very high quality, all considerably cheap.  Beer and wine are also available.  Such an awesome hidden gem.

My dish was grilled, Cajun catfish.  It’s 7.99 as a lunch special.  There are other dishes offered as a lunch special, too.  My lunch was delicious!

Jazzy went for the Ahi Sashimi, which was $12.  Look at how much you get?  In Los Angeles, this plate of Ahi would be more that $20!  Such an awesome deal and so fresh.

I highly recommend stopping in, if you’re passing through the area and need a bite to eat. This restaurant is  called Fisherman’s Market and Grill. The address is 1750 W. Ramsey Street, Banning 92220.

 

 

 

It’s always sad when our trip is over, but, we know we’ll be back every summer for our annual Mother-Daughter Desert Getaway.  We also try to come in the winter with the whole family.  So, we’ll be back soon.

Thank you for letting me  share with you my special trip with my daughter.  Should you decide to do a trip to this resort, I promise, you won’t regret it!  You’ll have wonderful memories, like the many that Jazzy and I have!