AMERICAN OASIS : THE PALM SPRINGS EXPERIENCE

[Music] Hey, come on. Come on. Come on. Move on. >> Oasis. Oasis. To some people, it merely brings to mind the image of a green spot in the desert, a couple of palm trees, a pool of water. But is that all it is really? For a moment, place yourself in the mind of a weary traveler crossing miles and miles of desert wilderness. To you, the oasis is much more than a mere green spot. It is a place of respit, a place of escape. A place of renewal. 100 years ago, John Guthrie Macllum searched the desert of Southern California's Coachella Valley for his personal oasis. He found it and made it his home. Today that oasis is visited by hundreds of thousands of people each year. Here they find their place of renewal, their place of respit, their place of escape from the frenetic pace of modern America. It is truly the great American oasis, a place to experience the magic of desert life. It is Palm Springs, California. [Music] They come by air from New York, Chicago, Washington, Oregon, Vancouver, the South, and yes, even Europe, and Asia. By freeway, they arrive from the cities of California, Texas, and Arizona. [Music] Who are they? These latter-day John Macllums. These seekers of the desert way. [Music] >> I'm an engineer from Cincinnati. Each year, I guess for the past three or four years now, our company has met here. Get to compare notes. Our presentations take three and a half, four hours a day. Seminars, they take up another hour. >> Now, depending what the reverse switch is set up, whether it's a >> new technology, that sort of thing. I end up putting in as much time working at these sessions as I do back home at the office. >> There's a magic to this place. >> When work ends, it ends. There's no 3 hours of work in the briefcase to get to after dinner. It's a good feeling knowing there's there's no compulsion to do anything. >> You know, I get to meet and to really know my partners from around the country as people. And when the company sessions end, >> there's so much to do here. The other day, we saw the last round of the Bob Hope Classic. I got to tell you, it's different in person than on TV. You get so involved. Arie Palmer. I've been watching Arie since I was uh well for a long time. But seeing him in person, what a kid. I don't know how to describe it, but when he came up that 18th fairway, he waved. Anyway, I thought he was waving right at me. [Applause] Plus, we get to play tennis every day. We try that back east. You know the best part? I get to know my family again. It's a working vacation or a vacation from work. I'm not sure which. But it's so different from my everyday life. It's so easy. I go home feeling younger. We come here every year now in July. Sometimes I feel like this is my private course. No long wait like at home. My husband says this is his big battery recharge. Right, Eric? Oh, that may sound corny, but believe me, it works. I'll tell you something if you promise not to tell Harry. I love to shop here. Just love it. Just look at this street, Palm Canyon Drive. Isn't it lovely? Some of it is original Palm Springs and some of it new. And Harry, Harry doesn't have to come along. He'd rather play golf than go shopping anyway. But at home, he does try to come along because he knows I hate to go downtown alone. But here, well, I feel perfectly safe. How about this? Art shows at the fountain, all indoors and aironditioned. They have modern paintings, western scenes, still lives, just about anything you'd want. And the lovely shops in here. Oh, I wish my kitchen looked like that. And my son-in-law, well, I got him the cutest warm-up suit you ever saw from the racket shop. And I'll tell you, the people who work in them are so nice. It's just like being at home with old friends behind the counter. But the shops, well, they're nicer. They just are. Even in the summer, it's an exciting town. We took a bus tour the other day of the stars homes. We saw Liberace, Dean Martin, and Kirk Douglas. And guess what? We've decided to buy a condominium here. I don't know which one yet, but there sure are some beauties, and they're really reasonable. It's the perfect place for a perfect second home. But you know what we love most about Palm Springs? Our marvelous late afternoons. Oh, we just love to get together with all the friends we've made here. Come on, Harry. Let's join them. [Music] The desert is like no place else. It's haunting. We love to come out here and watch the mountain silhouette against the sky. You can almost hear the silence. You know what's just 2 and 1/2 hours from here? LA. No kidding. But it will be 2 and 1/2 days. This place is so different. What about this ride? Huh? Just beautiful. You know the ads are right. This is the ride of your life. And look at this view. Beautiful. >> The best part, we're only 15 minutes from the desert floor in downtown Palm Springs and only 20 minutes from our hotel in that fabulous pool. >> Hey, Heather, look at the snow. I've locked it since you've seen that, huh? [Music] >> This fabulous pool. The thing I like, the whole family can enjoy the desert. There's not too many places like this in the world. We went over to the American Airlines tennis game. Incredible. A fantastic tennis stadium surrounded by fantastic mountains filled with fantastic players. I don't think I'll ever forget that final match. Wow. And those guys run. You're watching the best in the world in one of the most beautiful spots in the world. It's almost too good. Lori, she nearly knocked the wind out of me with her elbow when Kirk Douglas walked in. And then she dragged me down to the boxes for a look. And son of a gun, he turned out to be a really friendly guy. The day we'll never forget. The kids were in seventh heaven, running around, getting autographs. I couldn't stop grinning. Lori. Lori, will you ever forget meeting Kurt? >> You know why I came here? To get my head straight. That's right. You like the way I said that? You'd think they'd understand me. All it means I relax. I take it easy. Think about the world. I don't worry about my business, markups, inventories. Forget it. out here. >> Out here, my horizons expand. I think about the world. I read. The bookstores are terrific. You know, yesterday I picked up a book about the desert. I read history, novels, and I like to walk a lot. Look in the beautiful shop windows. Something else I do every time I'm here, I go to the museum. A fabulous place here. You're asking my favorite, the sculpture garden. Great work. Really great work. What people can do with their hands. Last night, Marjorie and I went to the big show, one of the hotels. Such girls. Wow. Costumes, music. It was terrific. She enjoyed it. And believe me, so did I. Out here, everybody's rich. You don't have to be rich to enjoy it. We've got the sun and the stars come out at night. Look, we're not fancy people and we're not staying in the fanciest place in town. Although this isn't exactly a desert island, our hotel has nice rooms and a beautiful pool. I wake up in the morning and feel like a millionaire. >> There's so much to do. I was surprised. >> We played at a sensational public tennis park. There's no membership or anything like that. You just show up >> and Matthew taught me a little bit about golf. The course is so beautiful and it's open to the public. I don't think I'm ready for the big course, though. But I love that little par three course. [Music] And what biking. We took this great ride together and we really felt like this was our town. You have to see it. Library, parks, flowers. It's like one gigantic garden. And the food is great, >> fattening, >> super, >> caloric, >> folks. >> Reasonable, >> filling, >> exciting. >> These are the people and the kind of experiences you can share. The great American oasis is here in Palm Springs, California, waiting for you. Come discover it. Come fall in love. I did. >> I did. [Music] >> I did. [Music] >> I did. >> We did. Heat. Heat. Heat. Heat. [Music]