Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/125316
gold striking Southern California's stunning golf courses are bathed in sunlight year-round – and the deals are better than ever by jim sutherland It SOUNDED SO ROMANTIC in "Route 66." "Don't forget Winona. Kingman, Barstow, San Ber-nan-di-no." Well, I can tell you there's not a lot of romance left on the San Bernandino stretch of the highway that inspired the Nat King Cole chart-topper back in the 1940s. The Inland Empire, as the region is known, turns 46 G O I N G P L A C E S p46-53_Cali Golf.indd 46 >> summer 2013 out to be one gigantic bedroom suburb of Los Angeles, and not a booming one at that. Lucky thing we're just passing through on our way to Palm Desert, where the Route 66-era motel my wife and I are staying at has been reborn as Hope Springs Resort, one of a rapidly growing roster of retrofashionable "spa-tels." The resort's lowslung accommodation wings enclose an interior courtyard with three naturally heated pools ranging from pleasantly warm to good-thing-you-topped-up-that-medicalinsurance. Stealing glances at the beautiful people sunning themselves on tastefully minimalist recliners, I can't help but think: Southern California, you've been around for a while but, baby, you've still got it! Oh, it's true that some things aren't quite as golden in the Golden State these days, but that has advantages, too. With Josh mitchell/PhotoLibrary 13-04-12 1:14 PM