C & R Thanksgiving 2003
We flew into John Wayne Airport and our economy car at Budget was upgraded at no extra charge to a new Mustang convertible which was OK with us. The traffic out to Riverside from Orange County 3:00 PM to 9:00 PM is bumper to bumper and averages about 3 miles per hour. Flying into Palm Springs would be more convenient, although usually more expensive.
We arrived at Terra Cotta at about 8:00 PM. Tom met us at the door and checked us in. It was probably about 50 degrees, and Tom was wearing a t-shirt and nothing else. That was a different reception from any other hotel we have been to before, but R did not register any surprise. We saw one couple in the hot tub on the way to our room, but otherwise it was very quiet. We got in the room and packed up the clothes we were wearing which we would not need for several days.
This was Thanksgiving week and it was cold in the morning. I went to the Lobby to bring my beautiful bride breakfast in bed. It was about 48 degrees but all the rooms are close and I would rather be naked than warm, so I just walked quickly. The breakfast of fruit and pastries was good and R thoroughly enjoyed having breakfast in bed. If she wanted anything else, it was just a quick 20 second walk to the well heated lobby. Most of the other couples wore bathrobes against the cold. When things warmed up, everyone was out and about in all their naked splendor.
At about 9:30 AM, the sun starts entering the courtyard and people appear out of their rooms to claim their lounge chair poolside with a towel. So I did the same and like most of the couples, kept the same place every day for the week. We are in our 40s and there were 4 other couples about our age. There were about 4 couples in their 50s and about 4 couples in their 60s. The pool is beautiful day or night and the water is always clean and at a perfect temperature.
The day is all about lounging around the pool all day and reading or sleeping. Any talking was in hushed tones and it is clearly for relaxing nude, not partying nude. When we ventured to talk to anyone, we found them friendly and I felt that more conversation would have happened if someone had taken the first step earlier. It is not always easy to figure out who is waiting for someone to talk to them, and who is wanting to be left alone. We did not encounter any rude people at all. The routine was pretty much the same every day...breakfast, towels on lounge chairs, read, snooze, turn over, relax, swim, dry off, check your watch, read, turn over, snooze, hot tub, pool float, snooze, enjoy the hours naked in the sun surrounded by other naked couples who are doing exactly the same thing.
About 11:00 Candy comes around for lunch orders. You can pick from a variety of places and they all deliver. Ours were excellent. You could go in, shower, put on clothes, drive your car to the same place and sit down and order and come back 2 hours later, just like you do at home. But we were not at home and it was heavenly to be stretched out in the sun with the sun warming your entire body and have lunch set down next to your chair. It was effortless and sensuous and almost decadent at the same time. You didn't have to think about it or fumble for your wallet or figure out 15% of the total or worry about traffic or a parking place or waste time putting clothes on.
The sun goes behind the (very close) mountain range at about 4:00 during the winter and when the sun goes the heat goes also. During the day the air temperature got up to 75, although in the sun it felt warmer. When the sun left, the temperature dropped quickly and if you wanted to stay outside in the nude, you would turn on the heaters outside the rooms which are facing down on the chairs just outside the doors. We had never seen anything like this before and we enjoyed it, although it would have been more comfortable if the air was warm.
At 4:30, Tom came around dressed in a bow tie and offers fresh strawberries. At this time orderves were put out in the lobby and they were always good. Most couples go inside after sampling the orderves and we used this time to walk the sidewalk that goes around the courtyard. It is quite short, so we had to go around about 50 times to feel like we got exercise, but it was more fun to walk around naked than to put on clothes and walk around the neighborhood.
Mary Clare made up a Thanksgiving dinner that was possibly the best we have ever had. We set up tables and chairs under the heaters in case it was cold. The sun kept us all warm. Most eat in the nude, although a few women put on a pareo. Conversation around the tables was lively and there was more food than we could eat. It was a big meal and the result of a lot of work. A wide variety of desserts were available and we were all stuffed. The chef made her appearance and everyone expressed their appreciation for the meal. We packed up the tables to be picked up by the rental company and laid down our slightly larger naked bodies on the lounge chairs so that we could digest our food. There would be no more eating for us that day!
It is dark by 6:00 in November and you can go into town for supper if you like. It is only a short drive away or you could walk if you wanted to. Palm Springs is unique and has several good places to eat. The restaurants have the same outside heaters so you can eat outside even though the air is cold. It is nice to walk a few miles to stretch the legs after laying around all day, but soon you just want to go back and take off those uncomfortable clothes and maybe jump in the hot tub.
The hot tub is small and intimate and is a good place to meet and talk with the other couples. Nudity starts conversation quicker than anything else and you will be talking with new acquaintances like old friends in minutes. We find that getting to know some of the couples immediately makes the whole experience much more fun. You will be amazed how similar and down to earth the couples are. We enjoy comparing notes, and learning how universal life is. It is always fun hearing how others have to be creative in their divulging of destination plans. We laughed over the stories because we had been in a similar situation.
Remember we had a new Mustang convertible and you would think that we would take the opportunity to drive all over California...but we stayed in our little naked compound virtually the entire time... relaxing, enjoying, doing little, speaking little, stressing nothing, wearing nothing.
During the day, guests come in on a day pass and they usually keep to themselves. They are usually visiting from area hotels and either are nudists needing a chance to be nude or are trying it for the first time. It is fun to watch the first timers nervously venture out of the changing room. For them it may be the biggest thing they have ever done and are bracing themselves for the shock of others looking as well as the sensual feelings that they are feeling at this moment of awkward public exposure. Then they realize that no one has put their book down, no one is staring at them and no one cares that they are naked...they begin to relax, and after about 5 minutes start to breathe normally and just enjoy it.
The Terra Cotta Inn has been a first time for a lot of people and we would heartily recommend it. Although nudity is the norm, no one cares if someone puts on a pareo to walk around. There was a young Vietnamese-American couple who took a couple of days to get naked, but there was no pressure on them. Incidentally, Candy keeps a variety of pareos and sexy clothes for women in the lobby for purchase and we purchased a beautiful pareo.
The couples-only aspect of the Inn is a huge selling point It is one of the reasons that the return rate and the occupancy rate is so high. There is never any problem with gawkers or Vinnys or Wallys. First timers can relax and enjoy the experience without worrying about people gawking, or being harassed by perverts.
There is a designated massage area which gets well used and all of the girls who come in to give massages are as good as you will find anywhere. R had one there and it was the best she has ever had. Several of the other wives said the same thing and they had different girls. The sun, warm breeze, oiled naked body, soft music, relaxing environment, surrounded by others who are relaxed and naked, all helps to make it a memorable massage experience.
Most of the couples are successful but not snobbish, of various occupations, various religious backgrounds, various interests and various body types. Hard bodies, soft bodies, big boobs, little boobs, most bodies in average shape, only a few in great shape.
Everyone we have talked to wish that they had discovered nude recreation much sooner. There is no better stress reliever and marriage rejuvenator. Female body confidence is a significant outcome of the experience and is in such great need in this country. Confidence of any kind, but especially body confidence is the major component of 'sexiness'. Women are so beat up by the airbrushed fashion industry that they need to realize how wonderfully sexy they are. Nude recreation seems to work better than anything else to make that happen for them. Those who left before us expressed reluctance to put clothes on and leave, and we likewise had to put on clothes and check out like those before us. We carried out the luggage full of clothes we never wore.
The drive back to John Wayne Airport was easy and uneventful as we had no rush hour traffic to deal with. If we lived anywhere near the Terra Cotta Inn, we would be back for a weekend a month if we could. As it is, we live in North Carolina and are not jetsetters, so it may be awhile before we are able to return. We couldn't tell the folks at church all about it, but we could tell them that we had a great time and it was a great second honeymoon and it was time to start preparing for the third honeymoon. Club Orient was the next destination, but that is another story.