Palm Springs: day 5

On Wed we had breakfast at home again, then went downtown to the Michael Weems Gallery.  We were introduced to Michael Weems' art on our last visit by our friend Peter who knows Michael personally.  Unfortunately Michael wasn't in the gallery when we stopped in, but his assistant told us how Michael's newer work is moving away from the AutoErotica theme and going in a less racy but still fun direction. While I liked the AutoErotica stuff, I found his new stuff to have a wider appeal.

I love the color and contrast in this piece

Same with this one

These are 2 car parts onto which photography has been transferred.  Very cool!

This piece makes me smile

This piece is very Palm Springs

These coasters are a scream!

These would make a great gift for the person who has everything. Order online at the website.

This one had me laughing out loud in the gallery!

I almost bought one of these trays with the mid-century homes but I was afraid of transporting it home, so I'll order one on the website.

Next we drove over the mountains to Joshua Tree National Park.  I didn't know that much about it before we went so I had no real expectations.  One thing I knew for sure is that we were NOT going hiking!  So we stopped at the visitors' center and got a map that showed a great driving route threw part of the park.

I was really struck by how peaceful it felt there.  No homes, no buildings, no power lines, just the sun and the breeze.  It was 25 degrees cooler there (60 degrees) which was a surprise, since the 3 of us were in shorts and flip flops.

I found this sign to be comical.

Spouse & Carl at Keys View overlooking the Coachella Valley

From Keys View

From Keys View

You can literally see for miles

The Keys View observation area

 On our way back from Joshua Tree we passed a Jack in the Box and Carl's enthusiasm was wildly apparent.  For those unfamiliar, Jack in the Box is a burger chain (that also sells tacos) that used to exist where we grew up, but has been long gone, kind of like Shakey's.  So we stopped for a late lunch at Jack in the Box which delighted Carl.

The balance of the afternoon was spent at the house by the pool and spa.

Carl relaxing near the pool

That evening we took Carl to dinner at Lulu.  We enjoyed our meal there so much during our previous visit that we made it a priority to bring Carl here.  We had a very talkative waiter who was very nice but sort of held us captive when Carl needed to sneak out for a cigarette!  It was a great meal.

Carl at Lulu

Afterward we hung out for a while at Hunters and Streetbar before calling it a night.

Just because

Palm Springs: day 4

On Tues we had breakfast at home, then drove to Desert Memorial Park, the cemetery where many celebrities are buried.  It was an earnest request of Carl that we go there since he is fascinated with the Gabor sisters. Ava and Zsa Zsa aren't buried there but Magda and their mother Jolie are, as well as Frank Sinatra and Sonny Bono.

Next we pulled up a website that listed the addresses of several celebrities who once had homes in the Old Las Palmas neighborhood in Palm Springs and created our own driving tour. I absolutely love the mid-century modern homes so I snapped some photos while driving.  Sorry I wasn't able to edit out all of the car parts, but the homes are worth seeing.

Marilyn Monroe's home

Clark Gable's home.  Yes, its pink.

One of Elvis' Palm Springs homes.  Rather tame in my opinion compared to Elvis' homes elsewhere

An example of a Swiss Miss style home

I love the patterned concrete block fence on this home

I love the pattern of the gate/door on this home

Again I love the patterned concrete block fencing!

Although my photo is poor, and doesn't really show it, this is a butterfly roof home

Next we stumbled upon a Shakey's Pizza!  All 3 of us grew up with a Shakey's near us, but we all thought the chain was long gone until we saw this one in Palm Springs. While I didn't feel any need to go inside, Spouse talked me and Carl into going in and having lunch.

It was certainly a blast from our past.

Then we went home, spent some time in the pool and spa, then went to happy hour at Streetbar. Happy hour is really when most people are at bars here, which is the opposite of what we're used to.  Go to a bar or club here around 11pm and there will only be a handful of folks remaining.  After happy hour we walked over to Las Casuelas Mexican restaurant for dinner.  On our previous visit to Palm Springs Spouse & I ate at 2 Mexican restaurants, neither of which we found to be particularly great.  So when we were getting our rental car I asked the Latina woman assisting us for her recommendation and she said to go to Las Casuelas.  We sat in the large open air courtyard, there was a band and funny white people dancing, and the food was absolutely amazing!  We really enjoyed it and appreciated the spot-on recommendation.  After dinner we walked back over to Streetbar for karaoke. There was a very cute bartender I couldn't resist capturing for you:

Karaoke was well-attended and there were quite a few singers.  Carl and I both sung too.  It was a lot of fun and we met some other vacationers to hang out with the rest of the night there.

Carl captivating the crowd!

We left about 12:30 and stayed up until after 1am, which is really unusual for us!

Palm Springs: day 3

On Mon we had breakfast at home, then went to the Sunny Dunes Antique Mall to look at around.  Since our AirBnB didn't have a cocktail shaker or shot glass (we had to make due when making pink grapefruit crushes the day before) Carl decided he'd buy vintage ones to use at the rental house and would also make great keepsakes from our trip.  This place was big and there was so much really cool stuff that after awhile it became a bit of sensory overload.  But Carl found a charming vintage shaker and a cool cocktail shirt!  Here's Carl with the shaker:

You'll see the shirt later.

Next we had lunch at Del Taco.  Now, its not like we go on vacation to eat at chain restaurants, but we don't have Del Taco where we live, and we'd become familiar with it from watching episodes of "Grace & Frankie" on Netflix.  Frankie has asked people to pick her up something from Del Taco, she was late for something because she stopped at Del Taco, and our favorite reference was "I always seem to do my best thinking at Del Taco".  So we had to give it a try!  For being fast food it really was good; better than Taco Bell.

Excited Spouse at Del Taco

"I always seem to do my best thinking at Del Taco"

Next we parked on Palm Canyon Dr and toured a bunch of cool vintage shops.  To our surprise, we saw these 2 serving bowls, displayed together, in the window.

What's so strange about it is that Steven & Thad have the bowl on the left and Spouse & I have the bowl on the right!!!  Only we both have the matching dip bowl and metal clip which make ours' more valuable.

Then we spent some time at home in the pool and spa.  But the sun is so strong here that sometimes you just have to get a break.  I would move from a lounge chair in the sun to a regular chair in the shade.  Spouse decided to seek refuge under a couple of towels instead.

A little later the 3 of us showered and headed out to meet The Dicks.  When we lived in the DC area we had 2 friends named Dick who were a couple.  Once they arrived at our Christmas party and said "The Dicks are here!"  A couple years after we moved to DE The Dicks moved to Rancho Mirage, just outside Palm Springs, so we planned to meet up with them for dinner at Kaiser Grille.  It was nice to see them and to hear about their life here in the desert.

From left to right:  The Dicks, me, Spouse, Carl

The cocktail shirt Carl is wearing in this photo is the one he bought earlier in the day at the Sunny Dunes Antique Mall.  Besides The Purple Room, this was our only other indoor meal the entire week.

Beardy boy