Little Miss Sunshine in CA, Pt. 2

Day 2 of Little Miss Sunshine’s CA trip began at the Lafayette Hotel in North Park. We met Christy’s bed-jumping bestie (Marlene) there for breakfast. How they looked when they first met in 2014 at the Chateau Marmont:



12 years later and they’re ready for the next adventure, this time at Beginner’s Diner. Marlene is all about the boozy milkshakes!



The obligatory group selfie with the breakfast bounty:



Since Christy had never been to the Lafayette before, we gave her the grand tour.



I still have yet to swim in this pool.



The 1961 Showalter Fountain on the Indiana University campus was a frequent spot for us to pose, as in this circa 1994 photo:



One of our post-midnight visits to the Fountain included a Janet Jackson wardrobe malfunction. Yes, it can happen!



32 years later, Christy still has the urge:



Christy and I bid Marlene “adieu” and then drove to Los Angeles for another big adventure. Literally.



I finally made the trek to the film location used in “Pee Wee’s Big Adventure” (1985). While the house is a different color now, it still looked the same. Just without all the tchotchkes.



My outfit was an homage to Pee Wee.



I brought along my NECA action figure for a photo. The next best thing to Pee Wee himself.





Next up: The Buxton Mansion, where Pee Wee confronted Francis on the theft of his precious bike.



How it looks today. The commentary track says that they used a wide-angle lens to make it look bigger; even taking that into consideration, there have obviously been a lot of renovations to the property since 1985.



The next stop was the Chateau Marmont hotel on Sunset Boulevard. This time it was room 67, one I hadn’t stayed in before!



Always a warm welcome.



While I took my obligatory photos of the room, Christy hung out on the balcony and called her mom.



Once done, I joined Christy and took some shots of Monteel Road below from the balcony.



When I tried to get back in, I realized that the latch on the inside had fallen back into place, locking us out of the room. Oops! I tried everything I could to get back in but to no avail.



Christy got a good laugh out of this one. “Why don’t you just call the front desk?” she asked. “Because I don’t want to look stupid,” I replied. Still on the phone, her mom shot back, “Well, ya’ kinda’ are already!” Sad but true! I called the front desk and they were up in a jiffy and all was well. No, I won’t tell you what they said when I asked, “Has this ever happened before?”



Two Christys for the price of one!



We had a view of the pool below, so we headed down for a quick bite and beverage before our evening event began.



Nothing like a Garden Gimlet to take away the embarrassment of being locked out on the balcony. The Chateau’s burger and fries are second to none.



A quick change of clothes and then it was off to the Orpheum Theatre in downtown LA:



As President of the James Dean Museum in Fairmount, Christy had been invited out for the L.A. Conservancy’s Last Remaining Seats showing of “Rebel Without a Cause” (1955).



We’ll just leave you here at the entrance until the next installment!



See more of my photography at my main website.

Melissa on the West Coast, Pt. 2

Our trek to Palm Springs was nice and easy…until it wasn’t. As we approached the March Field Air Museum near Riverside, we noticed two jets taking off ahead of us. Shortly after that, the passenger window of my car shattered. Not cracked. SHATTERED. There it was…until it wasn’t. My brain froze as I saw the open space, felt the hot air blowing in, and saw the look of shock on Melissa’s (aka The Colonel) face. She was also holding Willis at the time, who fortunately was not sucked out the window along with most of the glass! What caused it? Who knows, but we were both pretty sure it wasn’t rock and that nothing else had hit the window first. As I processed what happened and what I would need to do, I decided to keep driving until we got to Cabazon. You know…that place where Pee Wee (Paul Reubens) and Simone (Diane Salinger) had their first date…inside a dinosaur. Isn’t that what most people do? All was going well for them until Andy (her crazy boyfriend) discovered Simone’s indiscretion.



Willis’ little heart was beating fast after the window shattered, but by the time we got to Cabazon he had calmed down enough for a photo. He still looked a little bewildered. Maybe it was the dinosaur.



Nothing can stop Melissa from a good recreation; glass or no glass, she was putting on her best Simone outfit and posing in front of the d%^n dinosaur!



Shortly after our little break in Cabazon where I attempted to remove glass from the passenger seat, we arrived at our destination: The Movie Colony Hotel. It is my go-to hotel for its cool factor (designed by Swiss architect Albert Frey), its location, and its price. If you want to know what Melissa was thinking here, well…you really don’t. It had been a long day, and it was barely 3pm!



Let’s focus on the beautiful plants, shall we?



The lobby screams “Palm Springs”…in a good way. Hi, Marilyn!



I get PTSD whenever I see Engelbert Humperdinck. My stepfather thought he was the best.



Lucy brought me back to reality.



The rooms are clean, spacious, and have that Palm Springs vibe.



Melissa immediately stretched out on the chaise lounge after the 2 hour car ride from Hell.



While I lugged everything out of the car for safety’s sake, Willis relaxed poolside. He’s like a little Sphinx.



To help turn things around from our mini-disaster, we hiked down the street to another Palm Springs fave of mine, the Colony Palms Hotel.









Ah…NOW things are improving. My cocktail was delicious.



Melissa was feeling klassy. Beer and a Diet Coke. Hey…whatever it takes to put a smile on your face.



Willis was given a bowl of water. I think he would have preferred a sip of my beverage instead.



Yup…she’s happy.



No rest for the weary; as soon as we finished our cocktails and truffle fries, it was “Chop chop” time. First destination on our Palm Springs Shirley Temple tour: The Desert Inn. Shirley vacationed here frequently with her family over the years. Here she is on one of her visits, with slingshot in hand.



Unfortunately, we were a little late. The hotel was demolished in the 1960’s.



This marker is all that remains of the hotel.



Our fragile east coast flower was not used to the dry desert heat, so I attempted to cool her down a bit by this nearby Downtown Park fountain.



Oh how I was hoping one of the mini jets would spray water up and scare the crap out of her. Sadly, it was not to be.



We didn’t stay cool for long, as a few of the people by the fountain were heating things up with a 420 celebration. Yes, it was 4/20 when we were in Palm Springs. We took ourselves over to the Forever Marilyn statue.



I’m not quite sure that Melissa was quite in love with Palm Springs, but she was a good sport about posing near this sign.



The once grand Oasis Hotel (previously covered here), designed by Lloyd Wright was our next stop:



Melissa may look like she was hard at work taking photos, but she was really just wanting to sit down and avoid the heat!



Two vintage views of the Oasis in its heyday:





A slight rest back at the hotel before our short walk to one of my favorite local restaurants, Al Dente.



Willis wanted to know what was in it for him; the bowls of water don’t quite achieve the “wow” factor for him.



After some cool beverages and delicious pasta, Melissa was smiling again.



Al Dente’s take on one of my favorite Italian desserts, Spumoni:



Did Melissa pass out on the walk home? No…she was just paying homage to one of her other favorite movie stars, Natalie Wood.



Both of us slept well. I was up first doing my laps as Willis relaxed.



The El Mirador Hotel was another place Shirley had visited. Back in its heyday:





As we were leaving town, we stopped by the El Mirador for a pic. However, the El Mirador is now the Desert Regional Medical Center. The original tower burned down years ago and was rebuilt. Not a bad job!



One last pic as we bid “adieu” to the desert:



Sorry, Melissa - you just got upstaged.



Next stop: HOLLYWOOD! See more Palm Springs photos at my main website.