Our hotel, Villa Royale, in Palm Springs was a very welcome sight after such a long drive across the desert. It was still decorated for Christmas, sorry, "The Holidays" which added to the charm of this fascinating place.
A wonderfully romantic hotel, it's formerly the home of an eccentric movie producer and the fantastic Europa restaurant is housed within what used to be the main living room. The bedrooms are each unique villas and the whole estate sprawls over 3 acres while somehow, managing to feel very intimate. The manager, Jack, had us howling with laughter as soon as we met him when we innocently asked if we needed to follow any particular dress code for dinner. He looked Linda up and down and declared "Well... I would say NO Daisy Dukes and you should be just fine!"
The food matched the accommodation for being very high quality and quite unique. Nestled among the palms and the mountains it was just beautiful with pools, fountains, Hummingbirds and citrus fruit trees all around the grounds.
The next morning we decided to head up the mountain on the largest rotating cable car in the world, the Palm Springs Aerial Tramway. Starting from the desert floor of the Coachella Valley we rose up (and turned) more than 8500 feet to the alpine forest of the San Jacinto Peak where there were lots of families sledging and snow boarding in the sunshine. The view was spectacular and we could see for miles over Chino Canyon in the beautiful clear skies. We saw Stellars Jay birds and large American Squirrels at the top and really enjoyed the stunning freshness. The tram ride is about 12 minutes and passes the sheerest mountain face in North America along the way.
Back down in the town I finally got my hands on a gorgeous chocolate and caramel malt drink in Ruby's Diner on Palm Canyon Drive. A classic 1940's diner with beautiful cherry red leather seating and chrome everything else! We sat outside and watched the world go by wondering who was hiding under that baseball cap and behind those shades? The locals are quite an odd bunch really and the evidence of plastic surgery is really quite amazing.
This is Sonny Bono. He's something of a local hero having been Mayor and founded various festivals that are still celebrated every week, month and year around the area.
I'd heard about Palm Springs since my Parents visited in the 1970's and as we watched the pristine classic cars driving past I observed that they were more than likely the very same cars that my Mum and Dad had seen themselves 30 odd years ago.
We decided to go off and try to find Elvis's former home and having popped the address into the satnav we soon found it amongst all the mansions of Chino Canyon. We stopped the car and got out to take a couple of pictures and as we ventured up to the locked gates to peer through a lady came out and shouted to us. We expected to be told to 'bugger off' but were amazed when she invited us in to have a look around! Not just a quick look around, we got a full tour and were told about every room, every rose in the garden, the light fittings, the history, the owners over the years, the battles about the contents, the rights, who he'd slept with there, how much he paid for it (she even showed us a copy of the sale deeds signed by Elvis and Priscilla), and and and... She really was VERY generous with her time, her knowledge of Elvis and the house, and she even took my camera off me and took pictures of us sitting in each room and around the pool. She and her husband are massive Elvis fans and hope to turn the house into a tourist attraction if they get permission (from Elvis's people) and funding to do it all with. It was SUCH a special treat!! Uh huh!!
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| When Elvis died, he owned only two properties. Graceland and this one! |
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| Linda and I relaxing in The King's living room |
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| The Lady who owns the house explained every detail about the house and the garden. |
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| The fountain that Elvis gave to his wife on their first wedding anniversary is in need of some repair. Linda was given three of the original glass 'penny' tiles as a keepsake. |
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| No wonder he likes to come here and get away from it all!! |
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| We really couldn't quite believe what was happening to us here! |
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| It's now or never... |
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| Yes Linda!! Elvis's bare butt HAS been here!! |
So after ALL that... The fun didn't stop there and we dined at the Blue Coyote which we'd targeted from our research before the trip. What a fabulous Mexican restaurant and a brilliant, brilliant atmosphere topped off by this fantastic guitarist / singer.
A brief but really special visit to Palm Springs and I hope to go back again one day.
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