Lee’s World
Palm Springs 2003
And so to Palm Springs.
As
the party was smaller this year, we took the
Tropical
Paradise house in the Los Compadres area of South Palm Springs, owned by
Tom and Larry. A lovely house with plenty of room for the four of us, with a
pool and beautiful garden, and only about 10 minutes from the centre of Palm
Springs.
We had grapefruits growing in the garden and fed humming birds on our patio.
At night, after a hard night in Hunters or Toucans Bars, we would sit and enjoy a glass of wine under the covered patio, which provided much needed shade during the day.
In Hunters Bar on our first night in town we met some great guys - Scott, Todd, and Mark.
As in 2002, we went up the Aerial Tramway to the San Jacinto park. It was nice to escape the heat of the valley and the views were spectacular.
On another day,
Scott joined us for a tour of the celebrity homes of Palm Springs. A map is
available from the Palm Springs Visitor Centre. As well as the homes on the
map, we were guided around some of the existing
homes
of celebrities who now make Palm Springs their home - or one of their homes,
including Steven Spielburg, Lily Tomlin, Barry Manilow and Bill Gates. The
homes were spectacular and it was like a pilgrimage visiting the homes (or
former homes) of Debbie Reynolds, Lucille Ball, and Liberace. As well as
seeing the homes of Elvis Presley, Sonny Bono and Cher.
On a second day we went to the Desert Memorial Park in Cathedral City to visit the resting place of Frank Sinatra. Sadly we couldn't find the grave of Frederick Lowe, writer of amongst other things My Fair Lady and Brigadoon, but we did find the only war memorial commemorating gay veterans.
Our remaining
time was spent shopping at Desert Hills Outlet Centre, sitting in the pool
and drinking a little too much, before preparing for dinner at Blame it on
Midnite, Kahlua Trattoria, or El Mirasol.
And Mark - thanks for the most wonderful time. The time we spent together meant so much to me, and I hope it will be the first of many.