Some Like it Hot

Having our fill of Dinosaurs, we continued our journey to a little oasis in the desert called, Palm Springs.
I've always loved trips to Palm Springs because it's like going back in time to the 50's.
Upon entering the town, I couldn't help but feel nostalgic for an era of the past.
It's as if I was walking into a living and breathing museum, a city frozen in an ode to it's prime.
With Mod architecture on every corner and palm trees lining the streets, I was transported to a time of glamour and opulence.
I imagined what it must have been like to see movie stars such as Marilyn Monroe roll down Palm Springs Boulevard in her chauffeured top down Cadillac while puffing on her long stemmed cigarette while dripping in diamonds.
Once upon a time, Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Lucille Ball and Elizabeth Taylor were all among the stars that called Palm Springs their home away from home.
In fact they have even built a 36 foot tall statue to commemorate one of the Hollywood legends.

I still can't figure out if the Dinosaurs or Marilyn was bigger...

The stage in the background was being set up for an "Elton John" concert that night, can you guess what song he sang?
I'll give you a hint: Candle in the Wind was written about Marilyn Monroe.
And speaking about wind, there were also some cool fountains blowing around.

Next we zipped over to the Palm Springs Air Museum to get out of the crazy 115 degree weather (for all you non-Americans, that's 46 degrees Celsius). 

Yes, it actually burns to breathe.

The museum was surprisingly fun and interesting.

I'm not am especially huge history or aerospace fan, but it was really enjoyable to walk around and see the old WWII planes.

The whole museum is run by retired war veterans, and they are the sweetest people!

It's like going to your grandparents house and hearing your grandpa share his war stories with you from battles he fought when he was in the air force.

The museum is inside of a hangar and the aircraft are spread throughout, you can even go inside of them.

This one was definitely my favorite.

We eventually wandered back to the hotel to lounge by the pool and be lazy.

Two of my favorite things!

We stayed at a little boutique hotel called Alcazar. 

I first stumbled upon it last year and I loved it so much we came back again!

I highly recommend staying there if you go.

They even have beach cruiser bikes that they let you use to ride around town, which we definitely took advantage of.

In my opinion, there's nothing better than jumping in the pool after a long bike ride in the sun.

We always seem to meet people and make friends there, everyone is so friendly and nice.

Must be something in the water.

found a pool toy...

After a few hours by the pool we ventured out to find some grub because we were starving.

Drinking by the pool all day really takes a lot out of you.

We ate at some little place outside on the balcony.

The food wasn't amazing and I can't even remember the name of the restaurant.

I actually think the balcony was the only reason we ate there.

I haven't come across many restaurants that actually have balconies that aren't just used  for decoration.

If you couldn't tell, I like balconies.

Okay, moving on.

The next day we packed up our stuff and headed back home to Orange County.

But not without making one more stop...

As we were leaving we found this piece of art on the side of the road.

A retro gas station from the 1950's.

Unfortunately it wasn't in service any longer, but at least it had been preserved after all these years.

Too bad gas stations don't look this funky and futuristic anymore.

Since we were already out of the car we went for a little stroll.

The desert has such a calming and peaceful beauty to it.

& then we carried on down the beaten path.