Cali visit, Part III

[swingchickie]

Day Four, continued

so, after a long day of meerkat snugglin', we washed off all the desert dirt and worm remnants and got all gussied up for a nice dinner. we'd managed to get a reservation at the parker, which we'd heard was the best restaurant in palm springs... it also didn't hurt that it was the subject of "welcome to the parker", a Bravo reality TV show about the behind-the-scenes goings-on at the hotel.

the hotel is out-of-control gorgeous. i don't even know where to start in describing it, and the photos don't do it justice... it's just this little, hip, very private oasis in the middle of the desert.

even the entrance is private, hidden behind a wall:





the outdoor stand-alone wall at the entrance:



the big thing that struck us about the property is how much privacy you have, even if there are a bunch of other people there. the whole property is designed in such a way that you feel like you're the only ones there... everything from the landscaping to the building layouts is just very cozy and nook-y.

view of the main building from the middle of the property... again, the landscaping is very tall and lush so that you're hidden even in the middle of things.



outdoor fire pit! again, the emphasis was on little nooks and private areas throughout the property... we kept discovering little sitting areas under a tree, or behind a bank of bushes, etc.



whatever the hell this plant is, i NEED it for my yard. it looks like feathers, and they had it everywhere on the property!



the lobby



as for dinner there at mister parker's, i can honestly say that it was probably the best meal i've ever had in my life. and that includes the amazing food i ate in paris last year. not kidding. jack and i shared all of our food, and we were so giddy about every dish, we couldn't stop GIGGLING throughout the whole meal. my entree was perfection -- roast duck that was falling off the bone, with a side of paper-thin potatoes that were drizzled with truffle oil. i wish i'd had 2 stomachs, so i could have ordered a second helping. and dessert was out of this world, especially the one in the photo below... this was a "flight of floats", except instead of root beer, it was booze. each glass had a small scoop of homemade ice cream or sorbet, paired with a liqueur that would match it well. from left to right, it was: 1. chocolate ice cream with creme de menthe; 2. spiced apple sorbet with goldschlager; 3. melon sorbet with midori; and 4. vanilla and chocolate swirl ice cream with godiva white chocolate liqueur. holy crap. we were fighting over the last sip of every one.



after dinner, even though we'd had an entire bottle of wine and all that booze in our dessert, we just HAD to stay for a drink by the indoor fire pit. just outside the restaurant, in the lobby, is a beautful 1960's-style living room with a fireplace in the center and lounge-y sitting areas all around it.



hard to tell, but the fireplace is actually filled with colored glass!



we decided right then and there that someday we will have to return to palm springs, and stay at the parker. it was sooooo relaxing, and so much fun, and really made you feel like you were on your own private vacation. it was glorious.

Day Five

saturday was our day to completely veg out. since i'd dictated so much of our vacation goings-on, i told jack that saturday was his... and he chose (thank god) to spend it drinking mai tais by the pool. we grabbed some lounge chairs under the shade of a palm tree, plugged jack's mini speakers into his ipod, and listened to tiki lounge music all day while we read and got toasted (by both the sun and the mai tais). there were 2 restaurants on the property of the hotel... and we'd been frequenting the one called Hawaiian Bill's, because bill the owner came over to our table to greet us on our first day, and gave us a free taste of some pork he was roasting. YUM. so over the course of our few days there, we'd hit bill's for lunch and drinks, and were happy to give him our business again over the course of our lounge-y day.

bill roasting his famous pork:



this was my favorite thing on the menu: sushi filled with grilled spam. i'm not kidding, it was so freaking good.



the mai tais turned out to be stronger than we realized, and so our post-pool nap turned into a snoring marathon where we didn't wake up until almost 10pm. oops. dinner ended up being around 10:30 at night at some bennigan's-style chain restaurant.

Day Six

last day of vacation! *weep* the saving grace was that we had the whole day, since our flight didn't leave until midnight... rather than head right back to LA, jack suggested we spend the day in laguna beach instead. so we headed down to laguna, had lunch at a little taco stand, and then started to wander around town to see all the little shops... but we'd only walked 2 storefronts from the taco stand when we encountered... a tattoo parlor. yup, you guessed it... 4 hours later, jack walked out of there with another spur-of-the-moment tattoo!

patiently waiting for the tattoo guy to finish his sketch



i left jack to his tattoo fun, and decided to do some sightseeing myself (i'm all for his getting ink if he wants, but come on, there was freaking laguna beach outside the door!).



this blew my mind -- dozens and dozens of multi-million-dollar homes, all up in the hills clinging to the mountainside.



after looking around at shops full of art, jewelry, and clothing that i couldn't afford, i headed back to the tattoo place to see how the work was coming along. he had just finished inking the outline:



the tattoo was to commemorate our awesome vacation... the tiki was not only for our hotel, but was also based on a tiki in one of shag's paintings we saw at the gallery. and i love it 'cause it kind of looks like it's giving you two middle fingers. *grin*

the finished product:



so, that ended our day. as soon as he was done, we hopped back in the car, drove to LA, ate dinner at the airport and waited 3 hours for our flight. of course, didn't sleep again due to the whole fear thing (not helped by the fact that we flew into a lightning storm... beautiful, but not exactly relaxing)... but i had the memories of the trip to keep me company. :)

Comments

[dhpdesign.livejournal.com]

1. chocolate ice cream with creme de menthe; 2. spiced apple sorbet with goldschlager; 3. melon sorbet with midori; and 4. vanilla and chocolate swirl ice cream with godiva white chocolate liqueur.

Oh, that is so not fair. Especially the apple'n'Schlager. ::headdesk::

Spam Musubi!

[occhi-cinesi.livejournal.com]

Can't believe you found it on the Mainland! I think the one I ate while in HI about 11 years ago, is still in my belly... so the fact that you loved it in Cali, meant that dude knew how to make it right (I ate 'the wrong kind of spam musubi').

And is that 'one scoop (potato) salad' on the side? Who is Hawaiian Bill????

Re: Spam Musubi!

[swingchickie.livejournal.com]

well, Bill is from Hawaii (he's been a caterer in Palm Springs for about 15 years), so he knows his stuff. yum.

the stuff on the side is "potato-macaroni salad", which is just what it sounds like. but he had us eat it the Hawaiian way, with black pepper and soy sauce. darn tasty.

Re: Spam Musubi!

[occhi-cinesi.livejournal.com]

Damn you, Food Porn Queen, I'm salivating as I type!

Wow!

[bohemianrapsody.livejournal.com]

You can't get more swank than that! What a gorgeous place! I'm a fan of Shag too..I wanna go to Palm Springs now!
You really packed a lot in your vacation. I LOVE the meercats sitting all sleepy in the chairs.
That tatto is awesome! The spilled martini says it all.

Re: Wow!

[swingchickie.livejournal.com]

you would LOVE it there. i'd suggest adding a couple of days to your next Cali trip and heading south. :)