Tag Archives: El Mirador Hotel

Posted in Blog Info / Up-dates

And Now . . . The Rest of the Story

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by Bob Sparrow

A nod to Paul Harvey for using this headline, which was the introduction to his most enjoyable radio broadcast for many years, as well as the title of the book about him written by his son, but that’s for another blog. This blog is abut follow-ups and corrections to previous blogs.     

Stuck in Space

Splash down off the coast of Florida

Stuck in Space was published last September, telling of the plight of two astronauts, Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who had planned to spend eight days in space and instead spent nine months.  Just last week, on March 18 at about 6:00 pm EDT, the Starliner spacecraft carrying them and their last pair of underwear, home, splashed down off the coast of Florida. Being in space that long takes a toll on both the body and the mind, so they will be under close observation for some time. In the mean time, they’ll get caught up on the ‘love fest’ that’s been going on between political parties. They’ll be happy they kept their distance.

It’s the Most Important Election of Our Lifetime . . . Again

In this blog, published a couple of months before last year’s presidential election, I sort of mocked the people who were saying that this was the most important election of our lifetime, citing that this phrase has been used throughout history for almost every election.  As it turns out, no matter what side of the aisle you are on, it may not be THE most important election of our lifetime, but it could be one of them . . . we shall see! 

The Incredible Life of Don the Beachcomber

Published in October of last year, this title apparently should have read The Incredible Life of Donn Beach, according to the following comments left by ‘Andy’.  I don’t know Andy or where he’s from, but he is clearly a Don the Beachcomber aficionado.

Donn Beach

A bunch of inaccuracies, I believe. You say “there really was a “Don the Beachcomber” as if that was his adopted name, but that was the name of the restaurant, not the man. He changed his name to “Donn Beach” with two n’s (misspelled throughout). His original first name was “Ernest”, not Earnest as you have written. Also, his first restaurant did not have a kitchen, that didn’t come until 1937 when he moved down and across the street to a bigger location. And I think it was called “Beachcomber Cafe” but I have seen other claims.

Admittedly, this is a difficult topic to research, as the internet is rife with contradictions. Your commenter from a few weeks ago, Cindi N, surely knows most of the facts, and her book on Sunny Sund was fabulous. I believe a definitive biography of Donn Beach is coming out later this year.

The biography Andy refers to above may be the preview I saw at the Newport Film Festival that inspired the blog

A Most Unusual and Brilliant Desert Denizen

On the outside looking in at the Willows

There was also a correction to this blog about Einstein and the two places he stayed while in Palm Springs, which was published just last month.  This correction came from long-time good friend and neighbor, Bob Baldwin.  He correctly pointed out that the original tower of the El Mirador still stands on the site of the original hotel, but that site is now part of the Desert Regional Medical Center.  I did visit both that El Mirador site and the Willows Hotel site. When outside the gated Willows, there is a phone to call the receptionist inside, which I did and told her that I wrote a blog about Einstein’s stay there and was hoping I could come in and take a look around, maybe see the Einstein room. Nope, apparently my IQ and my net worth were not high enough.

As Suzanne and I have often said, we do not let the truth stand in the way of a good story, but we always appreciate our reader’s comments and corrections. (OK, Suz, was that just another lie?)

Posted in travel

A Most Unusual and Brilliant Desert Denizen

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by Bob Sparrow

The Willows – back in the day

It’s no secret that I’ve spent a good deal of the first quarter of every year since 1992 in the southern California desert, Palm Desert to be exact.  In fact, as you’re reading this, I’m in the desert this week.  And, of course, I’m always looking for something new and different to write about.  We all know that stars like Frank Sinatra, Elvis, Bob Hope, Dinah Shore, Marilyn Monroe and many others spent lots of time in the desert, but I had no idea that the greatest scientist of all time, Albert Einstein was also a ‘desert rat’.

In 1933 Einstein and his second wife, Elsa came to Palm Springs as he was fleeing from Nazi Germany and Adolph Hitler.  They stayed briefly at the ‘Willows’, which hosted many Hollywood and Wall Street stars; it was the elegant home of attorney and “Hitler’s Bitterest Foe”, Samual Untermeyer.  At the time, LA Magazine said, “Staying at the Willows is like getting the keys to a well–off friend’s country estate.”  The Willows has entertained such guests as Clark Gable and Carole Lombard, Joseph P. Kennedy, Marion Davies, Shirley Temple, and many more.  After a short stay, the Einsteins were lured away from the Willows by Warren Pinney, the big boss at the neighboring El Mirador Hotel, which was just down the street and had entertained a few Hollywood types of its own, like Paulette Goddard, soon to be the third wife of Charlie Chaplin, and a young B-movie actress who would go on to captivate the television world decades later in a program called “I Love Lucy” – Lucille Ball.  The hotel also played a role as a hospital during World War II.

Phony Photo of Albert & Marilyn?

And while we’re mixing Hollywood stars and Einstein, you may not be familiar with a quote from Marilyn Monroe about him.  She said, “We could have a baby together.  He would come out beautiful like me and smart like you,” to which Einstein replied, and I paraphrase, “What if he came out with my beauty and your intelligence?” Which sounds like a self-deprecating statement about his not-so-handsome looks, as well as a dig at Marilyn being a dumb blonde.  However, the joke was on him, Monroe’s IQ was measured at 165, about 5 points higher than Einsteins’!!!  The photo at the right is probably a phony, as there is no evidence that Einstein and Monroe ever met, despite rumors of an affair, although he might have been smart enough to hide such a thing.

Tony Burke, ‘Realtor to the Stars’ and publicist for the El Mirador Hotel and Palm Springs in general, made sure the Einsteins had a wonderful time AND that most of the world heard about it.   Who knew that when in the desert, Einstein loved sunbathing, so when sitting on his veranda at the Willows and the El Mirador, he would often take off his shirt (unheard of at that time) – in fact, sometimes he would even take off his pants!  It seems clear he had a secret desire to be in ‘show’ business.

El Mirador Hotel – back in the day

As a matter of fact, Einstein’s personal life fit right in with the Hollywood set in the desert, as he was, by all accounts, a ‘ladies’ man’ and he found his first wife, Mileva Marić, as a student of his and an accomplished physicist and mathematician in her own right, with whom he had a child before they were married.  He married his second wife, Elsa, with whom he had about a seven-year affair, three months after his divorce from Mileva.  Oh yeah, and Elsa was his first cousin! 

Both hotels are still in business, you can get a room at the El Mirador Hotel for as little as $200 a night. ‘The Willows’ is now called ‘The Willows Historic Palm Springs Inn’, and only has 17 rooms, which run between $500-$700 a night.  Today you can stay in the ‘Einstein Room’ at The Willows for about $650 a night – I’m guessing there’s a ‘smart’ TV in that room! 

While in the desert this week, I will see if I can visit either or both of these historic hotels – although they may not let someone like me, not a star and definitely not a genius, on the property.