Tag Archives: Marilyn Monroe

Posted in Family • Historical

The Amazing History of Cal-Neva Lodge

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by Bob Sparrow

The ‘Rat Pack’ at Cal-Neva

I must admit that I am somewhat obsessed with the Cal-Neva Lodge and Casino, as it was part of my young adult experience in a most idyllic place. For those unfamiliar with Cal-Neva, it is a hotel, with an additional 11 cabins on the property, built in 1926 on the sparsely populated, north coast of Lake Tahoe’s Crystal Bay, directly on the California-Nevada border. In fact, the main dining room had a line down the middle that shows one side in Nevada and the other side in California – same with the swimming pool outside.

Cal-Neva pool – right on the border

While gambling was not legalized in Nevada until 1931, part of the reason for the hotel’s sparsely populated location was that gambling was going on at the hotel before that. A story about silent film star Clara Bow says that in 1930 she had a gambling debt of over $13,000, which in today’s dollars would be about $250,000. She claimed that she thought she was playing with chips worth fifty cents each, when they were worth $100 each! In 1935 a 13-year-old Judy Garland performed for the first time at the Cal-Neva Lodge.  

Marilyn was a frequent visitor

Fast forward to the 1950s when Cal-Neva was sold for $1 million (about $13 million in today’s dollars) and was frequented by Hollywood stars like Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable as well as the Jack and Bobby Kennedy, who weren’t going there to gamble, but rather to enjoy the ladies. Cal-Neva was also frequented by Frank Sinatra, who eventually was part owner of the resort and added the ‘Celebrity Room’ where he and his friends, “The Rat Pack”, performed.

Dad, Mom & Dick dressed for ‘The Line’

My interest and connection to Cal-Neva comes from spending parts of every year at Lake Tahoe from the time I was about 10 years old (mid-1950s) to after graduating from college. My Dad’s best friend, ‘Uncle’ Dick, was a life-long bachelor and sort of adopted our family as his.  In 1952 he bought a cabin just outside of Tahoe City, at the north end of ‘The Lake’ and we spent every vacation, every season, every year at that cabin, despite the six-hour drive at that time from Novato to Lake Tahoe. The routine was, we’d leave home on a Friday night after they got home from work, get there very late on a Friday night, spend Saturday there, when, that night, Dad and Dick would dress up in coat and tie and Mom in a formal dress and ‘Go over to the line’, referring to the California-Nevada state line and spend the evening at Cal-Neva dining, dancing and gambling. We’d then get up early Sunday morning and drive home. Years later, brother, Jack, bought a home and a restaurant (Off Shore Bar & Grill) on the lake in Tahoe City and lived there for several years.  Roommate, Ken Poulsen, who you may have seen a couple of weeks ago here in a photo at Kezar Stadium, and I, bought a cabin in the 1970s, right next to Dick’s cabin. We sold it years later after a tenant had left a couch on the floor furnace and went skiing; when they returned, the house was burned to the ground. Ken managed the rebuilding of it and then we sold it.  

Yes, I got to park fancy cars like this!

Another personal note is that when the Rat Pack was performing at Cal-Neva in the mid-sixties, they needed to hire more valets to manage all the cars. A friend of mine, Dale Aman’s mom, worked in the accounting department at the hotel, and she called Dale and Dale called me to go to Cal-Neva and valet for the Rat Pack show.  It was the first and only time I worked as a valet. Fortunately, there were no crashes! We made rather good money (about $25 – Hey, that was like $325 in today’s dollars!), but after we were done valeting, we went into the casino and gave it all back!         

Sinatra’s friend, Dean Martin, was also a shareholder in the hotel as well as another Sinatra friend, Chicago mobster, Sam Giancana. When Sinatra built the Celebrity Room, he re-utilized Prohibition-era smuggling tunnels beneath the property to allow mob members to move around the property without being seen by the public. One tunnel led from the main building to Sinatra’s private chalet overlooking Lake Tahoe. In 1962 Marilyn Monroe was in one of Cal-Neva’s private cottages and overdosed on drugs, but was found in time to save her life. A few weeks later she was found dead in her home in Los Angeles.

Lucy & Desi

During the early and mid-60s, Sinatra’s Cal-Neva had lots of visits from celebrities such as Liza Minnelli, Kim Novak, Shirley MacLaine, Tony Curtis, Janet Leigh, Lucille Ball, Desi Arnaz and Richard Crenna. During this time, Giancana was spotted on the premises and Sinatra’s gambling license was suspended. So, Sinatra had to sell the property; he tried to sell it to Howard Hughes in 1967, but that didn’t go through. The property was bought and sold a number of times to real estate investors but ultimately closed in 2010.

It sat dormant for eight years, then Oracle owner and billionaire, Larry Ellison purchased it in 2018 for $35.8 million. After not being able to rebuild due to being held up in bankruptcy court by creditors’ protests, he sold it in 2023 for around $55 million to Denver real estate developer, McWhinney, who plans to open it in 2027.

Cal-Neva in winter

So, why has it sat dormant for so many years? In addition to bankruptcy issues, the three magic words in real estate are, location, location, location. Cal-Neva is in a remote location; Reno, the closest, largest city (less than 300,000 population) is about 45 miles away and Reno already has plenty of places to gamble. During the winter, North Lake Tahoe can get severe storms that can drop several feet of snow in 24 hours. Additionally, there is only one two-lane road leading to and from Cal-Neva, so often it’s not very accessible. 

Because of my history and interest in this iconic place, I have sent an email to Troy McWhinney of the McWhinney company letting him know some of my history with their property and my interest in being among the first guests at the hotel when it opens in 2027. I mentioned that I am 81, so I am hoping that the opening date of 2027 is achieved. I also let them know that I would be available to valet if needed.

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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.

Posted in travel

Here Today, Gone to Maui – Photo Op

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by Bob Sparrow

1st Sunset

 

 

Sunday: We arrive on Maui in the afternoon and had made dinner reservations at one of our favorite restaurants on the Kaanapali strip, the Hula Grill – right on the beach, feet in the sand, and one of the best ribeye steaks I’ve ever had.  I know I’m supposed to eat fish here, but this was too good to pass up.

 

 

 

Kaanapali strip

Monday: Stroll the ‘Kaanapali Strip’ seeing who has the best Mai Tais – started small umbrella collection.  Got in front of a TV early enough to watch the Alabama-Georgia championship game.  The game was over by 6:00 Hawaii time, so went to dinner at Monkey Pod, right behind Hula Grill.  Yes, I had fish . . . tacos!

 

 

As promised, a sunset and dinner on our sunset dinner cruise

Tuesday: Golf at the Kaanapali Royal Golf Course on a perfect day then a sunset dinner (fish) cruise – seeing lots of whales and a beautiful sunset.  After the cruise we wandered Front Street in Lahaina and settled in at an upstairs bar called Captain Jack’s.  We sat at the upstairs bar next to two guys from Rhode Island; one of them got up to go to the restroom and while he was gone, a restaurant employee came by and asked if anyone was using his bar stool.  We said yes, but he took the stool anyway.  When the guy returned from the bathroom, he was surprised that his seat was gone and asked what happened.  We told him and he looked around for an empty stool, found one and threw it off the balcony onto the street below and walked out.

 

A Sparrow on the ceiling

 

Wednesday: Free day, no golf, no tours, but still mai tais!  Drove north up to Kapalua and Napili, had liquid lunch at Duke’s.  Back to Lahaina, strolling Front Street, stopped at Cheeseburger in Paradise where I found my name on the ceiling. Continued on for dinner at The Lahaina Fish Company, yes, we had fish!  Then we went to Warren & Annabelle’s Magic Show and saw two great acts – John George, who was a great magician and pretty funny, and Chris Blackmore who was a good magician and very funny.  A very fun evening!

 

 

Sunset at Humu Humu

 

Thursday: Golf at the private course, King Kamehameha Country Club, awesome golf course and another perfect day.  The club house was designed in 1957 by famous architect, Frank Lloyd Wright, although he originally designed it as a house for Marilyn Monroe (long story).  Today, as the solitary structure on the hill, it looks like the start of a lunar colony.  After golf, we continue south to the Grand Wailea restaurant and my favorite bar in the world, Kumu Kumu (real name Kumukumunukunukuapua’ha – it’s a fish!).  I had a fish with a shorter name, Linda had a $100 ribeye, and said she should have ordered the fish!

 

Bob looking good. No, not me, the parrot’s name is Bob – he kept calling out my name, or was he calling out his name?

King Kamehameha Golf Club House

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast at Mala Ocean Tavern. We were so close to the water we got ocean spray in our coffee

The trip was too short, but sweet – sorta like many of my Mai Tais!

Posted in opinion

THE LONGER ROAD HOME

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By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

Before I begin my tale about the second half of our visit to Sun Valley, I have to acknowledge our sharp-eyed subscriber (and childhood neighbor), John Thomas, for pointing out that in my description of our drive up to Sun Valley I said we traveled on Highway 95.  I don’t’ know why I was confused, we’ve made that trek at least 20 times.  Anyway, it was Highway 93 that took us through the lovely town of Ely, Nevada.  93, 95…I never was any good at math.

Marilyn at the North Fork

When I left off last time the snow had begun to fall in Idaho, dusting the mountain tops and causing the trees to begin turning luscious shades of gold and orange.  We decided to venture a bit north, up to Redfish Lake, which is always a serene place in which to observe nature.  Redfish is 60 miles north of Sun Valley and you would be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful drive in the United States.    The first landmark one encounters is less than 10 miles north of town – the North Fork Store.  That may not sound too exciting, until you learn it is where Marilyn Monroe filmed “Bus Stop” in 1956.  It is still a going concern, with a café and gas station, and remains popular with film aficionados.

             Galena Overlook

Half-way through our journey north is another spectacular spot, Galena Summit.  If you stop at the overlook turn-out you can see views of the Sawtooth range to the northwest and the headwaters of the Salmon River.  At a whopping height of 8,701 feet, the view is simply unbeatable.  The Sawtooth Valley below is approximately 15 miles wide and 30 miles long…and you can see all of it from the overlook.  It’s hard to imagine as you spot the headwaters of the Salmon that after the river leaves the Sawtooth Valley it will then travel 900 miles to reach the Pacific Ocean.

             Redfish Lake

Finally, we reach our destination, Redfish Lake, and it does not disappoint.  Somehow all our ridiculous little problems melt away in the presence of such spectacular scenery.  We were surprised by how many people were there, although given how crowded Sun Valley had been we should have expected it.  There is a lodge and small restaurant, along with an outdoor grill and they all seemed to be at capacity.  Still…as we walked the trail that wends around the lake we were reminded of why we keep coming back every year.  I love Lake Tahoe and Mammoth Lakes in California, but there is nothing like the serenity that comes from viewing Redfish.

                 Downtown Kanab

After our visit to Redfish we ventured back to Sun Valley for a few more days before heading home.  We decided to drive the interstates most of the way.  That was my bright idea and as much as I hate to admit it, I was wrong.  It wasn’t a drive home, it was a death march.  First, we drove down to Twin Falls, Idaho, just 90 minutes from Sun Valley, to get a jump start on the long stretch ahead of us the following day.  That required an additional night in a hotel, with all the joys that go along with uncomfortable pillows and people banging doors at midnight.  What was I thinking?  The next day we drove from Twin Falls, through Salt Lake City, down to Kanab, Utah.  Kanab is a beautiful little town, but after TEN hours in a car, I couldn’t really appreciate anything except terra firma.  Finally, on the third day of our trek home, Dash the Wonder Dog decided to make life interesting by getting sick.  We took him to the vet when we got home and turns out he picked up a bacterial infection, plus the vet said that she sees some dogs get very stressed out from very long car rides.

Mom, please don’t make me get back in that car

Well, guess what?  I also get stressed out from long car rides.  I told my husband when we arrived home that he could not use the words “car” or “ride”, especially if they were in the same sentence.  I’ve already started looking for places to visit next year that are less than five hours from home.  So we may have seen Sun Valley for the last time, but who knows what next year will bring.  One thing I’ve learned from the COVID pandemic – don’t plan too far ahead.

 

Posted in Family

Phyllis Turns 95

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by Bob Sparrow

Phyllis Barnes

My mother-in-law, Phyllis (McMillen) Barnes turned 95 this month.  I’ll do the math for you, she was born in 1926 when the minimum wage was 33 cents an hour, a quart of milk was nine cents and a new Chevrolet cost $525.  Marilyn Monroe was born this same year (somehow, I can’t picture her at 95) and Queen Elizabeth II was also born that same year, 10 days later than Phyllis.  We all gathered in Rochester, Minnesota to celebrate this matriarch’s birthday, the group included her three children, 9 grandchildren, two great grandchildren and two great great grandchildren.

Phyllis, our own royalty, was born in Lenora, Minnesota and was a rather large baby at birth at 11 pounds, today she’s only 85 pounds – I’d venture to say that most of us have put on more than 74 pounds during our lifetime.

Phyllis’ mother, Petra, was one of three sisters in town that married three brothers!  Obviously, the dating pool was a bit limited!

For her first eight years of education, she attended a 12-seat school house, then after graduating from Canton High School, in southern Minnesota, she attended ‘Teacher’s Training’ and taught one year of ‘Normal School’ (I’m not sure how that differed from Abnormal School).  I asked her what grade she taught and she said, all of them!  All the students were in the same classroom doing different levels of activities.

Model A Ford

In 1945, at the age of 19, she married Warren Barnes and they drove a Model A Ford to Novato, CA (My hometown!) and Warren joined the Army Air Force and was stationed at Hamilton Field.  Not sure how long it took them to cross the country, or how many stops they made along the way, but they only had $75 in their pocket when they started the trip and $5 left when they got to Novato.

They returned to Minnesota and bought her parents’ farm for $20,000 – paying $1,000 a year for 20 years (No interest!).  The house had electricity, but no indoor plumbing, so they had an ‘outhouse’, which in the Minnesota winters was 25 yards too far from the house, but in the summer, it’s 25 yards too near. Phew!!  Fresh water came from a pump next to the house, which among other things was used for the weekly bath on Saturday night, to make sure the kids were ready for church on Sunday morning.  The three kids, Starlet, Dale and Linda were practicing environmentalism back then, as they all bathed separately, but in the same water.

25 yds too far or 25 yds too close

With dairy cows needing milking twice a day – every day, they didn’t have many opportunities to get too far from the farm, but they had a great life socializing with friends and family, bowling, dancing and playing cards.

Today Phyllis enjoys seeing her extended family, aside from three children, she has a total of 11 grandkids, 28 great grandkids, 5 great, great grandkids, most of them living in Minnesota.  She has two sons-in-law, Donnie Brummer and myself and when asked which one she likes best, she jokingly says, “I don’t like one any better than the other.”  So, we’ve got that going for us!

Aside from having a good sense of humor, Phyllis is truly one of the sweetest people I know; in fact at our son Jeff’s wedding in 2019 I said that Jeff reminded me of the two sweetest people I know, my dad and Phyllis.  I did mention for that while Linda and I aren’t particularly sweet, apparently we do carry that ‘sweetness’ gene. It’s one of those things that skips a generation.

One of the biggest changes that Phyllis has seen in her lifetime is in technology; they got their first TV in the mid-50s; broadcasting didn’t start until noon and went off at midnight or before.  They had only two channels and Warren had to go outside to turn the antenna to go from one channel to the other (not exactly a remote control!).  Today Phyllis is a real techie as she is very active on Facebook and reads from her iPad daily, and will often Face Time us. I hope I can be as sharp as her . . . next month!

Dale, Phyllis, Starlet, Linda

Her secret to a long life? She says, hard work, good attitude and great family.  Long live the queen!

 

 

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MY AUNT MARILYN MONROE AND SUN VALLEY

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By Suzanne Sparrow Watson

Until the age of 10 I thought Marilyn Monroe was my aunt.  Our Uncle Dick had a deep and abiding love for Marilyn.  So much so that he bought a life-size poster of her to hang in the cabin at Lake Tahoe.  As a way to explain why we had a picture of a blonde bombshell in a bikini so prominently displayed, Uncle Dick and my parents tried to sell us kids on the notion that she was our aunt – therefore, it was a family picture.  They didn’t try very hard to sell the idea and my brothers weren’t buying it at all but I wasn’t exactly the sharpest tool in the shed.  I was mesmerized by her and, as you can see from the photo, I tried to emulate her when I could.  When she died in 1962 I was on my way to Girl Scout camp for two weeks in the Sierras.  The morning paper’s headline screamed “MARILYN MONROE DEAD!”.  So while other girls were shrieking with joy about escaping parental supervision for a week, I was bawling my eyes out over the death of my “aunt”.    Of course, with time, I better understood all of her problems and sexual peccadilloes  with the Kennedys but I still admired her glamour and her intelligence (her IQ was 168).  Today I channel her every December when I sing the “Happy Birthday” song to my brother in my best Marilyn-to-JFK impression.  And, truth being stranger than imagination, I discovered a few years ago that Marilyn Monroe is also a descendant of Mayflower passengers John Alden and Priscilla Mullins.  So, she actually IS my aunt – just 15 times removed!

 

But our common ancestry is not the only thing that Marilyn and I have in common.  She filmed the movie Bus Stop in and around Sun Valley, Idaho during the winter of 1956 and frequented The Ram restaurant.  The Ram is our favorite place to hang out and is the oldest operating restaurant in Sun Valley.  Over the years stars from Gary Cooper and Clark Gable to modern media titans Oprah and Mark Zuckerberg have dined there. The photo (right) was taken of Marilyn on the night before the Bus Stop company left Idaho to return to Los Angeles.  As you can see, Marilyn wasn’t afraid to partake in the local cuisine.  No rabbit food for her – she tucked into a steak and baked potato like a truck driver.  Apparently she loved to eat, which is just another reason to adore her.  At the time she was criticized for wearing such a “manly” sweater, as if Marilyn could look “manly” in anything.  But there may have been a good reason for her bundling up – shortly after her return to Los Angeles she was hospitalized for 12 days with pneumonia.  She blamed her illness on having to wear skimpy clothing in the heart of an Idaho winter.  Still, Bus Stop turned out to be one of her best performances.  Today one can drive a bit north of Sun Valley to visit the North Fork Store (named Grace’s Diner for the film) where Marilyn performed her magic.

For the past 29 years, we have traveled to Sun Valley in September and have had dinner at The Ram.  In fact, because our anniversary is at the end of August, we usually save our special celebration dinner for The Ram.  The photo (left) was taken on our 25th anniversary.  The food is always good and they even have a cocktail named after Marilyn.  Whether sitting inside in the old-fashioned booths with the antler chandeliers or outside on the beautiful terrace overlooking the duck pond, The Ram has always provided great atmosphere and a feeling of history.  Larry Harshbarger, who has been playing the piano at The Ram since 1979 always accommodates our requests.  It is an evening we anticipate with joy each year.

 

This year we marked 30 years of marriage in August so for this special occasion we planned on a romantic dinner at The Ram, listening to Larry and enjoying a Marilyn cocktail.  On our first day in Sun Valley we walked up to the restaurant and were greeted with a boarded up façade. The Ram and the adjacent areas are being renovated for the next three months.  According to the information posted on the fence, The Ram’s interior will be gutted and modernized.  The only remnant of the past will be the antler chandeliers.  The “new and improved” Ram will feature an open kitchen.  I hate open kitchens.  Isn’t the whole reason for going out to dinner is so you DON’T see a kitchen?  I want my meal to appear as if by magic, in the arms of a waiter who bursts through swinging doors carrying a tray filled with plated food.  Open kitchens, in my experience, render conversation with your table mates nearly impossible.  The clanging of pans, shouting of sous chefs and the occasional dropped silverware all conspire to make a cacophony of sound with decibel levels near that of a jackhammer.  So I don’t know what I hate more – that The Ram is being renovated or that it will now feature an open kitchen.

All I know is – I’m sure glad Aunt Marilyn isn’t alive to see this.