Vacations

Then and Now.

How times change.

Then

This is a family outing for a day at the beach in about 1950 - 51.

Marsden Grotto is the location.

Left is my Dad, Norman, next Uncle John, next  Aunt Jenny, right my Mom, Cilla.

I'm the dude with the spade on the lower right.

Boy, was Uncle John being daring, he took his jacket off.

Note how the men are both wearing ties at the beach!

This was at least two and perhaps three different buses to get there.

Credit to my cousin Elizabeth for not only keeping this picture for all of those years, but giving it to me on my most recent visit.

Thank you CUZ.

Now

On Wednesday, Anne and I took Missy to Palm Springs for an overnight stay, just to see how she would behave in a hotel.

This is how much stuff we took for one night and one dog, if we went for a week, I would need a bigger truck.

We stayed in a Best Western at the south end of Palm Canyon Drive, low key and just right for our needs.

Not only was the hotel pet friendly but so were most of the guests.

Lots of people came out of their way to pet the Miss and talk about their dogs.

This included a group of German tourists who arrived about the same time we did.

We took the Miss out during the afternoon for a walk around and to check out the sights.

Welcome to the Hotel California, as the Eagles song went back in the day.

In the early evening we took the Miss to Miro's restaurant on South Palm Canyon Drive.

A wonderful place with great food and even better service.

The patio with out a roof is pet friendly, in fact the first thing the waiter did was to bring out a bowl of water for Missy.

The restaurant is owned and operated by a Hungarian couple, the menu is varied and has lots of traditional European dishes. 

I had Beef Stroganoff and Spaetzel, excellent.

At the end of the meal, I decided to have a Baileys, it was on the drinks menu, so I thought no problem.

The waiter came back to the table and said it would take a few minutes, the owner Miro, had to run out to the store and buy a bottle.

That's service, none of that "Oh Sorry We Are Out" bullshit here.

We headed home early Thursday morning.

The weather forecast for HB was heavy rain in the afternoon.

Boy were they right.

Still, it passed very quickly and we had sunshine by about 4:30 PM.

This is what Palm Springs is all about.

What an image.

I gotta get me one of those cigars.

More soon from the beach.

Ciao Bella,

Norm