We took a morning walk down a street called Frank Sinatra this weekend while we were in the Palm Springs area. This is the view from Palm Desert of Mt. San Jacinto. The mountain is a few blocks from the backyard of our old home. Many of the streets are named after celebrities including Bob Hope, Gerald Ford, Dinah Shore, Gene Autry and Fred Waring. My kids didn’t know that Fred Waring was a person. But they heard of Dinah Shore when Leonardo DiCaprio moved into Dinah Shore’s old house — next door to one of their school mates.
Frank Sinatra’s compound is on Frank Sinatra Drive, which might be the reason for the street’s name. I once interviewed to be Sinatra’s assistant’s assistant and entered his property for an interview. One of my ballet friends had the job and she was asked to refer people for the position because she was moving to LA. It turned out the job paid about 25% less than what I was making in PR for a local developer, so working with the Sinatras was not enough of a pull for me to change jobs.
We had a busy weekend with my dad’s 92nd birthday, visiting clients and attending a friend’s funeral. That’s why we drove about five hours Saturday and five hours on Sunday.
View of Desert Willow golf course from a sidewalk along Frank Sinatra.
This was a park a few blocks from our house.
What did you do this past weekend that you enjoyed?
Had a great dinner, excellent book club meeting, saw Brett Goldstein do stand up and had a great pickleball games
Wow. That all sounds like fun. I would like to get back into pickleball. I’ve only played a few times, but I have my zoom call to discuss current events at the same time as pickleball.
We just play with friends.
We have a tennis court in the neighborhood but it doesn’t have lines for pickleball. At the gym we set up pickleball courts in the basketball courts and the hours are limited.
I’m shocked that you don’t have pickleball facilities out there.
Our neighbors from Palm Springs who moved one mile from us have a ton of courts in their development. But they have seven golf courses and seven club houses! Maybe we can get them to invite us to play pickleball 😊
Yes!!
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Happy birthday to your dad! I spent all weekend fractionally trying to finish my book before book club. 😅
Thank you. My dad was a hoot. We went to a diner with great food near his house. I mentioned when they brought the check that it was his 92nd birthday and he said “I want the entire staff to sing to me.” They brought him a giant ice cream sundae with a candle and the staff and owner sang to him. He was thrilled.
That’s so sweet that the staff and owner sang to your father and brought him ice cream! It sounds like such a special and wonderful day!
It was. Then the funeral the next day was strangely uplifting. I haven’t seen our friend’s daughter since she was in high school and she’s late 20s now. She and her boyfriend put together the entire funeral. I’m so impressed with her. Her mother didn’t have to do anything.
I enjoyed 60 degree weather and the fact that the torrential rain stopped so I could walk! In fact I got too warm and had to take my jacket off. I can’t remember the last time that happened. I also made a new flatbread pizza that uses a unique set of ingredients. It was amazing 🙂
Love the photos of the mountains from the old home town!
We had such a nice walk, too. At our new home we had four or five days of constant rain which is so strange, plus weather in the 40s. I loved getting out and walking. We also went to our favorite pizza place and brought pizza home!
Once upon a time I hiked Mt. San Jacinto with a group of intrepid spouses. We were in Palm Springs and while our spouses attended a conference, the conference planners had set up the hike, to keep us entertained until cocktail hour when the real fun began. Hadn’t thought of that in years.
That sounds like a great trip. There are hikes from the bottom to the top of San Jacinto and also trails after riding the tram. We’d buy summer passes for the tram because the weather is 30 degrees cooler on top. We hiked up there all summer long, if we weren’t at the beach.
Palm Springs is beautiful. Your dad is 92! Happy Birthday to him!
Thank you. He’s doing well in his own home. He does not want to be moved into a facility. So far, so good.
Great photos and a fun fact about Frank Sinatra and you interviewing to be his assistant’s assistant. 🙂
Glad you were able to celebrate with your dad. Happy Birthday to him!! Sorry about the loss of your friend.
My sisters and I got together at my Mom’s and spent the day together. Always a fun time, and my mom loves having us all together. <3
Thank you! I can imagine how wonderful that would be for your mom. I am so grateful for time with my kids together.
<3
Love, love, love these pics. Thanks for taking us along. Mom (Sue) had a place she’d rent with girlfriends in Palm Springs and for a couple of years, we’d tag along at holiday time to join the ladies. Some of the best fun ever — Palm Springs is a delight. Happy Birthday again to you dad, btw! 🥰
Do you remember where in Palm Springs Sue would stay? The weekend was great, but It was tiring because of driving Saturday and Sunday five hours each! We got home way after our bedtime last night. The funeral was wonderful, if that is possible. The daughter did all the planning with her boyfriend. She was a year behind my son in school. It opened with her playing piano “Clair de Lune.”
Oh how beautiful…”Clair de Lune’. I hear you about a wonderful funeral. Yes — I agree. Possible and the best sort of celebration of life. As to where we stayed with Sue…if I looked at a map of Palm Springs, I might be able to figure out where Sue rented a condo…it was in an area with loads of semi-attached single-story homes on cul-de-sacs. (I probably just described a huge portion of Palm Springs!) I know it wasn’t far from downtown and Frank Sinatra Blvd/St because we walked everywhere we could…loved the theatre downtown. But — you need some rest, don’t you! That was a lot of ‘drive time’ – whether you were driving or the passenger. xo, Elizabeth! 🥰
It was so nice to hear relatives and friends talk about our friend. He was such a special person and the funeral was a nice tribute. You did describe a lot of Palm Springs. We drove by our old house and neighborhood. Everything looked so beautiful but tight and too close. I guess I’m getting used to our wide open spaces. We lived one block from downtown. And you are correct, I need a nap!
Nap away…enjoy…and give Olive some snuggles from me! 🥰🥰🥰
Will do! She’s waiting for me on our bed.
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I love Frank Sinatra and that’s cool that they named some streets after celebrities. Happy belated birthday to your dad. And I’m so sorry for the loss of your friend.
Thank you. I am a Frank Sinatra fan, too. The job seemed exciting but the person who had it said you were on call 24/7 for whatever Frank wanted. If he wanted lavendar soap at midnight, it would have been up to me to find it. That would be tough.
Yeah, I can imagine that would be difficult. But from what I’ve heard a lot of famous people can be like that even these days.
You’re probably right, unfortunately.
I love the desert in the winter! We might get over in that area in the next month or so to visit some snowbirds who spend several months there avoiding the weather where they live. I always like to see bright blue skies and snow on the mountains.
Palm Springs is gorgeous. This is the first time I enjoyed visiting since we moved three years ago. I think I had a lot of unsettled feelings about leaving and now am loving where I live in the Scottsdale desert. Does that make sense?
Absolutely. You were apprehensive about the unknown but now it’s known. It’s important to love where you live, I think.
Happy birthday!!! Any insights on the intersection of streets named for artists? Do they indicate collaboration? You could really have fun designing a community like that!
All those people lived there or do live there if they are still alive. I went to a writers/film women’s event a few years ago that had Lucie Arnaz as the keynote speaker. Her speech made a lot of references like “at the corner of Bob and Frank” etc. It had everyone laughing.
Oh wow, I didn’t expect that!
Milestone birthday and a funeral all in one weekend? My goodness.
We went snowshoeing in the gorgeous La Plata mountains with the dogs yesterday. A perfect outing!
I’ll trade weekends with you! 😊
When we visited Palm Springs three years ago, it was surreal to see the signs of the famous stars and to see the mountains so close by. Such a beautiful area.
It’s a special place. I had trouble moving, but now I appreciate where we are.
Love the pictures and the great desert scenery, Elizabeth. Such a great story about interviewing for the Sinatra’s. And all the local celebrities. I’ve only visited Palm Springs a couple of times but really loved it for the weather and for the fancy but low-key vibe, if that makes any sense. Glad it was worth the drive!
It is beautiful and does have the vibe you described.
Beautiful views.
It was a beautiful morning.