We decided before the trip that once we reached the end of 66 we were going to chill for a couple days in the desert. We picked Twenty-Nine Palms, which is located right next to Joshua Tree National Park. When I was looking to book something, I wanted a quiet spot where we could relax and not deal with lots of people, etc. We found it in the Ramsey 29, a cute 1940’s boutique motel which was renovated recently (sound familiar), with a small pool , great décor and a fantastic restaurant named, Kitchen in the Desert, located on property. And it was super quiet!
Our first night in we walked over to the Kitchen and grabbed a seat at the bar. It was only about 5:30, but the place was hoping. It has both indoor and outdoor dinner seating, lots of casual seating areas both inside and out, an outdoor pool table, and a few shops lining the perimeter. It was a tapas style restaurant, the menu had lots to choose from and everything we picked was outstanding. We had a nice chat with our bartender, Dickie, and learned lots of tidbits about the building and the cultural development happening in Twenty-Nine Palms. The changes were apparent to Joey; he was here many years ago for training at the Marine base and said nothing really looked the same.
On Saturday, we had a great breakfast at a local café, and you could tell this was a favorite spot as we had to wait 20 minuets for a table. Then it was back to the motel for a day relaxing by the pool. As I said the motel has been renovated, but not the pool area. It wasn’t anything a good jackhammer and some concrete couldn’t fix, but it was doable. The lounge chairs were comfy, they provided beach towels, and there were umbrellas if you needed them. The pool was clean and cold, I was able to get in up to my knees, but kudos to Joey, he went in! 🥶
After a few hours, we got cleaned up and headed out to explore and do some shopping. Joey had a mission; he wanted to buy and bring home a barrel catus. We hit the local ACE Hardware which advertised local native plants, what’s more native in the desert than cactus? Well, according to ACE Hardware native plants are tomato plants and a couple sad looking pepper plants. 😂 No cactus 🌵. After another internet search we found a small store that specialized in cactus, we hit the jackpot! As soon as we pulled up, there they were, two cute little barrel cactus just waiting for us to pick one and take it home to catus friendly New England. We also picked up another cute little cactus so the big one wouldn’t be lonely in the back of the car on the long drive home. Fingers crossed for a successful relocation for Josh and Groot. Yes, we named our cactus. 😁
The cactus store was a big score, but even better was a vintage thrift shop right next store. Time for me to do a little thrifting. The woman who owned the store was great and I loved the name, Kinky Boots Vintage, she had lots of stuff, clothing, shoes, purses, jewelry, etc. And she wanted to sell things; everything was extremely reasonably priced. I loaded up on several pieces and hit the dressing room. Remember those 50 lbs., 😫, let’s just say I went in with 8 pieces and only left with three. 🤪 But the three I bought are great, I am happy. And on top of that, she recommended a great place to eat, the Twenty-Nine Palms Inn, so we headed over and we were not disappointed.
Sunday morning and our two-night respite is over, now we shift gears (pun intended), and head to Long Beach for the Acura Long Beach Grand Prix and an overnight stay on the Queen Mary. Sadly, we needed to go back towards LA, but we took a better route, left super early and didn’t hit any traffic along the way.
We arrived at the port and saw that beautiful lady with her smokestacks and masts. She was quite the sight. Built in the 1930’s, it was operated by the Cunard-White Star line and after being decommissioned it is now permanently docked in Long Beach and serves as a hotel, museum and tourist attraction. Walking around you can feel the elegance and grandeur and can imagine how spectacular she must have been in her time. While new cruise ships offer all kinds of amenities, she offers grace and beauty. We had booked a mini suite, two rooms, two full baths, and loaded with old charm.
When we arrived, our room was not ready, we left our luggage with the bellman, and it was time to head to the race. They offer a water taxi right in front of the ship and takes you across to downtown Long Beach, it’s $1 pp each way. This was a fantastic, the drop off dock is right next to the race location. No traffic jams, no shuttle buses, no crap to deal with. Super simple. Joey bought us seats right near start finish, the sun was shining, it was a beautiful day for a race. The pre-race festivities were top notch, including an appearance by the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team, who put on a show above and made a perfect landing right in front of us while carrying a huge American flag. If you don’t get chills or feel immense patriotism when you see this, you should! 🇺🇸
The race itself, while a bit boring, was still good, as I said we had great seats and were right across from pit lane. Lots of action there.
After the race it was back to the water taxi and to the ship to check in. We settled in a bit and then headed to the Observation Bar for a drink and then to the Chelsea Chowder House restaurant for a nice dinner. Both spots were beautiful and the decor was Art Deco. You did feel as those you were on a cruise, even though the ship wasn’t moving.
We needed to leave very early in the morning as we had to go back towards LA,😫 I would have loved to spend more time exploring. Hopefully, we can make another trip out here and do just that.
Tomorrow starts our eastward journey, we still have lots to see, and a stopover to visit some friends. This trip home will be a bit quicker than the trip out, but we still plan on seeing some sites. We need to get home, unpack and repack, we have a wedding to attend! ❤️ Hope you’re ready Brian and Julie!
See you down the road.
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