Travel – Page 9 – thosecoolkims

Tennessee Super Kitschfest! – Day 1, Arriving in Nashville

Oh, Nashville – we’ve only just arrived, and we heart you already. We got into town at about 6pm, and immediately hit up downtown to get a taste of the city. We knew it was gonna be kitschy, but you know what else it is? Full of heart! Whether its the people singing their hearts out at karaoke, the peeps who own the most amazing (real!) record shops I’ve seen, or the folks working at the boot store, these people love their city. It’s contagious.

So maybe you say Nashville’s not for you ’cause you don’t dig on country music. Well, the truth is trying to categorize country music as one genre is a major fail. I don’t dig on Kenny Chesney, Garth Brooks or Faith Hill either — but I love me some Pasty, Loretta, Hank and Willie! Nashville is full of nostalgia and big time homages to Country Music legends of yesteryear. Ernest Tubb record shop had us in awe — its an amazing place, and there are so many signed pics of celebrities in there that I could’ve stayed all day. When we found Ernest Tubbs, this was exactly what we had in mind when planning our trip here. Pardon the crappy picture, but there was no way I could pass up a photo with a real authentic autograph by Patsy Cline herself. This place was a great place to hit up to get us acclimated to Nashville right off the bat! (Oh, and thanks to Ernest Tubb’s, we just might have found tix to a Tammy Wynette tribute show on Tuesday when we get back – YES!)

We are loving all the awesome signage and kitschy cowboy shops too. Even though Ruby looks cute in a cowboy hat, I don’t think we’re ready to commit – but is it bad I kinda want a pair of boots? We had a chance to window shop at several great shops on Broadway … here are a few highlights:

And then of course, the three of us had to take over the Grand Ole Opry …

We’re headed out to Pigeon Forge in the morning (Dollywood awaits!), but we’ll be back in awesome Nashville on Tuesday. Until then, Music City!

See all pics from the day here:

Tennessee – Day 1

Super-Kitschfest 2012!

We are headed off for Tennessee to have the most over-the-top vacation to date — we’re headed to Dollywood, Graceland + Nashville! Yep, all those things and more in one vacation … we can’t wait! Less than 48 hours, and we’ll be arriving in Nashville…

Stay tuned … we’ll be blogging along the way (we think!), just like the good ol’ days. Bring on the BBQ, Patsy Cline Impersonators and the Fried Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwiches!

Palm Springs, Day Two

Oh, yesterday was chock full of perfection! It couldn’t have been better, and we managed to fit in just about everything we love in Palm Springs.

First – it must be mentioned that we SLEPT IN.

Then, it was off to Charles Phoenix‘s retro slideshow: Pools, Patios and BBQs. We had been to his Holiday slideshow before, and it was so fun and super kitschy that we knew we would love the backyard one, too. Basically – he has found and collected the jackpot of kodak chodachrome slides from the ’50-’70s, and has compiled them all into one amazing and hilarious compilation. Here’s just one gem of an example from his slides from the show:

Probably even more of a surprise than his show, was the auditorium and grounds of the Palm Springs Art Museum where the show was held! Yes, we always swoon over the amazing mid-century modernness of Palm Springs, but the museum is super-70s, and we couldn’t have been more thrilled! All orange, very orange … we were dying over it, and took a few pics:

After the slideshow, we headed upstairs to catch the Backyard Oasis: The Swimming Pool in Southern California Photography, 1945-1982 exhibit, which is as amazing as it sounds, and the perfect thing to see while in Palm Springs!

After all the amazing architecture and art, we were starving – so it was time to hit up our favorite place to eat in Palm Springs – Norma’s, which is on the campus of the absolutely fabulous Parker Palm Springs Hotel. There’s not a trip in Palm Springs that has happened that we haven’t stopped at the Parker. We love it there and freak out over Jonathan Adler’s design no matter how many times we’ve seen it. Norma’s has the best brunch ever. I got my usual lobster + asparagus omelette and Ed got a take on eggs benedict with pancakes, canadian bacon + asparagus. Yummmmmmmmmmmm.

We’re always planning our next trip to Palm Springs, even before the current one is over, and I’d heard about a new hotel in town called the Saguaro. Basically, they took over the old Holiday Inn and swanktified it – and now, we are definitely going to stay there next time! It looks amazing with all the colors of the rainbow. We could not get enough of this place as we walked around …

After drooling over the grounds of the Saguaro, we took off to drive around the neighborhoods of Palm Springs to admire the gloriously restored and very well loved mid-century modern homes. We even made a stop by one of our old favorite, Richard Neutra’s Kaufmann House, and got a pic of it in my fancy 5-series that I’ve been testing all week!

It was an amazing day!

Palm Springs for Carrie’s Birthday!

Many of you know that Palm Springs is a place dear to our hearts. Iconic mid-century architecture, fun and stylin’ places to hang out and get pampered, and on top of that, it’s just a good place to chill. As such, coming here for Carrie’s birthday has become something of a tradition for us.

And so for Carrie’s birthday this year, where are we? Naturally! This time around, we’re staying at Hope Springs, a place we’ve wanted to check out for many years. Very cool, if slightly bare bones. Carrie’s birthday this year happened to fall on a Friday…the beginning of all the festivities for Modernism Week Palm Springs!

Dipping our feet in the mineral hot springs tub!

THIS is Edfood. Lobster pot pie at Copley's.

We’ve got lots more fun coming tomorrow, so stay tuned!

Oh Palm Springs, How we have missed you!

What has always been a yearly tradition, we are headed back to Palm Springs for my birthday and Modernism Week this year! This is a major milestone for us, because we are leaving Ruby with Grandma + Grandpa and heading out for 2 glorious days/nights! Ed + I have been giddy ever since booking the trip this afternoon.

This year, we have decided to stay at Hope Springs Resort. It’s been on our list for while, and we decided to go for it this year. It’s actually in Desert Hot Springs, so outside of Palm Springs proper, but its gorgeous and somewhere different, and a little bit more budget friendly than our past trips, like at The Parker and The Viceroy. :) We figure the 3 hot mineral pools and the amazing mid-century modern grounds will make up for the 20 min. commute into Palm Springs for the day …

We’re also going to check out Charles Phoenix’s new Retro Slideshow, “Pools, Patios, and BBQs”. We can NOT wait! We saw his Christmas slideshow a few years ago, and it was too rad for words. This is going to be a great weekend … I’ve never been so excited to turn another year older!