I was lucky enough to live in Seattle for most of the 1990's. Having lived most of my life in Massachusetts, at the ripe old (or so I thought at the time) age of 27, my gypsy blood sent me all the way across the country to the Emerald City. The year? 1993. No, I'd never been there before. Yes, I bought a plane ticket and just went. Brave or foolish? Sage or silly? All of the above! But I never regretted it. In those days, one of the kitschest shops in town was Ruby Montana's Pinto Pony:
How great was that storefront, huh? It was a place as colorful and outgoing as Ruby herself, a kind of bon vivant whose name was on the lips of all the funky peeps.
Fast forward sixteen (?!) years later, and I'm planning a vacation to Seattle, my first since I moved back to New England in 2001. I'm excited to visit with the good friends I've maintained contact with, and I'm eager to revisit many of the sights of my old "stomping grounds". One thing I've just realized, however, is that I won't find is Ruby's store. Seems she closed it and mosied on down to Palm Springs. As in Cali-forn-I-aY! Now she is proprietress of Ruby Montana's Coral Sands Inn, a mid-century gem circa 1952.
(Whoa, I just felt a warm breeze coming off the screen. It's 63 degrees and rainy here in Boston, so this is great. More than great).
The hotel is coral-y pink (remember, this was 1952!) The doors are aqua. It has seven guest rooms, all of which are themed. Among them: The Poodle Room and The Dale Evans & Roy Rogers Suite. Apparently, all guest rooms face the kidney-shaped pool:
Which also looks very fetching after the sun goes down:
Look at the pink lights dancing on the surface of the water! Pink and aqua, so very 1950's.
Now THIS is California living.
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