The Pee Wee trailer at Hicksville Trailer Palace. Photo copyright 2016 by Anna Boudinot.
Where is the best place to stay in Joshua Tree? You might camp in the gorgeous Joshua Tree National Park, rent an awesome house on AirBNB, or opt for something truly one-of-a-kind. In line with the weird and wonderful desert destinations I’ve been highlighting in my past three posts, I present to you: Hicksville Trailer Palace.
At this point, some of you are exclaiming, “Hicksville Trailer Palace?! Say no more!” and have already clicked on the above link and booked yourself a trailer. You’ve made a smart choice. For those of you who need more convincing, read on.
Hicksville Trailer Palace is essentially an adult playland / desert compound that consists of nine trailers and one standalone studio, each with their own distinct theme. The Hicksville website explains that it was opened in April 2010 as a “retreat for artists of any medium to get away and have a safe place to create and collaborate.” Soon its creator, Morgan Higby Night, “realized that people from any occupation might appreciate a place to go relax and enjoy the magic that is in and around Joshua Tree.” The Wikipedia page for Mr. Night shows that he is a man of diverse titles, including DJ, burlesque show producer, music video director, internet radio station founder, and friend of John Cameron Mitchell.
The Integratrailor at Hicksville Trailer Palace. Photo copyright 2016, Anna Boudinot
The trailers of Hicksville are as varied as Mr. Night’s hobbies. The Lux pays homage to punk legends The Cramps. The Sweet sports 70s kitsch, complete with shag carpet. The Integratrailor boasts an “alien communication system” as a nod to the nearby Integratron. The Fifi is decked out in fleurs-de-lis, a crystal chandelier, and lots of purple. And then there’s the reason I decided I needed to make the trek out to Hicksville: the Pee Wee. This trailer is the actual trailer used by Gina Piccolapupula (Valeria Golino) in the 1988 film Big Top Pee Wee. (As I typed that I had to resist the urge to add an exclamation point at the end of that sentence: I am a huge Pee Wee fan.) You can see photos of the trailer, as it appeared in the movie, here and here. Today, it has been restored well beyond the state it was in back in 1988. With bold hand-painted details inside and out and shimmery jewel-toned fabrics on the walls and furniture, it definitely feels like the home of a sexy acrobat in a traveling circus.
Some of the other idiosyncrasies of this place are its rules and regulations. The rules they emphasize the most are “no sex in the hot tub” and “no geo-tagging.” Hicksville management places huge importance on keeping the location as secret as possible. The address isn’t revealed to you until the week of your stay, even though some of the trailers require reservations a couple months in advance. When you arrive you have to sign an agreement that states you will be fined $250 if you geo-tag your location on social media. In an era where Google Earth lets potential Hicksville visitors explore the world (including Joshua Tree) via satellite images, this seems bizarre. Only registered guests are allowed on the property, meaning that you can’t invite anyone else to play ping-pong with you unless they’re also paying to stay there.
And the rates are a not cheap. I confess: I paid $190 for one night in the Pee Wee. The smallest trailer, the Pony, has no air conditioning and starts at $85 a night. Most of the other trailers are in the $140 range and less expensive Monday through Thursday. The majority, including the Pee Wee, have no bathroom, allowing you the opportunity to put on shoes and a jacket to trek 200 yards to the single toilet shared by 14 other people (if you’re a dude, you can use the urinal inside the old-timey outhouse next to the swimming pool). When it’s time to shower, you can use the “solar shower” outside or the real shower that shares a tiny room with the icemaker. Basically it’s like camping, but I don’t generally fork over more than $20 a night to camp. The largest trailers – the Side Show and the New World – and the studio called Project Z have their own bathrooms and kitchens and cost from $165-$265 a night. You’re really paying for the novelty here, not luxury, so keep that in mind.
The Fifi at Hicksville Trailer Palace. Photo copyright 2016, Anna Boudinot
Hicksville’s other novelties include whimsically decorated attractions that stand out like cactus flowers in the desert backdrop. These include a shooting range (for arrows and for BB guns), a heated swimming pool, a hot tub, a ping-pong table, a photo booth, a library, a vintage video arcade game, a fire pit, a jukebox that plays nonstop from 10 a.m. til 1 a.m., a dog run, and a mini golf course, the latter two of which come at an additional fee. It’s definitely a place designed for groups of friends to hang out and have a fun vacation. When I showed up with only my boyfriend on a weekend with dusty 30 MPH winds, we did little other than quickly walk around the property and retreat to the pee wee Pee Wee. Take a lesson from us and visit this place with a whole bunch of people. It would be great for a family reunion, a birthday celebration, or even a small wedding. A theme wedding! Living like a circus acrobat is pretty much the definition of a once-in-a-lifetime experience.
Those of you who are die-hard Pee Wee Herman fans might want to stop at the Cabazon Dinosaurs on your way into Joshua Tree to glimpse another exciting piece of movie history.