A Night With Marilyn Monroe

By: Sandra Whipple

It was September and my husband, Dennis, and I were looking forward to our wedding anniversary weekend at Lake Tahoe. We had chosen the Cal-Neva Resort on the North Shore for many reasons. One of the most important reasons was that it had a long and famous history. Built in the 1920's as a lodge and casino, it eventually ended up in the hands and ownership of Frank Sinatra. It became a playground for the famous 'Rat Pack' and their Hollywood friends. Another unique feature is that it straddles the California/Nevada border. The state line is painted right through the Indian Room (which was the original dining room) and through the swimming pool. You can literally swim from California to Nevada and back without much trouble or effort!

While owned by Frank Sinatra, he had a cabin built just behind the casino. Marilyn Monroe also had her own cabin as she spent some considerable amount of time there, most notably, the weekend before she died. Guests can stay in either of the 'celebrity cabins'. We had reserved the Monroe cabin simply for the reason that we loved the actress and were fascinated with her life. We also planned to dress the part with my husband portraying Frank Sinatra and I as Marilyn Monroe. So, with reservations firmly in hand, our 'Rat Pack' clothing in the back, we set off for our adventure.

Arriving at the Cal-Neva late in the afternoon, we could already feel the aura of that wonderful golden age of the Vegas and Hollywood celebrities. The entire place seemed to be gripped in a sort of time slip. We got our card keys and eagerly went to the Monroe cabin, only to find that the keys did not work. Time and again, we slipped the 'card' in and out of the door to no avail. Finally, I said, "Marilyn, we're friends. Can you let us in?" Suddenly, the green light on the door came on and the door opened!

Going in, we unpacked quickly so we could explore. My husband went out to move the car and I took out my cell phone and checked the battery. It was full, but just to be sure, I plugged it into the charger and plugged that into the wall socket. Turning around, I then proceeded to unpack the video camera. I had fully charged all four batteries the night before. Much to my dismay, all four were drained! I then heard a 'beep' and turned around to see my cell phone lit up as though someone had just put through a call. I checked to see if the charger had come unplugged from the wall and saw that it was still plugged in securely. Then I noticed, as I picked up the phone, that the battery was also completely drained! I looked around and suppressed a shudder.

"Okay," I thought. "Marilyn has never seen a cell phone and was just curious."

When my husband came back, we took off to explore.

Even though they'd had several inches of snow the night before, I had to swim in the famous pool and swam back and forth across the state line, much to my delight.

Back in the cabin, we changed quickly into our 'Rat Pack' attire and went to explore some more. Our first stop was the 'Frank Sinatra Celebrity Showroom'. As we entered, I had an immediate feeling of stepping back in time. I could almost hear the clink of martini glasses, see the haze of cigarette smoke and see Dean Martin singing on stage. In the dining room, we were met by the restaurant supervisor, Kevin, who treated us like the stars we represented. The food was superb and the service excellent.

While sitting there, I could feel the presence of Frank and Dean as they strolled amongst the tables, chatting with guests. Kevin was wonderful and treated us to a private tour of the underground tunnel. Frank had this built so he could leave the showroom after performances and make his way to his cabin undisturbed. The tunnel also led to Marilyn's cabin. While down there, we didn't sense any particular presence, even though this was the tunnel that Peter and Pat Lawford had led a nearly comatose Marilyn out to the helicopter pad the weekend before she died.

As we thanked our gracious host, we made our way back to the cabin. Once again, the keys did not work. For a full ten minutes, we stood on the balcony trying one key after another to no avail. Finally, my husband gave up, took the keys out and turned to go to the main desk to ask for help. I quietly knocked on the door and whispered, "Marilyn, please let us in. It is cold and my feet hurt and I think you can relate to that." Suddenly, the green light came on and the door popped open! My husband turned to me with an expression of total shock.

After that, we spent a very restful night and reluctantly left the next morning. It was very hard to leave, and needless to say, the aura of the place stayed with us for days. Even on the day after we came back, my husband called me from work to tell me he couldn't concentrate, he still felt 'stuck in the sixties'.

We plan on another trip back to do some more research, and hopefully, Marilyn and Frank will be there to visit with us too.