Long, long on retro laughs: Lucy and Desi in "The Long, Long Trailer"

Lucille Ball would have turned 100 the other day and Turner Classic Movies, the best channel on TV, showed an absolute delight for eccentric roadside fans, "The Long, Long Trailer" in her honor. We'd seen it before, but this time marvelled and what a great, retro roadtrip of a flick it is. If you like the 1950s, "TLLT" has got it all: big cars (a gorgeous yellow 1953 Mercury Monterey convertible), great trailers (the 1953 40-foot yellow two-tone New Moon), great duds, fabulous scenery, and best of all, Desi Arnaz. For my money, Desi was always much funnier than Lucy, with his exaggerated expressions and reactions. Made on their hiatus from "I Love Lucy" in 1954 and directed by notable auteur Vincente Minelli, "TLLT" is basically Lucy and Ricky Ricardo (they're Tacy and Nicky Collini here) in a beautiful technicolor feature-length comedy. Newly married and at Tacy's insistence, a reluctant Nicky agrees to buy a trailer home that's too expensive, too big, too everything. They have to travel cross-country and encounter one disaster after another, including city traffic, nosy trailer park neighbors, getting stuck in the mud, and smashing up Tacy's relatives' house. Worst of all, Nicky has to drive the monstrosity up a treacherous winding Colorado mountain road. Lucy does her usual slapstick, but, really, it's all about Desi suffering. His eyes bulge, he mops his brow nervously, gets covered in muck and rain, and has post traumatic stress disorder-like flashbacks ("TRAILER BRAKE FIRST! TRAILER BREAK FIRST! AHHHHGGHH!!"). They did some gorgeous filming in Yosemite National Park and that nerve-racking mountain road scene was filmed on Mount Whitney in the Sierra Nevada mountains. And I think the movie is actually much funnier than "I Love Lucy" and it's in color!

So, if you're a fan of both Desilu and roadtrips like we are, watch out for "The Long, Long Trailer" on TCM or get it from Netflix. Otherwise, you'll have some splainin' to do.

Happy trailers to you: Bisbee, Arizona's Shady Dell vintage trailer park

Nine vintage trailers await you, including...

The 1957 Airfloat (that's the inside below).

Interior pics are from The Shady Dell's website. Go visit them!

The 1949 Airstream, left, and the '57 El Rey (lawn flamingos come at no extra charge).

Here's the interior of the Airstream...comfy!

This is the 1950 Manor, stately and proud...

...and equipped with a kitchen Lucy would love.

The 1950 Royal Mansion is fit for a king.

Jen is ready to help you at the front office.

We've already done a few posts about how awesome a place Bisbee, Arizona is but everything else this cool town has to offer the eccentric roadside attraction fan pales in comparison to The Shady Dell vintage travel trailer court on Douglas Road. Nine beautifully restored trailers of different shapes and varieties dating back from 1949-57 (plus a 1947 Tiki bus and a 1947 38-foot yacht!) are lovingly arranged in a gravel court with picket fences and trellises. And you can spend a night or two in one of these aluminum dreams, each equipped with vintage accoutrements, like working percolators and period 2-color TVs, to make your visit a retro dream come true. Unfortunately, we were on a rather tight schedule so we couldn't stay overnight in one of these tin can mansions, but we did get to walk around and gawk at them and have a nice chat with Jen, who, with her boyfriend Justin, his mother Annette and their friend Ken run the place. The park dates back to 1927, as a traveler's oasis along Route 80, the old road from Savannah, Georgia to San Diego, California and sister to the more famous Route 66. Today the park is a living, breathing museum of the good life of the 1950s open road, when Lucy and Desi led the way in "The Long Long Trailer." Fancy some bacon and eggs and a cup o' joe? Nestled in the property is Dot's Diner, a tiny gem that diner aficionados will recognize as a 1950s Valentine model. We'll do a post about Dot's later. So come on, eccentric roadside fans...pack up the station wagon and head down to Bisbee. They've got it made in the shade.