Today, Camp Vincent sets off on the legendary Route 66 following two days of art, food, film, ghosts, comedy and movie memories.
Our guide, Victoria Price, led us through her beloved Santa Fe, visiting its many galleries, including the inspiring Georgia O’Keefe, which are the heartbeat of this artistically inclined city.
We also marvelled at the unique abode design of the city’s buildings, visited the oldest home in the US circa 1600s, and heard tales of restless spirits that haunt old hotels like La Fonda and La Posada from one of Santa Fe’s leading ghost walk tour guides.
Check out the apparition alledgedly on camera at La Fonda in the pic we were shown. This wasn’t taken by us, but we did have our own weird encounter – a swaying chandelier at La Posada. But the jury is out on whether it really was a spectral message or just a prank.
The folks over at the George RR Martin-owned Jean Cocteau cinema held a screening of Sam Fuller’s 1950 drama The Baron of Arizona, which was fitting as its real life tale of 19th century swindler James Addison Reavis (Vincent Price) was partially set in Santa Fe.
I was on hand to provide some trivia on the film’s production during the Q&A with Victoria, who spoke about her dad’s connection with the city and also got to sign copies of the new anniversary reprint of her parent’s Come Into the Kitchen cookbook.
A big highlight was a lecture given at the Institute of American Indian Arts where Vincent Price served as a very active board member from 1956 to 1972, and where he oversaw the Vincent Price Poetry Contest,which was created by in 1963.
Personally, it has been Vincent’s lifelong love for indigenous art, and its preservation and development, that is cornerstone to my own journey in celebrating his legacy. So listening to his recordings from the IAIA archives while looking at photos of Price in situ was a very moving experience for me personally.
Another hugely memorable highlight was the opportunity to meet and dine with retired British actor David Frankham (b 1926) a longtime Sante Fe resident who shared some terrific memories about working with Vincent on The Master of the World, Tales of Terror and Return of the Fly – as well as his many TV appearances on cult shows like Star Trek and memories of working with some of the greats of Hollywood’s golden age. What a wonderfully warm and entertaining human being, and so fit and alert, it must be something to do with the climate…
Sadly, our Santa Fe adventure has come to an end, but I do hope to return one day and continue my conversation with Mr Frankham and those spirits of yesterday. Now, its time to hit the road.
#campvincent #purejoy
