Beyond the Pools: Exploring the Quirkiest Corners of Palm Springs
While Palm Springs is famous for its mid-century glam and poolside lounging, the magic and charm also lie in its more eccentric corners.
From the village’s earliest days, this extraordinary place has drawn the dreamers and schemers, the drifters and grifters, the delightfully eccentric and the unexpectedly offbeat. To paraphrase Dorothy when she lands in Oz, we’re not in Kansas anymore! (See doormat above)
Many of the people who come here return and reinvent themselves in the dry desert sunshine. And why not? As Oscar Wilde said: “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken.”
At Artisan Food Tours, we’ll tell the stories, spill the tea and dish the dirt on our colorful cast of characters, while exploring our town and sampling the cuisine at five of our best restaurants and shops.
In the meantime, here’s a few quirky corners you can explore on your own in the greater Palm Springs area:
The World’s First “Cactarium”
Tucked away near downtown is the Moorten Botanical Garden, a family-owned treasure since 1938. Chester “Cactus Slim” Moorten started the garden after a career as an actor in the Keystone Cops movies. He became a recognized authority on cacti and succulents, designed the landscape for Frank Sinatra’s home in Tamarisk Country Country Club and sold plants to Walt Disney for Disneyland. The Cactarium is a vintage greenhouse packed with rare alien-looking cacti. You can explore the greenhouse and grounds for a small admission fee.
The Integratron
A one-of-a-kind meditative experience, in a hand-built wooden dome near Joshua Tree. Built in 1954, its creator, George Van Tassel (1910-1978) claimed the structure is based on the design of Moses’ Tabernacle, the writings of Nikola Tesla and telepathic directions from extraterrestrials. Sound bath experiences are offered in the dome, featuring its extraordinary acoustics. The weird and whacky SoCal history is told in a calm, sincere manner, without irony or skepticism. Believe the story or not, the sound bath is a marvelously relaxing experience and the dome is impressive, now on the National Register of Historic Places. Van Tassel, an aeronautical engineer and master woodworker, had earlier helped Howard Hughes build his famous Spruce Goose, a huge wooden airplane. After the sound bath, treat yourself to a meal at nearby La Coupine restaurant.
Salvation Mountain
A drive toward the Salton Sea leads to this massive folk art project, a technicolor mountain made of adobe and straw covered in thousands of gallons of paint, with the central message “God is Love.” The mountain, over three stories tall, is the life’s work of creator, Leonard Knight. It was featured in the 2007 film “Into the Wild” directed by Sean Penn.
https://www.salvationmountain.us/
Storytelling is at the heart of what we do at Artisan Food Tours. We drill deep to find the best stories and weave them into our tours, all for the purpose of creating surprise, delight and wonder. Join us for a gourmet walking food tour in the heart of Palm Springs. We’ll drink the wine and spill the tea!