Devour the Desert
A Palm Springs Food & Culture Journal
The Local Architecture | The Secret Language of Mid-Century Modern Palm Springs
Palm Springs has many languages.
There is the language of cocktails, spoken fluently from shaded patios at golden hour. There is the language of swimming pools, where a perfectly placed chaise lounge says more than most conversations. There is the language of food, which happens to be our favorite dialect.
But perhaps the city's most distinctive language is one that never utters a word at all.
It is the secret language of Mid-Century Modern architecture.
The Local Questions,Vol.4 | Field Notes from Palm Springs
Every Place Has Its Frequently Asked Questions
In New York, it's, "How do people afford to live here?"
In Seattle, it's, "Does it ever stop raining?"
In Palm Springs, the questions get... weirder.
Why is a giant roadrunner strutting through a parking lot like he owns the place? Do I need to worry about stepping on a rattlesnake? Is everybody really retired or just driving a golf cart? And why do the mountains look different every time you glance up?
The Local Questions Vol. 3 | Field Notes from Palm Springs
After enough tours, you realize Palm Springs visitors don't just ask where to eat.
They ask the questions that seem simple—right up until you try answering them.
So what's up with all the orange?
Why are there hummingbirds everywhere?
Should I be worried about the tram?
Every place develops its own frequently asked questions. These happen to be ours.
The Local Questions, Vol. 2 | Field Notes From Palm Springs
The Longer You Stay in Palm Springs, The Stranger Your Questions Become
At first it's practical.
Where should we eat? Why is every third house somehow more beautiful than the last? Is everyone really this relaxed?
Then, somewhere around your second single-origin nitro cold brew and fourth glimpse of a hummingbird, your mind begins to wander.
Which is how you end up asking the kind of questions that only make sense in the desert.