Roadtripping through the desert this fall? Don’t miss date season in Coachella Valley
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By Rachel Schnalzer
Design and illustrations by Jade Cuevas
Good morning, fellow Escapists. It’s no secret that the Golden State is a treasure trove of colorful attractions to explore. Still, I can’t help but feel a gleeful sense of wonder every time I learn about another gem hiding in plain sight.
In this edition of Escapes, you’ll find some little-known but enthralling places to experience the magic of California. Some, like the monarch butterfly grove in Pismo Beach, are a celebration of the state’s natural wonders, while others are the zany brainchildren of the creative minds that call California home.
Where have you felt wonder and awe recently? Send me a message if you’d like to share.
Get inspired to get away.
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🦋 Marvel at monarch butterflies in Pismo Beach
Last month, Times travel writer Christopher Reynolds published his list of the 40 best California experiences to try this fall. His suggested destinations range in variety from the long-awaited Academy Museum of Motion Pictures to the starkly beautiful Badwater Basin in Death Valley National Park.
Reynolds also asked readers to let him know what he missed while writing the list.
One glaring omission as noted by reader Bruce McDermott of Laguna Niguel? The Monarch Butterfly Grove in Pismo Beach, one of five sites in California with counts of more than 10,000 butterflies annually, according to Pismo Beach’s tourism officials.
At the grove, “thousands of butterflies are on view clinging to each other and collectively clinging to the eucalyptus trees next to the ocean,” McDermott told Reynolds.
Travelers are in luck: We’re fast approaching the grove’s monarch season, with migration usually taking place from late October through February. The grove is free to visit.
😋 Try some dates in the Coachella Valley
You may enjoy adding dates to your salad or quenching your thirst with a satisfying date shake.
Did you know that California is responsible for growing 90% of all dates in the United States — most of them coming from the Coachella Valley? October is an excellent time to travel east to the desert — or your local farmers market — to pick up some freshly harvested dates, said Times contributor Christian Reynoso in a recent story.
If you make the trip to the Coachella Valley, plan to stop at date farmer Sam Cobb’s seasonal market in Desert Hot Springs, open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays.
For Cobb, date farming is a way of life, requiring vast amounts of patience and commitment. “It takes 21 days to grow a radish, and it takes 21 years for a date palm to grow [to maturity],” he told Reynoso.
Those interested in learning about how dates are grown and how new varieties are developed can book a tour of Cobb’s farm (11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturdays and 10 a.m. Wednesdays). All Wednesday tours must be booked in advance. Tickets are $42 for adults and include a pound of dates to take home.
🌿 Explore one of L.A.’s ‘pockets of weird’
It’s hard to imagine what you’ll find behind the doors of an old silent movie theater situated on a residential street in University Park.
The aquamarine theater is home to Velaslavasay Panorama, what Times staff writer Deborah Netburn describes as “a strange and immersive, only-in-L.A. art experience that defies easy explanation.”
“It doesn’t fit neatly into any boxes, and that was a huge part of the desire to create it,” Sara Velas, who launched the project 21 years ago, told Netburn.
In the panorama, you’ll find yourself in a diorama of an Arctic trading post, with a bear pelt, lanterns and cot adding to the far-out effect. Venture farther into the theater, and you’ll discover a garden filled with plants from around the world as well as a gazebo modeled after garden scenes from traditional Chinese opera.
You can’t forget the panorama itself, “an exquisitely detailed 360-degree painting depicting the bustling Chinese city of Shengjing in the early 20th century,” Netburn writes. “None of it makes any sense, except that somehow it does. Entering the strange, unexpected world that Velas and her collaborators have created is a welcome reminder that despite skyrocketing property values and a devastating pandemic, pockets of weird L.A. continue to persist against all odds.”
If you’d like to visit the panorama, you’ll need to make an appointment. It’s open from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays and costs $7 per person.
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🥐 Visit Paris by way of Petaluma
Heading north to the Sonoma wine country or Point Reyes National Seashore this fall? While you’re on the road, you might as well enjoy a slice of Paris too — by booking a stay at the Metro Hotel & Cafe in Petaluma, Calif.
The hotel describes itself as a “small eclectic self-serve style boutique hotel” with heaps of “French charm.” Kitschy touches include the bright red, classic Euro-style facade and friendly garden gnomes standing at attention. Fresh crepes are made daily.
And like many quirky hotels in California, you can also opt to book an Airstream trailer instead of a traditional room.
Room prices begin at $129 per night.
📰 What I’m reading
- President Joe Biden has restored protections for Bears Ears National Monument four years after former President Trump downsized it, reports Deepa Shivaram for NPR.
- Indigenous land acknowledgments have become increasingly common across the West and beyond. Len Necefer explains why he feels they must be reframed in Outside.
- An Oregon wolf’s epic trip to Southern California could be among the century’s longest, reports Jes Burns with Oregon Public Broadcasting.
- Some people seek out the feeling of weightlessness in a sensory deprivation tank. Julie Brown of SFGate found a similar sensation in a calm, quiet mountain lake: Upper Sardine in the Lost Sierra.
- What is it like to travel with long COVID? Rebekah Peppler shares her experience in Condé Nast Traveler.
- As bikes fill the streets, it’s as if “Paris is in anarchy,” reports Liz Alderman in the New York Times.
- You’re a different person when you travel. Jen Rose Smith explains why — and how to transform yourself while at home — in the Washington Post.
(Jade Cuevas / Los Angeles Times)
📸 Photo of the week
🎸 Road song
Song: “Texas Reznikoff” by Mitski
Favorite lyric: “I wish you could take me upstate / To the little place you would tell me about / When you’d sense that I want to escape.”
Best place to listen: South Congress Avenue in Austin, Texas, of course
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