Wednesday, April 10, 2013

I is for Indio, CA



Romance and Sex Life of the Date 

OK I said it, you know, the “S” word. 

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/irishfireside/3262015686/
 Actually, at Shields Date Garden, the sex life of the date is a proud heritage. In 1924, Floyd and Bess shields came to California and built a business to grow dates. Mr. Shields also lectured his customers about the date culture. The lecture became so popular he created a 15-minute film that plays today. I must say we were tickled with the film and learned more about dates than we thought possible.

Located on Hwy 111, just beyond Palm Springs, you will find this delightful place with not only the film but also a shop and restaurant.  BTW, in Cabazon, Hadley’s Fruit Orchard has been serving date shakes for as long as I remember. We learned they are made with the Shield’s crystals. They are quite tasty!

My photo

So, what else is in Indio?

The Coachella Valley History Museum is housed in a 1926 adobe called the Smiley-Tyler House. There is also the 1909 Indio Schoolhouse. There are several gardens and one that spotlights the oldest Cork Oak tree in the Coachella Valley. What I really like is the archives. It includes the history of Coachella Valley and is open to researchers. As a family history aficionado, that’s a great resource.

While I am not into golf, several of my family members are and they have discovered there are 6 golf courses. Yep 6, and that was after they made the rounds in Palm Springs.

I would call this the piece of resistance. We have talked about the Indio International Tamale Festival for the 20 years we have lived here and have yet to make it. This year, we are going. It will be held from December 7 through December 8, 2013 and is held in downtown. The Food Network has ranked this as one of the top 10 “All-American Food Festivals.”

On December 4, 1999, they won the Guinness World Record for the largest tamale. It was over 1 foot in diameter and 40 feet long. My husband swears he can eat that all by himself. Look for us there.

5 comments:

  1. I'm not into golf, but I'm all about TAMALES! YUM. I might just give your husband a run for his money eating that giant tamale. I'm pretty sure I could do it, lol.

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  2. Thank you for teaching me more about places in the world.
    Francene.
    A - Z Challenge
    http://francene-wordstitcher.blogspot.co.uk/

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  3. When we were growing up we visited the Date Festival in Indio every summer. Rode camels, enjoyed the ostrich races, and ate plenty of dates, of course. Thanks for reviving some fond memories of childhood vacations.

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  4. Now this is a new one for me and it sounds delicious! Thanks , Ann:)

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  5. I was only looking at Indio on a map yesterday when planning a visit to Palm Springs. I think there are some music festivals on as well which sound cool. My husband would like the sound of the golf :)

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