Palm Springs is an oasis in the desert. One aspect recalled from our first adventure was the street fair on Palm Canyon Drive.
Twenty years ago we purchased a heart-shaped cutting board created from Corian. I had hearts in my previous two kitchens, so the board fit in perfectly on Sunset Place and Second Place.
What would we discover during this journey down several blocks where we watched cars speed only two evenings earlier?
Food Trucks
We ate dinner at a restaurant on the corner where the street fair began. It wasn’t that great, but we didn’t remember that there were a ton of food vendors.
Of course, the age of the food truck is upon us. Even our small town is working on installing a food truck food court.
The options ranged from tacos to gyros to barbecue. It all smelled delicious, and threading our way through the lineup of people waiting to order or pick up their food was worse than finding the eye in a needle without wearing reading glasses.
Dates and Nuts
One thing I love to buy from these types of events is fresh roasted nuts. I looked for those.
Alas, no one was roasting them. And the prominent nut was pistachio, which isn’t one I can pop and chew like candy. Especially not if they’ve sprinkled it with sriracha or other hot and spicy sauces.
Dates? They come from palm trees, I learned. But I still don’t want to eat them. The texture is wrong and the flavor isn’t great either.
That means I saved money on any purchases in this category.
Desert Inspired Arts
I’ll include the clothing here because one booth had textiles and bags made by crafters from a local tribe of natives.
But this fair isn’t where I would choose to pick up a souvenir t-shirt.
There were three different types of lamps. Paintings and artwork created using smooth rocks. Glass window hangings attracted my attention, but I didn’t find the perfect design. Or maybe it was my husband whispering how our bag was only one pound under the weight limit that kept the wallet in my pocket.
What we purchased was beeswax candles. They were molded in the shape of turtles and look lovely on my beach-inspired mantelpiece.
The crafter told us the melting point for the wax was 170 degrees, so we carried them on the plane rather than trusting that the suitcase wouldn’t reach that temperature.
Sweet Treats
Caramel corn is a major weakness for me. But I’d purchased some at Palm Springs Candy Company on Tuesday, so I refrained. Especially since the bags were huge.
The delicious smell wafting from the booth that was making kettle corn tantalized and tempted me. Thankfully, I could walk out of its range and the other three sellers had pre-bagged their wares.
That’s right. These people understood the draw of sweet popcorn, so there were four stalls from different vendors.
Cookies were the other sweet treat of choice. Three different stands promised fresh-baked, homemade taste and even grandma’s famous recipes.
In the end, the peanut butter chocolate chip cookies I paid way too much money for went in the garbage.
I couldn’t taste the peanut butter and they were dry and crumbly. A disappointment after walking nearly the length of Palm Canyon Drive to return to the stall where they were being sold.
I should have indulged in the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies. The sample of those melted in my mouth.
But alas, hindsight (or would it be hind-taste in this case?) is one hundred percent accurate.
Have you ever walked a street fair? What was your favorite part?