Samantha Brown's Places to Love

-I'm traveling to a destination that is often referred to as an oasis, a utopian playground.

Its desert landscape gives it an otherworldly feel where design meets function.

It's a place where people have been traveling to since the 1920s in order to escape, to get back in touch, or just lounge, and even though people have been coming here for close to 100 years to relax, I don't plan on slowing down, as I try to enjoy everything that a famous city, an entire valley, and beyond has to offer.

I'm in Greater Palm Springs, California.

I'm Samantha Brown, and I've traveled all over this world, and I'm always looking to find the destinations, the experiences, and, most importantly, the people who make us feel like we're really a part of a place.

That's why I have a love of travel and why these are my places to love.

Samantha Brown's "Places To Love" is made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.

-Greater Palm Springs is located in Southern California 2 hours from Los Angeles.

It's home to many desert cities and towns, and I'm starting at its most famous destination, Palm Springs.

Palm Springs is a unique travel destination in that it's a place that allows us to be somebody different than ourselves.

There is a lifestyle here that we want to inhabit, and it's a way of life that you encounter in everything you do here, whether it's the shops on the main thoroughfare to the artwork and especially the homes.

-Well, first of all, we have the largest concentration of mid-century modern architecture anywhere in the world.

-In the world?

-Palm Springs was built as a second-home market, and people have a very different attitude towards their second homes than they do towards their primary residences.

They're much looser.

I'm Michael Stern.

I'm the author of two books about mid-century and modern architecture in Southern California.

For the architects, they were liberated from the functionality of a primary residence.

It wasn't a question of how much storage they need to put into the master bedroom.

It was, "How much pleasure can my clients extract from this experience?"

-Michael is owner of The Modern Tour, the official tour of the Palm Springs Art Museum Architecture and Design Center.

-The architecture is what put Palm Springs back on the cultural map.

Sort of what Art Deco had done for Miami, mid-century modern has done for Palm Springs.

-So if all the neighborhoods here have this wonderful architecture, what makes this block unique?

-Well, these are the steel houses, designed by an architect named Donald Wexler.

Every single one of these houses is exactly the same on the interior.

They all have the exact same floor plan, but rather than make it feel like the cookie-cutter tract that, in fact, it really is, they varied the roof lines and the exterior so it'd feel more like a neighborhood as opposed to just a tract.

-So if it's steel, then it doesn't rust.

It doesn't... -No termites.

-...leak.

No termites.

Okay, so everything that the desert might, you know, in terms of stress out a house, steel would keep it... -These things are tanks, you know?

I mean, they are serious.

So the way these houses were built is, there was a prefabricated core that was built in LA.

There was the kitchen, two bathrooms and all the mechanics of the house.

They laid a slab foundation.

-Mm-hmm.

-They used a crane, dropped the core into the middle of the slab.

The houses were built in 4 weeks, start to finish.

-Oh, my gosh.

-One of the things that makes mid-century modern so great is, on an emotional level, you can feel the optimism of that era in postwar American culture.

The future is going to be better.

-Mm-hmm.

-You know, that's -- So people were looking forward with optimism, and you can actually feel the emotion of that being in these spaces where it's all about light.

-Mm-hmm.

-The indoor-outdoor thing is classic in Palm Springs.

Most houses will have interior-exterior access from every single room in the house, so there's always a way to get outside because you want to be outside.

-About 2 miles away is another home that embraces the desert life, the glass house designed by the modernist architect William Cody.

Oh.

I'll take it.

-[ Laughs ] -This is gorgeous.

-This is the house people think of when they think of the classic Palm Springs modern house, and also, it's a see-through house, meaning you can see right through the house.

It's all about bringing the outside in.

-So this isn't the backyard.

-No, this is the front.

-To create the space, is this for privacy?

They don't want the neighbors to see in?

-It's about privacy, also no drapes.

-Of course.

-You know, you want to let the light in basically and be as free as possible.

-Of course.

But then you don't want people to see what you're doing, so now you put the wall out here, and now you can keep everything open.

-And also because every house in Palm Springs has a pool.

-Privacy and beauty are equally important here.

You cannot build above one story in the city, which preserves the mountain and sky views and ensures no one can look down into your backyard.

-It's all about pleasure.

I mean, Palm Springs is...

It's just about Southern California's pleasure at its maximum capacity.

-And if you're going to live in a Palm Springs mid-century modern house, you're going to need to furnish it appropriately.

Fortunately, there's Gypsyland, and you can tell this is the store for you even before you walk in.

When people are arriving in Palm Springs, are you one of the first stores they see?

-I am the first store, and it's the last store that you see when you come out of, you know, Palm Springs.

-Uh-huh.

Palm Springs has an unbelievable amount of consignment shops, thrift stores, and furniture store.

Why do you think that is?

-The houses in Palm Springs are basically from -- not too many from the '30s, but '40s and '50s and '60s.

That's mostly -- Like, that's the houses back then, so people want to decorate their houses in the time period of the furniture.

There's so many different styles that there's something for everybody.

-And really, who isn't in the market for a bright yellow couch?

That is gorgeous.

-It's a really, really cool sofa.

-I mean, you plan an entire room around this couch, right?

-It's like Barbie furniture, right?

-Yeah, yeah, exactly.

I'm sure a lot of the homes are decked out like this because there is an entertaining culture here, as well.

There's a lot of sort of see and be seen in your own home.

-Right.

People are really showy.

They want to -- You know, they want to have, like, the right piece.

A lot of times, people even...

They rent pieces from different stores to make their parties look good.

You know, they want the right piece of artwork or the right piece of furniture, you know, to make their house look great for these parties.

-You can rent cool furniture?

-Right.

-All right.

I'm going to need to rent this yellow couch.

That's it.

Sign me up.

-We'll lift you out in this dress.

-I like it.

Palm fronds, that's great.

Wow.

In a way, you can rent out the modernist lifestyle.

If you're not in the market for a mid-century home or furniture set, hotels let us play in the stylish way of life, and a big part of that way of life here is golf.

-Oh!

-Wow.

-Roberto, and it's a beautiful day.

I love to get out on a course.

-Yeah, me, too.

-It's a gorgeous day, little windy, though.

Is that going to affect our game?

-Not at all.

-All right.

There are over 100 golf courses in the area, but I've come to the Desert Willow Golf Resort for something a little different.

FootGolf?

-FootGolf.

And it went in.

-Yes!

-Nice.

-The best game ever invented.

-Even on a golf course?

-Even on a golf course.

-We're going to need one of these.

Are we allowed to be on this course?

-Yes, we are.

-Are you sure?

-I told you.

I paid for it.

My name is Roberto Balestrini, and I am the founder and chairman of the American FootGolf League.

-Oh!

Nice.

-You probably have not heard about FootGolf, but this sport is played in 40 countries around the world professionally.

In the United States, we have more than 500 courses in all 50 state, Puerto Rico, and the US Caribbean.

-So is FootGolf, is it a team sport or a individual?

-No, it's an individual sport.

-Okay.

-But you can put a team together... -All right.

-...and compete.

-Is this a FootGolf ball?

-Yeah, it's a regular soccer ball.

-It's a soccer ball?

-Yeah, it's a regulation number 5 soccer ball.

-Boom.

Wow.

-Okay?

-Beautiful.

Do we do a... No?

No?

Okay.

-So on a kickoff... -Whoa.

Wow.

-...then you have the approach.

-Okay.

-And then you have the putt.

-All right.

But you're Argentinean, right?

-Yes.

-So at what point in this game do I fall to the ground writhing in pain holding my ankle when someone actually just brushed my shoulder?

-Oh ho ho ho ho!

-Oh!

-My God!

-Oh, the competition is on!

-You know what?

Roberto won't talk to you anymore.

-[ Laughs ] FootGolf is played just like, well, golf, beginning with some basic skills that do require some practice.

That's so bad.

There are par scores for the different holes.

There are drives and putts, and you do have to play the ball where it lays.

-No.

What are you doing?

-Oh.

-What are you doing?

-Oh.

-You can't... -Is this a flag?

-You have a red card.

-[ Laughs ] Luckily, there are people who take this game seriously, and I'm learning from some heavy kickers, including a two-time national champion in the senior division... Nice.

-Oh.

-... as well as this impressive player, who happens to be the 2017 national champion in the women's division.

-Nice.

-Just like golf, you've got to play the slopes, the angles, the rough... Oh!

-Oh!

-...and just strategize.

-The beauty about FootGolf is... -Get in there!

Whoo!

-...a 4-years-old kid can kick the ball and walk towards a 21-inches cup located on the fairway.

-Okay.

-A 70-years-old, an 80-years-old can do the same thing.

All you need is a soccer ball and kick and walk.

-Oh!

-[ Laughs ] -I'm now headed to Palm Desert right on the western edge of the Sonoran Desert, which makes The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens the perfect place to explore the plants and animals of deserts all over the world.

So how many animals do you have here?

-450.

-And they all need to eat, and two meals a day is fine for all the animals?

-Well, not all of the animals necessarily get two meals a day.

Most of them do.

-Okay.

-But we do have some animals that eat once a day.

We have two primary commissary staff, and then we have seven volunteers that help us out.

Someone is on a station of birds, the herbivores, and then the carnivores.

So... -Ooh, who gets to do the carnivores?

Thankfully, not me.

However... -You might want to put some gloves on for this one.

-Okay.

All right.

What's in there?

Oh!

-We're going to touch some creepy-crawly things, so now we're going to go ahead and prep the roadrunner diet.

You're going to toss some worms in there.

We have some raw meat that you're going to dip your hands into.

-Can we go back to the herbivores?

-I know.

It's a lot cleaner.

So we're going to add 11 of these wiggly, squiggly guys.

So you want to be kind of quick because these guys actually can bite.

-No!

Come on!

-They can.

They can!

-No!

-Yes!

You don't want to hold them for too long!

-Are you serious?

-No, yes, I'm serious.

-What?

-So...I know.

They kind of creep me out just a little bit, too.

-Oh.

-But you can just -- You can do it.

You're bigger than the worm.

-I'm bigger than the worm.

-So you're going to... One, two, three, four, 11.

-I went to college!

Okay.

Oh, God.

Oh, see, I have the -- I have heebie-jeebies like you would not believe.

-No, a lot of keepers do have a bug phobia... -Is that right?

-...when they come here.

Yeah.

They just don't understand.

Their bones are on the outside.

It just doesn't make sense.

-Aah!

God!

Sorry.

I'm sorry.

-It was good.

It was good.

-I got him in the bowl.

-I like it.

-Just 10 more.

-You did.

You got him in the bowl.

-One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, 10, 11.

I've got to get three out of there.

-No, we're going to just call it enrichment.

We're good.

I'm not going to make you do that.

-Oh, thank you.

-It's fine.

-I have to do this.

-I don't know.

You get pretty used to it.

-Fortunately, The Living Desert Zoo is filled with things that give you the warm fuzzies, including the state-of-the-art care the animals are given.

-This is a little fennec fox named Pharaoh, and he's been limping, so we are going to do an exam on him and get some radiographs.

-Mm-hmm.

-So she's going to check all of his vitals, look into his ears, check his eyes, his teeth, his mouth.

-The same way we would get an annual... -The same way you would get an annual exam.

-Mm-hmm.

Exam.

This, to me, is very rare that we are in the examination room, and visitors are looking in at the same time.

Usually, I feel like I didn't know this existed in a zoo because I never get to see it, and yet you have floor-to-ceiling windows where we have a huge group of people watching this happen.

-We offer this opportunity for our guests.

This is just another wow opportunity that they get to see and the type of care that we provide our animals here at The Living Desert, and this is all part of it.

-We're going to clean his teeth today, too.

-Oh, yay.

-Ah.

[ Scraping ] Here come those heebie-jeebies again.

There it goes.

Whoa.

Hey.

Ah.

This is more like it, bubble enrichment.

Being a mom of young kids, I have some serious bubble-blowing skills I know these meerkats are totally appreciating right now.

-They wouldn't find bubbles out in the wild most likely, so what these bubbles are actually mimicking is moths or butterflies that, you know, they would want to swat out of the sky.

-Okay.

-So by blowing these bubbles up for them, makes them kind of reach for it, work for it a little bit, investigate what it is, and that's something that they would naturally do out in the wild.

-So I'm squeamish around worms, and I can't kick a soccer ball, but I think I'm a pretty good driver, and I could always improve my skills.

So, Adam, I feel like most of us get all of our driving instruction when we were 15 and then nothing.

-We basically reteach people how to drive.

-So I'm relearning to drive... -Hop in there.

-...at the BMW Performance Center outside of Palm Springs, but before I can do any of this... -Oh, my!

Brake, brake, brake, brake, brake, brake, brake.

-...I need to check my rear-view mirrors.

-Most Americans, we like to see the rear edge of the car.

It's a comfort thing for us.

-Yeah.

-It's just so it's a reference.

So when we adjust the side-view mirrors, we're actually going to sit upright, then tilt our head to the left.

-Tilt my head like this?

Okay.

-Mm-hmm.

So the rear kind of like that.

-And what that's going to do is eliminate about 90 percent of your blind spot.

-That's a really different spot for me.

-It's a very different spot, yes.

-Okay.

And what about your right-hand mirror?

What do you... -Same thing.

-Same thing?

-Lean your head to the right.

-And just kind of the... -Adjust it out so the rear of the car just disappears out of view.

-Just disappears?

Excellent.

And so, now the stunts.

-Here we are.

We'll get her up to speed.

Neutral.

-Aah!

[ Laughing ] -Back to drive.

-And this so, if I ever wanted to rob a bank, I would know how to get out of... All good, practical knowledge to have.

-Correct.

-So going to start, and we're already in reverse.

-It's a quick motion.

-Quick motion.

-Off the gas.

Brake, brake, brake, brake, brake, brake, brake, brake, brake.

-[ Laughing ] -All right.

Pull back forward.

-So we're going to need a few more times?

-Yeah, we're going to need a couple more times.

Yeah, we're going to need a couple more times for sure.

-Lift off the gas.

You go into neutral.

Then I do shoop and foo.

-Correct.

Correct.

Floor it.

Floor it.

Floor it.

Floor it.

Off the gas.

Yeah.

-Whoo!

-That was awesome.

-Yeah.

-That was good.

That was a good one.

-Are there any positions here?

This isn't just a thrill ride.

I'm learning to control the car in extreme driving conditions that really can happen at any time.

-We're going to teach you how to correct a slide on a surface that's very similar to ice or snow.

-So this is what they basically say in those car commercials, "Do not attempt"?

-Right.

-But we're going to attempt it.

-Yes, we are.

-What are the rules of correcting?

So if I'm sliding to the right, do I correct to the right?

-You absolutely do, so turn left.

Floor the gas pedal.

Back to the right, back to the right.

And off again.

-Nice.

-That was good.

-Whoo-hoo-hoo!

-That was good.

-Nice.

-That was good.

-Oh, sorry.

The class always finishes with what's known as the hot lap.

[ Laughing ] Oh-ho-ho!

[ Gasps ] We'll have two hamburgers, three large fries, and two milkshakes.

Thank you.

-Well, Samantha, I would like you to try a Date Shake.

-I have to.

-Are you ready?

-Yes.

-Okay.

-So there are no chunks of dates in a Date Shake?

-Right.

Once we rehydrate the crystals and it becomes a paste, we put that in the bottom of the cup first.

-Uh-huh.

-And then we add the ice cream, and then we add the milk, so three ingredients.

Now the longer you have... Yeah?

-It's so good.

-Is it?

Oh, good.

-Oh, yeah.

It's childhood.

-I'm so happy for you.

-It's childhood, absolutely.

-I'm Heather Raumin, and I love the Coachella Valley because it's rich with history.

One of the important aspects of the Coachella Valley is its agricultural foundation and how many wonderful crops can grow here, and we grow dates.

-Not just any dates, Heather and her husband, Greg, are the owners of Shields Date Garden in nearby Indio, California.

Floyd Shields opened his farm and shop in 1924 and was one of the pioneers in the creation of new hybrid varieties of dates, some of which are still grown and enjoyed here today.

-One of the first ones, I guess, that you should probably consider is Mr. Shields' signature date that he grafted, and that would be the blondie.

-Okay.

So this is literally the date he brought into the world?

-He did.

-It did not exist beforehand?

-The brunette and the blonde are two in which he grafted, and you don't necessarily know what you're going to get.

-Mm.

-But it has a caramel-y taste.

-I was going to say, it's sort of butterscotch-y.

I love it, like a little burnt sugar.

-For some reason, we're not sure why, but men are attracted to that particular date.

-[ Laughs ] -Who would've thought?

-They prefer blondes, right?

-Darn.

[ Laughs ] Now, one of the old-world dates.

-Look at that.

I mean, that looks like an old-world date.

-Abida.

-Abida.

And where is this from in the world?

-I believe that one is Syrian.

-Syrian?

-I believe so.

You like?

-I love that.

-Good.

-That's really special.

-Good.

-It's very slender.

-Mm-hmm.

-A lot of them are just big and juicy and sticky.

This is a little more, I don't know, subtle.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

-I'm embarrassed to say I have no idea where dates come from.

I have no idea if you forage them off of bushes, if they grow out of the ground.

Do they grow on trees?

I've never even thought of that.

They grow on palm trees near Palm Springs, and this 65-year-old grove behind Shields Garden is entirely dependent on the highly specialized work this man does.

Juan Sevilla Ramirez is a third-generation palmero.

The date crop is his responsibility, but when the crop is over three stories high, I had another question.

To pollinate the tree... -Mm-hmm.

-...what do you need to do?

-Okay.

First, this tree is a female, and I have another here that's a male, so need to cut the flowers.

-But there are male and female trees?

-Yeah.

Yeah.

Male -- Yeah.

Cut the flowers.

Collect the pollen.

Give it to all the palmeros and put in the female.

-You hand-pollinate each tree?

-Yeah.

Yeah.

Each bunch.

-Each bunch?

And how many bunches does a tree have?

-Regular, there's 13, 15.

-13 to 15?

-Yeah, for a good crop, that's 16.

-That's a good crop?

-Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

-When somebody says, "What's your favorite date?"

And I always say, "Well, besides my husband, it's probably the Medjool."

[ Laughs ] -Well, I know you came up from the Coachella Valley, but this is considered the high desert.

-Driving into Joshua Tree, there was, all of a sudden, a moment where all of these trees... -Yeah.

-We started to come into this sort of forest.

What climate creates the ability for these trees to grow?

-It's literally the elevation.

-Okay.

-As you can tell by just the temperatures up here from where you left down below.

One of the things that impresses people about Joshua Tree is the fact that many of these people come, and they don't know what it's like to see 25, 30, 40 miles away.

People that come from Europe, they swear they've been transplanted to another planet.

-Of course.

Of course.

-I'm George Land, and I'm a park ranger here at Joshua Tree National Park.

-And, of course, it gets its namesake from these trees, the Joshua tree.

-The Yucca brevifolia, yeah.

-Oh.

-And named by the Mormon settlers that came through here in the mid-1800s.

They thought they looked like the Biblical character Joshua, with his arms outstretched to the heavens.

The name stuck.

It's probably because it's a little easier to say than Yucca brevifolia.

-Yeah, I think so, too.

-I've been a park ranger for 8 years.

It's my third career, and I wanted to be a park ranger since I was a young boy.

-Joshua Tree National Park is larger in area than the entire state of Rhode Island, and there's more here than just the famous trees and the powerful rock formations.

George takes me to one of his favorite places to do a ranger-led tour.

-This is just a classic example of what an old homestead in this area looked like and how hearty the people had to be, how resilient and resourceful they had to be to carve out a life up here.

It's called Keys Ranch, and it was named after Bill Keys, and he lived here until 1969, when he passed away.

-1969?

Someone lived here until 1969?

-That's correct, had seven children.

-Wow.

My gosh, this really gives you an appreciation of what we have... -Oh, can you -- I mean -- -...and how easy things are for us.

-Samantha, people back then were hard.

They lived out like this.

-Yeah.

-I mean, this was an incredible existence.

-This was backbreaking work, and Bill Keys even had a solution for that.

-Bill would come out.

He'd lay down on this bench.

They'd fasten this around both of his feet.

-Yeah.

-He'd hook his arms over the top, and then either Francis or one of the kids would crank.

-Oh!

[ Laughing ] -And now that's innovative.

-That is innovative.

-That's like having a homegrown chiropractor right there.

I think the majority of visitors come here most surprised by the solitude and the beauty of the desert while it's still a very live and vibrant place.

I think the most important thing to take away is the fact that these places need to be protected in order to preserve them for generations to come.

-Traveling to the Coachella Valley is an incredible experience for anybody, just knowing how important history is to our valley and to our children and our next generation and just looking back and understanding that your future is really built by your past.

-This is a happy valley.

You know that?

And we have 340 sunny days a year.

You wake up every day, it's a sunny day, which puts people in a really good mood, so everyone is here for the same reason, which is basically to have a good time.

-When a destination allows you to be someone else for a few days, when you get to enjoy a landscape that goes for miles and miles, when you can inhabit homes and homesteads of people far different than you... Who's making us the martinis, hmm?

...that is when we share a love of travel.

-That was pretty good.

-Whoo!

Yeah!

Nice!

And that's why Greater Palm Springs in California is a place to love.

-For more information about this and other episodes, destination guides, or links to follow me on social media, log on to placestolove.com.

Samantha Brown's "Places to Love" was made possible by... -We believe watching the world go by isn't enough.

That's why we climb... ...pedal... ...and journey beyond the beaten path, on storied rivers, with a goal of making sure that every mile traveled turns into another memory.

You can find out more at amawaterways.com.

-To travel is to live, and at AAA, we've been passionate about travel for over 100 years.

That's why we created AAA Vacations, member travel experiences around the world.

Learn more at AAA.com/LiveTV.