Subi & The 5

Shields Date Gardens – Indio, California – or Sex in the Afternoon

Ahh…We love Shields! I have been visiting Shields since, ahem…the late 70s. I was attending university in Southern California and my friends and I would head to Palm Springs for the weekends during the blistering heat of the summer and then on Saturday afternoons we would drive to Shields for a nice cold date shake and a bit of a sex movie! More on that later.

Yes, in those days when you headed east on either Hwy 111 or Interstate 10 from Palm Springs to Indio there was nothing, I mean literally.   Boy have things changed in over 30 years and no surprise. But the Coachella Valley, today, feels like almost any big city with bumper to bumper traffic and strip malls everywhere. But head to Shields and you feel like you are a million miles away and 50 years in the past.

Those Young Guys - Shields Date Gardens - Indio California
Welcome to Shields – this man is an icon
Those Young Guys - Shields Date Gardens - Indio California
The parking lot is usually full but go on in

They not only have a date store but they also sell fabulous date shakes. Try one out and also buy some dates or date crystals to take home with you.

Those Young Guys - Shields Date Gardens - Indio California
Come inside and buy some dates
Those Young Guys - Shields Date Gardens - Indio California
Or better yet, get a date shake
Those Young Guys - Shields Date Gardens - Indio California
Or any other thing that suits your fancy

Then once you have your shake in hand follow the signs to the theater and step inside to watch the continuously running, free, yes, I said free, movie titled, “The Romance and Sex Life of the Date”. Enthralling, entertaining, and your life will be forever changed by this short little adaption detailing how Shields began and how to grow dates. Yes, Romance and Sex in the afternoon.

Those Young Guys - Shields Date Gardens - Indio California
A little sex
Those Young Guys - Shields Date Gardens - Indio California
A little romance

In recent years they have added an outdoor cafe which overlooks the date gardens and has tasty food.

Those Young Guys - Shields Date Gardens - Indio California
Enjoy lunch on the outdoor patio overlooking the date palms

But wait, there’s more! Shields recently added a new “Garden”.  As of October 2013 you can now enter a beautiful 17 acre garden with 23 statues and 14 scenes depicting Christ’s life. You can walk the paths in complete peacefulness and serenity and feel you are all by yourself in this area of southern California that has grown in leaps and bounds over the years. Luckily we were the only ones in the garden at the time and it was a world of it’s own. Beautiful, magical, well designed, and perfectly manicured. Even if you are not religious it is still a wonderful walk.

Note – There is a fee for entering this garden but if you eat lunch there you can enter for free. Well worth it if you want some solitude from the hectic life outside the gates of this garden.

 

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.