There’s an amazing restaurant/bar called Pappy and Harriet’s, which is located in Pioneertown, a town about a 20-minute’s drive from my home in Joshua Tree. It’s a large wooden structure with both indoor and outdoor seating areas, live music almost every day of the week, drinks in Mason jars, and an outdoor mesquite barbeque. The waitresses dress up in cowboy boots, daisy-dukes, and most seem to have a spattering of tattoos. It’s a good mix of roadhouse, down home country, and biker bar, but equally family oriented and always welcoming.
Having always driven to the bar at night, I never knew what history and fun the area surrounding the bar held. But recently I discovered Pappy and Harriet’s is a part of the constructed 1946 movie set known as Pioneertown – a town designed to serve as a replica of an 1880’s Western town where over 200 movies and TV series were filmed. Upon finding this out I couldn’t wait to arrive in the daylight and do some exploring.
I’m continuously surprised by the amount of things to do and discover in and around this little desert town of Joshua Tree. From a never-ending amount of hikes and rock climbing in Joshua Tree National Park to the Integratron to the Giant Rock and now Pioneertown, each day seems to bring something new when I’ve thought I’ve exhausted it all. As of yesterday I’ve been here one full month and have another full month to go. I can’t wait to discover more! For now, I’m off to take in a double feature at the Smith’s Ranch Drive-In Theatre in nearby 29-Palms. Yeah!