Our trip to Visalia, back in February of 2016 began on a whim. We love to get our exercise by dancing to music in our living room. One night, Edwin’s pick was a CD by Johnny Rivers (of “Secret Agent” fame). I had seen Rivers do just a couple of songs at an Elvis Birthday Bash event back around 2001, so we were speculating whether he still performed. After a quick internet search, we found that he was doing a concert at the historic Fox theater in Visalia, CA, in a month or so. Edwin had a general idea where that was, even though he had never been there, and we decided that we should just go for it & get tickets, since it was a Saturday night, and that it was close enough to make a weekend trip very doable.

Our next decisions were where to stay, where to eat, and what to do. As well as preparing by finding out the cultural history of the area. We didn’t have time to also go to the nearly Sequoia National Park on this trip, so we concentrated on the local historic sites and museums.

The Lamp Liter Inn (suggested by Dean Curtis), is an old-school garden-style motel that appears to be from the 1950’s (I couldn’t find a date for it online).  It is no-frills with real keys, and gorgeously manicured flowers, palms and shrubs with a beautiful pool (if you visit in warm enough weather). Although the price seemed reasonable to us LA denizens, from what some locals were saying, it’s pretty pricey for the area, but the only hotel/motel with any history. 

The unexpected showpiece (for us) of the town & the visit was the Tulare County Museum. Located in scenic Mooney Grove park outside of town that had a stream running through it, rock bridges and more geese and ducks than you really want around if you like clean shoes, it was a total throwback to the kind of museum that I treasured in my childhood. Clearly lacking funds and personnel (all we saw was one person in the front office), many of the artifacts were quite dust covered and disorganized, which for me made it all the more interesting, mysterious and just downright entertaining. AND they had a recreated town, with historic buildings that had been moved to the grounds. Well, not quite a normal town, since there were only 4 or 5 houses and 2 schools. Either that, or they all had huge families and were brilliant.

 We had made dinner reservations at the Vintage Press, a 1966 fine dining establishment famous for their wine selection. Unfortunately, at that time we were not really drinking wine (so we ignored the tried and true “have what they are known for” method). Everything was good, but other than having a baby grand in the bar area, it was a little lacking in the atmosphere we were craving.

The 1930 Fox Theater, though, was gorgeous! Dripping in atmosphere that is highlighted by the twinkling star ceiling, the interior has an East Indian theme, contrasted with the Spanish exterior. Rivers and his band (including the great keyboard player Skip Edwards) were top notch, and seeing Rivers and the theater was well worth the trip alone.

Afterwards, we decided to have a nightcap at The Southern Pacific Depot, a restaurant from 1971 that is housed in the historic 1915 train depot building. The empty bar (known as the 612 Room) was fabulous, with cushy banquettes, painted murals, and colored lanterns. After we chatted for a while with the bartender, the owner (who had been sitting in one of the booths), offered to show us around the almost empty restaurant (it was near closing time). We will definitely be back to this gorgeous space for dinner in the future.

We did a little shopping in an area called antique row, where we found some stools (they said came from a Vegas casino) that perfectly fit our fake-Witco Asian-style bar (but we had a little bit of trouble fitting both them and our luggage in my 2-seat Honda Del Sol), and I found a pair of cowboy boots just like a pair that I had bought in 1979, only in new condition (I didn’t buy them, since I still have my riding-worn re-soled ones).

The Visalia Convention and Visitor’s Bureau has a Visalia Historic Walking Tour booklet online that is well worth the time spent. There was an amazing neon-lit Chop Suey place (that wasn’t open when we had time to go), and Taylor Bros Hot Dog Stand from 1952, also had an amazing sign that we somehow forgot to snap a pic of (look it up!). We had also been alerted to look for the former 1940’s-era Mearle’s Drive-In (now The Habit). We had breakfast the next morning at a welcoming little Danish restaurant called Valhalla. We will definitely be back, to explore some of the places we missed, as well as revisit those that we loved!

Julia Devine

April 19,2021