When driving down Highway 138 in the Mojave Desert, you drive through a little town called Littlerock, California. After seeing nothing but open desert land for miles, it is almost surreal to come upon a settlement of 9,100 residents that specializes in "odd things to buy".
The Silly Tilly sells all sorts of Western Wear and Crafts. Valley Hungarian Sausage & Meat Co offers 26 different types of artesian-style sausages: a touch of Eastern Europe in a very unexpected location. Many antique stores make Littlerock a fun place to get out and shop a bit before continuing down the highway.
However, the place we never fail to stop on any trip on the Pearblossom Highway is Charlie Browns Farms.
Littlerock, California is known as the "Fruit Basket of the Antelope Valley" because of the orchards of almonds, apples, peaches, and pears. The very first European settlors to this area planted almond trees. Pear trees and other fruits were planted later on, taking advantage of the sunny weather and cold enough winters to set fruit.
Usually I buy some honey because this place has some of the tastiest of any I've tried. Eating local honey is supposed to bring some immunity to hayfever allergies.
Before this visit, I didn't realize that there are so many different varieties of pistachios.
Charlie Brown Farms was established in 1929 as a produce stand that has expanded into several buildings.
Today, Charlie Brown Farms is the largest gift shop in the Antelope Valley, which includes the cities of Palmdale and Lancaster.
I've always been a fan of roadside attractions that include dinosaur statues and this place has a great assortment.
We were really hungry after hiking nearby Devil's Punchbowl, so the smell of the Texas barbeque was irresistable.
We decided to share an order of the tri-tip sandwich with potato salad and it was absolutely delicious.
The menu is unbelievably long and the prices are reasonable.
Next time, I will save room for dessert because Charlie Brown Farms is famous for many of its sweets.
Have you ever seen so many flavors of shakes and malts before? There are more than 100 different possiblities. All these flavors can be utilized to make custom sundaes and banana splits.
Other icy refreshments can make the hot desert drive much more pleasant.
For those that enjoy State Fair specialities, they are available year-round at Charlie Brown Farms.
We ate our lunch outside on the patio, which doubles as a storage facility for oversized statues.
Just when I thought I saw it all, I discovered the set of an old-Western town.
If that wasn't weird enough, then check out the strange characters who are in town.
Back in the gift shop, The Wizard will read your fortune for only 50 cents.
When my kids were little, we would promise them candy from Charlie Brown Farms if they would be good in the car.
There are rooms upon rooms of things to discover here, and on this visit, I noticed the wine-tasting room for the first time.
Gnomes have their own entire room too.
Charlie Brown Farms has much more to offer than I even have pictured here including every kind of old fashioned bottled soda, over 1,000 different kinds of collectable dolls in the House of Dolls, dried fruits, gargoyals, Egyptian art, and a "Serenity Shop" with 12-step angels.
One thing I enjoy about the Mojave Desert is the freedom people feel to embrace their eccentricities and Charlie Brown Farms exemplies this spirit.
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 42
Now you're making me crave a date shake and it's only 8:00 in the morning. If you know so much about Southern California, then you'll have to make a trip out here sometime to see if you really like it :-)
Verie, it is definitely on the tacky side - that's what is kind of cool about it. But, the food here is absolutely first-class. People drive way out of their way to come here for the barbeque and nearly everyone gets a shake or a banana split. The prices are fantastic and it is really an original roadside place. Now, the doll section and gnomes really are a bit too much, it definitely adds "character" to the place.
Marianne, I don't know what "South of the Border" is -- I'm going to have to find that out! This place doesn't really try to be tacky - I think the owners just kept expanding into different niche sectors over time. When people live in the desert here, they tend to collect what most people consider "junk" because space is so available and people who live in the Mojave tend to be individualists who don't care if their lawns aren't perfectly manicured - besides grass doesn't grow here so these statues and stuff are what give their yards a homey feel. You know what this store is missing? A pink plastic flamingo section!
So tell us how was the wine tasting?
I'm like you since I started writing photo essays I see neat stuff everywhere. I don't think I'll run out of stuff to write about anytime soon. I still have 3 essays and pics waiting to be written and of course today added some more cool essay possibilities. I need to become faster at writing those essays. It takes me forever.
I always have so many photoessays on the "to do" list too! It is so much fun to go out and get the pictures and it really does take a lot of tedious work to complete the photoessay. Some of my essays take a good week - because I can't stay on-task with the boring parts like uploading the pictures.
This is an area that I don't get to much, and really think about when heading for Arizona.
This photoessay was incredibly well-done. Thank you, Jennifer.
For those who don't know the area...if you're trying to get from southern Nevada or Utah to Santa Monica or other places close to the coast it makes sense to veer off Interstate 15 when you hit Victorville and head west on the Pearblossom Highway to eventually hook up with Interstate 5. bypassing the smog and congestion of the Inland Empire (San Bernadino/Riverside) and enjoying muych more interesting scenery along the way. I suppose it's not as efficient these days with the massive population increase of both the Victor and Antelope valleys, but it remains more interesting by far.
All of this reminded me of another archetypal site of my youthful travels...the Water Ladder (officially called "The Cascades") which is encountered on the same trip. This is where the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which brings drinking water to LA from the Owens River and eastern Sierra, falls down the face of one of the steep bergs of the Los Padres National Forest into the San Fernando Valley north of Sylmar...not far from the famous 7-level cloverleaf seen in so many movies. The ladder basically looks like a staircase of many thousands of feet which is covered with tumbling water, and at night it's lit up...now that I'm better traveled, I'd say it reminds me of nothing so much as the famous Renaissance cascades of Italy, like the one east of Naples I can't remember the name of right now. Being a desert boy, water was always exciting, and never more so than when it crashed down a mountain in a man-made controlled-descent waterfall...there's info available here: http://www.donaldlaird.com/landmarks/counties/600-699/653.html (although in real life it looks far more exciting!)
Len
Thanks
I must have passed the Cascades many times going through the Grapevine. It looks familar but I bet that I've never passed it at night when it was lit up. One place I like in that area is Castaic Lake.
I know exactly what you mean about water being so attractive in the desert. I always get so excited when I visit the natural oasises like Ash Meadows near Death Valley and Soda Springs at ZZYZX. The water is so much bluer against a desert sky.
Dennis, that is so true! Plus, this place is ideally located because there isn't much else around it so competition has never been an issue. People will stop at any place in that part of the desert that sells cool and refreshing things like Hawaiian ices and shakes.
Thank you so much, Juley!
Regards,
Doyle I <~~~~~
Karen, I still haven't seen the whole place yet! There are so many rooms - but as you go farther to the back, it keeps getting weirder - the gnomes and the dolls - kinda creepy! I bet the merchandise is constantly changing too.
Doyle, the Pearblossom Highway is beautiful and totally different. The artist David Hockney did a beautiful photocollage of the area really close to the Charlie Brown Farm and it is hanging in the Getty Museum. They call Highway 138 one of the world's deadliest highways because of the increased traffic, but I still find it more relaxing to go this backway than to deal with all the people on the nearby Interstate 15. Thank you so much for your comment. I'm wishing I could take a nice long drive on the 138 now too --- too bad gas prices are putting a damper on road trips.
This is a cool-looking place!
Chelsea, it was a fun place with lots of good food. Thanks!
Kathy, I'm sure I was looking for the whole Peanuts gang the first time I went in here. I never did find out why it's called Charlie Brown Farms - probably that was really the owner's name -- poor guy!