Googie Wonderland: Palm Springs, California's Visitor Center

They've got lots of cool architecture books inside.

I would have loved to have gotten a fill-up here, back in the day.

You'd be hard-pressed to find a better location to view fabulous Mid-Century Modern architecture than Palm Springs, California. When stars like Bob Hope, Frank Sinatra and Elvis Presley made Palm Springs their desert retreat, they hired big-named architects to build them wild and wonderful futuristic showpieces. The town was so architecture-conscious that even something as ordinary as a gas station was given the full Googie treatment. This is the case with the former Enco gas station on Highway 111, which is the current location of the Palm Springs Visitors Center. Designed by architects Albert Frey and Robson Chambers and built in 1965, it is a magnificent mid-century marvel, with a hyperbolic paraboloid roof that would be the envy of George Jetson. It sits at the entrance to Palm Springs and lets you know this town is a ring-a-ding-ding clambake. Out of business by the early 1990s, its fate seemed destined for the wrecking ball until it was rescued, first by investors who turned it into an art gallery, and then by the town who treated it to a $500,000 restoration. What a beautiful place this is and how great Palm Springs was to recognize it before it was too late. It's a gasser, man, a real gasser.

The beat goes on: Palm Springs, California's Sonny Bono statue

Sonny gives a big smile to a down-on-his-luck fellow fishing out coins.

Sonny's Palm Springs Walk of Fame star was moved to a prominent location in front of his statue.

Sonny's Palm Springs restaurant, Bono's, sits vacant today.

Sonny Bono was an entertainer, songwriter, entrepreneur and the not-Cher half of Sonny and Cher. His showbiz career began by working with Phil Spector and co-writing the 1960s hit "Needles and Pins," then successfully partnering with Cher on records and TV, then solo work including more guest appearances on "The Love Boat" in the '70s than any other celebrity (by his own admission). Frustrated with zoning laws while trying to open a Palm Springs restaurant in 1988, he ran for mayor and won, serving until 1992. He later went on to represent his district in the U.S. Congress for four years until his untimely death at age 62 from a skiing accident (his widow Mary still holds his seat). He was a pro-business Republican and helped create the Palm Springs International Film Festival, still being held today in his honor. In 2001, the city paid tribute to him with a bronze statue in the heart of the downtown shopping district at Plaza Mercado on South Palm Canyon Drive. There he sits with a big grin by a coin fountain looking out at his constituents in a puffy open-collared shirt and high-waisted pants, proving it's forever Sonny in Palm Springs.

It never rains in Southern California...

There's eccentric travel, and then there's really eccentric travel. Like flooding in a desert; namely, Palm Springs, California, a region known for a sunny, dry climate 360 days a year. Southern California is in the midst of a freak-of-nature series of storms causing more rain to fall in a couple of days than normally falls in a whole year, and we're here to take it all in. We did get a good part of a day to look at the awesome mid-century modern architecture so abundant here, and things should clear up by the end of our stay. And if not, I hear Tornado Alley is lovely this time of year.