The Desert Trail’s view: Think local, shop local for your holiday gifts
Now that Thanksgiving has come and gone, it is time to concentrate on the most important activity of the year, finding the perfect holiday gifts for family and friends. While many of our readers are no doubt making plans to visit shopping malls and super stores in the low desert and beyond, we would like to suggest they cast their nets a little closer to home for their holiday shopping.
Because art always makes a great gift, Twentynine Palms is an excellent place to begin shopping, home as it is to several galleries, art studios and other locations where locally-produced art work can be obtained, from the Twentynine Palms Art Gallery on Cottonwood Drive to the 29 Palms Inn just down the street from the gallery to offices of the Twentynine Palms Chamber of Commerce on Twentynine Palms Highway downtown.
Speaking of the art gallery, it is also home to a lovely little gift shop, as is the Old Schoolhouse Museum just across Cottonwood Drive. Other galleries include the Creative Arts Center on Adobe Road and A Roadside Attraction on Twentynine Palms Highway in the Indian Cove area.
The Joshua Tree National Park Oasis Visitor Center also is a great source for gifts.
Twentynine Palms has several other shopping opportunities for those looking to pick up unique items to place under the Christmas tree this year. The Historic Plaza is home to Cowboy Attic, featuring a wide variety of western-related gift items, the Flower Garden, and Cry Havoc, a place to shop for your favorite roll-playing gamer.
Downtown is home to two jewelry stores, DeMorrow’s and A.J. Diamond Connection, D.L. Bowden Frame Shop, and the Silk Purse, a lovely little antique shop owned and operated by local amateur actress Sue Kelly and her niece, Sara Waite. Further down the highway is Marshall Networking for the techie on your list.
