SF's finest restaurants are plating up on couture tableware by Oakland ceramicist Erin Hupp

In her early 20s, Erin Hupp studied and perfected her art at a pottery studio in Madison, Wisconsin while pursuing a mainstream legal career. But something was missing.

“As I practiced law, I often wondered about that other life, the other path in which I pursued an MFA and focused solely on my art,” she says. Five years ago, situated in the creative hub of Oakland, she decided to find out, ditching the law for a full-time career in art.

“Returning to my art practice in a more meaningful way was a rebirth, a coming back to my true self,” she recalls. “Ceramics is a beautiful teacher.”

Hupp’s many hours spent over her potter’s wheel became the constant in her life, a form of meditation, and though she found solace in it, she also found community. “I met a lovely group of local ceramicists and learned a lot about letting go and having patience with myself. It was the beginning of a lifetime passion.”

Five years into the pottery business, she’s found her niche making art to order, on commission, brainstorming every last detail with her clients. “My art is intentional and handmade—my hands touch each piece hundreds of times through the 12-step ceramic process, from design inception to final firing.”

She designs refined objects—her new ring and bracelet vases are available at Hayes Valley’s chic jewelry shop Metier—and custom tableware collections for fine dining restaurants such as San Francisco’s Nightbird, Californios, and Sorrel.

Erin Hupp’s black glazed plates for San Francisco Michelin-starred restaurant Californios.(Adahlia Cole)

“I’ve lived in the Bay Area for 15 years, so it comes as no surprise that I love food,” says Hupp who, while dining out over the years, has given a lot of thought to how her ceramics could be “the artistic architecture for a chef’s food. Handmade ceramics complement a chef’s tasting menu with a unique form, color, and design,” she says.

Her first restaurant collaboration was with chef George Meza at Onsen. The place has unfortunately closed due to the pandemic, but the experience laid the groundwork for her to pursue projects with more of her favorite restaurants in SF. Now, working with chefs offers Hupp a fresh perspective on her art, and they help each other grow in their respective fields.

“When I first started working with chef Val Cantu (Californios), I showed him two black glaze choices for his taco plates. He wished there was a middle black glaze color and asked me to combine them. This hadn’t occurred to me; it is not the first thing a ceramicist would do. But I thought, why not? I combined the glazes and the result was stunning. That glaze is now my trademark semi-matte ink glaze. Val and I often build off each other’s ideas when brainstorming at the restaurant.”

In fact, Californios serves up an an extensive array of Hupp’s ceramics including chargers, taco plates, bowls, bon-bon dishes, and bud vases.

In 2019, Nightbird chef/owner Kim Alter proposed another challenge: to create a stunning pillow plate that would both highlight the restaurant’s culinary artistry but also be lightweight enough that her servers could gracefully lift it off the table.

“I returned to my studio and had a moment of inspiration when watching Warren MacKenzie, an iconic Midwestern craft potter, make his drop-rim bowl. By applying his method to a completely different form, I stretched the clay to its absolute maximum, the very brink of a piece collapsing, and created my cushion plate. Nightbird now features two versions of my cushion plate in its five-course tasting menu.”

More recently, Hupp’s work has captured the attention of Sorrel’s Michelin-starred chef/owner Alex Hong, for whom she designed two new plates, and the Auberge Stanly Ranch, a new 700-acre working ranch and resort in Napa that will serve all its restaurant’s dishes on a unique collection of Hupp’s work.

As a proud and happy mother, she is also due to launch a limited edition collection of vases that celebrate motherhood; look for them on her website in time for Mother’s Day.

// Follow Erin Hupp on Instagram at @erin_hupp_ceramics; erinhuppceramics.com.

Oakland ceramicist Erin Hupp at work.(Adahlia Cole)

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Fog City Flea opens trading post in the Ferry Building + more style scoop

Open seven days a week, the new Fog City Flea Trading Post overflows with artisanal things large and small from Bay Area makers.

Plus, Pacific Heights welcomes two new jewelry stores to the neighborhood: Aurate, the internet’s fave sustainably sourced and reasonably priced label, and Alexis Bittar, which is returning to its onetime Fillmore Street ‘hood, reborn and with handbags.

Happy shopping.

Fog City Flea Trading Post opens a brick-and-mortar in the Ferry Building.

Fog City Flea is no longer just for Sunday strolling! Thanks to the newly opened FCF Trading Post, you can get your fix of ceramics, beauty products, jewelry, clothes, housewares and more from local artisans seven days a week. Situated at the south end of the Ferry Building, the light-filled 5,000-square-foot marketplace-cum-department store is home to more than 45 Bay Area makers, brands, and retailers. Just a few include: West Perro, Bathing Culture, Yarrow Goods, Mae Leather, Abnormal Couture, Ivy, Sprigs of Hazel, Crow Canyon, and Inhae Lee.

Big fan of the original FCF? You’re in luck…it will continue as a monthly pop-up in the Ferry Building’s upper level (Grand Hall)—with an additional 25 vendors. Shop shop!

// Open 10am to 6pm daily, 1 Ferry Building, Suite 37, (Embarcadero), shoptradingpost.com

Fillmore Street is a little sparklier now that sustainable jewelry brand Aurate moved in.

(Courtesy of Aurate)

Buzzy NYC-based jeweler Aurate has come west and is currently celebrating its first California storefront. Yep, the charming jewel box (sorry, but it is!) now calls Pac Heights home. People, make room on those fingers, necks, and wrists as you’re going to wanna layer on the handcrafted and sustainably sourced gold and diamond goodies from this D2C women-led brand. Not only are the rings, necklaces, bracelets and more super cool, the prices are beyond reasonable for the quality. We say it’s time for a little treat-yourself treat—after all, buying yourself diamonds is the new buying yourself flowers. We’re all in and heading straight for the Luna gold huggie earrings and the Icon ring with white diamonds.

// 2208 Fillmore St. (Pacific Heights), auratenewyork.com

Alexis Bittar makes a brilliant return to SF.

The SF store will be reminiscent of the brand’s SoHo boutique shown here.

(Courtesy of Alexis Bittar)

Jewelry designer Alexis Bittar is back and better than ever. It has been a wild ride for the beloved Brooklyn-born Bittar: He sold his namesake brand and left the business in 2015, bought it back five years later, then relaunched as a lifestyle brand including (deep breaths) handbags last year. Next week, the label opens up gorgeous shop on Fillmore Street.

ICYMI: This is a homecoming of sorts, as the new space is located just a block away and across the street from the label’s past-life store on Pac Heights’ main shopping drag. Its stunning interior reflects Bittar’s newfound freedom and excitement about his baby’s next chapter. He paired up with Tony Award–winning set and costume designer Scott Pask to reimagine a traditional store interior—taking inspo from ’80s cult-indie film Liquid Sky with hints of Saw II and Black Mirror. In other words, prepare for an experience, and lots of oohing and aahing.

// 2105 Fillmore Street (Pacific Heights), alexisbittar.com

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6 Northern California Towns You Haven't Heard of but Are Charming AF

If you think you’ve been everywhere worth going in Northern California, chances are you’re sorely mistaken. From the Lost Coast to Monterey Bay, a handful of small communities are just as delightful as their better-known counterparts, minus the crowds.

So, whether you’re looking for a local day trip or a weekend away, you’ll find what you’re looking for at these six under-the-radar towns.

Ferndale, CA: Storybook Vibes + An Old Saloon in Humboldt County

(Courtesy of @killertown)

The Victorian village of Ferndale is so picture-perfect that it’s played starring roles in multiple films and TV shows; Legoland in San Diego even paid the town homage by building its replica in tiny plastic-brick form. Located just south of Eureka, a few miles inland from the Pacific, Ferndale is dripping in storybook homes and bay window–fronted shops.

The dead lie in its creepy but beautiful cemetery, which towers over the village on a hill, while steep-steepled historic churches attract the living. You can easily see the village’s core in a couple of hours but the eclectic Victorian B&B known as The Gingerbread Mansion Inn is well worth an overnight stay. Either way, don’t forget to stop in for a cocktail and a game of shuffleboard at The Palace Saloon, the westernmost bar in the continental U.S.

Dunsmuir, CA: A Historic Railroad Village a Skip From Mt. Shasta

(Courtesy of @seesiskiyou)

By the 1930s, Dunsmuir, a small railroad town just south of Mount Shasta, had developed into a destination for visitors in search of a gateway to the Trinities. By all appearances, that’s where time stopped for this little village, now reached via I-5. It’s so evocative of that period, in fact, that Dunsmuir’s entire downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places.

In recent years, the village’s quaint character has drawn a crop of entrepreneurs who’ve established businesses like the brick-walled coffee shop-cum-pub The Wheelhouse and fine dining restaurant Cafe Maddalena within its historic buildings. Although Dunsmuir’s iconic mid-century movie theater is currently closed, a local group is working to save and reopen it.

Murphys, CA: Big Trees + Gold Rush History

(Courtesy of @visitmurphys)

Murphys popped up quickly in the heat of the gold rush in 1848 and, by the early 1900s, had become a bit of a tourist destination for its proximity to the stately sequoia at Calaveras Big Trees State Park. Over the last century, that slow trickle of visitors has helped to shape Murphys into a destination that’s unexpectedly rich in restaurants, wineries (there are two dozen tasting rooms on Main Street alone), art galleries, and B&Bs, not to mention a solid dose of history in its architecture and landmarks.

Stop by the Ironstone Heritage Museum at Ironstone Vineyards to see the world’s largest gold nugget, then spend the night in the historic Murphys Hotel, which has hosted luminaries like Ulysses S. Grant and Mark Twain since 1856.

San Juan Bautista, CA: A State Historic Park With a Shady Past

(Courtesy of @filmpotato_)

San Juan Bautista began brutally, with a Spanish Mission that destroyed indigenous Amah Mutsen communities and enslaved its people. But while the settlement has evolved into a lovely modern village, it has not forgotten its history, both the dark side and the light.

The original mission church still stands, as do many of the adobe homes and businesses built along the old El Camino Real in the early 1800s. Many of those on The Alameda (Third Street) have been repurposed into modern shops and restaurants and, a block away, some of the town’s 200-year-old buildings—the Plaza Hotel, Zanetta House/Plaza Hall, the Plaza Stables, a historic jail, and more—have been preserved as part of the San Juan Bautista State Historic Park. When you’re done wandering, grab a meal at Michelin-starred chef Jarad Gallagher’s pandemic-born barbecue restaurant and whiskey bar, The Smoke Point, followed by a solid night’s sleep at the hacienda-inspired boutique hotel, Hacienda de Léal.

Niles, CA: A Quiet Reminder of Hollywood’s Silent Film Era in the East Bay

(Courtesy of @zeruch)

Despite sitting smack in the middle of the East Bay, it’s been about a hundred years since Niles was a household name. Back then, the village, isolated from the city of Fremont by the topography of Niles Canyon, rose to fame as the Hollywood of the silent film era; Charlie Chaplin, the king of those early movies, made five films here, including 1915’s iconic The Tramp.

Geography is still in Niles’ favor today. Though it’s far more accessible than it was back then, between Niles’ ubiquitous antique stores, fetching train depot and golden hills, visiting its main street (Niles Boulevard) still feels like stepping back in time. For some real insight into the town’s early days, catch one of its original black-and-white flicks on the big screen at the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum.

Capitola, CA: Americana in Santa Cruz’s Quainter Neighbor

(Courtesy of @capitolalove)

The colorful seaside village of Capitola is nestled in the shadow of Santa Cruz at the northern end of Monterey Bay. Like its neighbor, Capitola is a laid-back community where surf and sun are paramount. But the town’s bite-sized center runs circles around Santa Cruz when it comes to charm.

Stroll the streets festooned with the best of Americana—ice cream and candy shops, taquerias, and bar-restaurants overlooking the ocean—before laying out on one of three beaches: Capitola, Hooper, or Trees. If you just can’t drag yourself away, stay overnight in the historic pastel vacation condos at Venetian Court, and don’t miss brunch at Shadowbrook across Soquel Creek, a classic 75-year old restaurant with a cable car funicular.

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SF street photographer David Gregory looks for beauty after tragedy

On December 2, 2016, the Ghost Ship warehouse fire in Oakland stole the life of 20-year old Michela Gregory. Her father, photographer David Gregory, has never been the same.

“That just totally changed my life in a bad way. For a while, I thought I was never going to be able to take pictures anymore because I can’t go anywhere without thinking about her,” he says. “Sunrises are tough, sunsets. Everything has a double meaning now. But I try to keep going because that’s what she would want.”

Gregory, the son of an African-American father and an Italian mother, immigrated from Italy to San Francisco as a teenager in the 1980s. “I couldn’t speak English, even though my dad’s American. Every time he spoke to us in English, it felt like a punishment,” he explains. “I struggled to fit in for awhile.”

A mechanic by trade, Gregory purchased his first camera in 2012 and the hobby quickly became both a passion and an escape. “I call it freestyling. I jump in my car and go from neighborhood to neighborhood. When I go out and shoot, I put on my headphones and listen to music and I walk. You never know what you’re going to encounter,” he says, like the coyote he found just standing in the middle of Hyde Street early one morning. “It’s one of my favorites.”

While photography continues to spark Gregory’s creativity, he has recently begun to expand his artistic practice to include painting, too.

“I print some of my images on canvas and go over them with oil. It’s a work in progress and something I’ve been thinking about doing for a while. It’s looking pretty cool but I want to get better before I start posting them,” he explains.

“For me, the last couple of years have been really rough but I try to go out there and stay motivated,” Gregory says. “I love cityscapes, landscapes—it’s all beautiful to me. I just think the world is beautiful.”

Below, Gregory describes below how he got the shot on some of our favorite images from the streets of San Francisco. Follow him on Instagram at @gregoryd1.

The moody lights of San Francisco’s Chinatown.(David Gregory, @gregoryd1)

“I was with a couple of friends and we were walking in Chinatown. The light was so cool. It was just one of those moments that everything comes in front of you and you react. I just love the way it looked. I was lucky to take a good picture,” explains Gregory.

Reflections on a cable car.(David Gregory, @gregoryd1)

“This was on California Street right after the rain. I wanted to try and go find some reflections and I was walking near there and I was hoping there was a puddle so I could get the cable car. There’s many times when you take a picture thinking it’s going to look a certain way but once you go home and look at it on a larger screen it doesn’t come out like you were hoping. There are disappointments, but this one came out really good. It’s one of my favorites,” Gregory says.

A peek of the Golden Gate Bridge from Fort Baker.(David Gregory, @gregoryd1)

“This one was taken from Fort Baker. It was low tide and a couple of friends and I were taking pictures. There was another photographer right at the spot I wanted to be but he looked so cool the way he was positioned with the pilings and the bridge in the background and the colors because it was sunset. It turned out to be a really good shot,” Gregory explains.

“Sunrise” over San Francisco.(David Gregory, @gregoryd1)

“The sun is not supposed to be rising there. The sky itself was just gray but, because it was sunrise, I said let me just put the sun there. The sun usually rises way more to the right. Some people pointed it out and gave me a hard time about it, but I use some of the tools available to me to enhance some of my images. A lot of great photographers do that. At first i was against it, but i guess I feel like I’ve evolved a little bit more,” says Gregory.

A woman feeds the seagulls behind the San Francisco Ferry Building.(David Gregory, @gregoryd1)

“This is my most favorite in a long time, something I witnessed and I happened to have my camera. A lady came up as I was walking on the Embarcadero by the Ferry Building. Once she got there, all these gulls came and she just started feeding them. It was just an awesome moment and i was really lucky to be there at the time to get the shot,” remembers Gregory.

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18 Fun Things to Do This Week (2.21.22)

Time is of the essence this week. Magnolias are in peak bloom at San Francisco Botanical Garden and it’s prime viewing season for the firefall in Yosemite National Park.

Plus, 2.22.22 gives us reason to hit the town on a Tuesday night, a Queen-inspired dance party provides another excuse to play dress-up (as if we needed one), the Black Joy Parade and festival brings a much-needed celebration to Oakland, and so much more.

Have a good one!

Experience peak bloom of one of the most impressive magnolia collections in the United States. For a limited time—the SF Botanical Garden is predicting only a few more weeks—admire the sights and scents of more than 200 magnolia trees. Use the “Magnificent Magnolias” map to explore the grounds and learn more about the collection; open daily. // San Francisco Botanical Garden, 1199 9th Ave. (Golden Gate Park); tickets at sfbg.org.

Watch nature show off at Yosemite’s firefall. Every year from mid-to-late February, the setting sun hits Yosemite’s Horsetail Fall on the side of El Capitan at just the right angle, creating the illusion that the waterfall is on fire. The phenomenon, which is known as the firefall, is estimated to happen between February 10th and 28th, according to the National Park Service, with prime viewing expected this week. // Plan your trip at nps.gov.

Noise Pop Festival descends upon the Bay this week with happy hours, live music, film premieres, and general revelry. Highlights include Jeff Tweedy at The Fillmore, The Drums performing Portamento at August Hall, King Woman at DNA Lounge, Topaz Jones at The New Parish, Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure with live music, and headliner Azealia Banks at The Warfield; Monday to Sunday. // Details at noisepopfest.com.

Fog City Flea goes big time, full-time. The Ferry Building’s popular Sunday market is now a brick-and-mortar store! You’ll now be able to shop over 5,000 square feet of unique goods including handmade jewelry, fine houseware, and quality apparel upstairs in the Grand Hall; dpen daily, 10am to 5pm. // Fog City Flea Trading Post, 1 Ferry Building (Embarcadero); details on Instagram @fogcityflea.

Celebrate Twosday (2.22.22) with the ultimate tutu Tuesday Mission bar crawl and silent disco. On this very rare perfect palindrome day, don your best tutu and grab a martini at Lone Palm before making your way through the Mission and, ultimately, to the silent disco dance party at Chan Kaajal Park; Tuesday, 6pm ‘til late. // Mission; details on facebook.com

Looking for a Twosday party in the East Bay? Head to Downtown Oakland for the 222 party featuring $2 entry, $2 shots, $2 tacos…you get the idea; Tuesday, 9pm ‘til late. // The Art Gallery, 310 14th St. (Oakland); details on facebook.com.

‘Shrooms on your mind? Learn to grow your own at this mushroom cultivation workshop for beginners. Decriminalized in Oakland, psychedelic mushrooms have become popular for their therapeutic qualities. Learn the basics of growing both gourmet and medicinal mushrooms, and leave with a mushroom grow kit; Wednesday, 6:30pm to 9:30pm. // Soltree Alchemy, 3047 Martin Luther King Jr. Way (Oakland); tickets at eventbrite.com

Raise a glass to hump day and the reopening of Fort Point Beer Company’s flagship beer hall reopening on Valencia. After a lengthy closure, the brewery is once again slinging pints of KSA, plus yummy treats like crab deviled eggs and pork chop sandos; open Wednesday to Sunday. // Fort Point Beer Co., 742 Valencia St. (Mission); details at fortpointbeer.com.

Three-time Grammy winner, country music hitmaker, and daughter of Johnny Cash takes the stage at SFJAZZ with her husband and musical collaborator, John Leventhal. Rosanne Cash will perform music from throughout her career, including songs from her latest Blue Note release, She Remembers Everything; Thursday through Sunday, 7:30pm. // SFJAZZ, 201 Franklin St. (Hayes Valley); tickets at sfjazz.org.

Discover thousands of orchids on display and for sale at the 69th Annual Pacific Orchid Exposition. Hands-on demonstrations will be conducted by experts with information about successfully growing and blooming orchids at home. For those looking to get their hands on the best of the best, there will be an intimate preview night where you can shop from orchid vendors before the general public; Thursday through Sunday. // County Fair Building, 1199 Ninth Ave. (Golden Gate Park); tickets at eventbrite.com.

Satisfy your appetite for culture by learning how to make siu mai shaped like roses at the Asian Art Museum. Food stylist and blogger Kristina Cho will demonstrate her technique for making the special pork and shrimp dumplings so you can make them at home. After the demonstration, Cho will sign copies of her cookbook “Mooncakes & Milk Bread,” which includes the recipe for these dumplings and so much more; Thursday at 6:30pm. // Asian Art Museum, 200 Larkin St. (Civic Center); tickets at asianart.org.

Don’t miss your last chance to see Amoako Boafo’s Soul of Black Folks at MoAD. This premier museum solo exhibition for the Ghanaian artist features more than 20 works that showcase Boafo’s efforts to capture the essence of the Black figure, including Black subjectivity, Black joy, and the Black gaze; on display through February 27. // The Museum of African Diaspora, 685 Mission St. (SoMa); tickets at moadsf.org.

West Coast = best coast. Especially when it comes to our musical exports. The West Coast Legends of Hip Hop tour featuring Too Short, Warren G, DJ Quik, Digital Underground, and Luniz takes over the Paramount Theatre on Friday. // Paramount Theatre, 2025 Broadway (Oakland); tickets at paramountoakland.org.

Live your Killer Queen best life at this colossal dance party celebrating Queen and all the rock and disco anthems of the 70s and 80s. Come dressed in your best Bowie/Freddie glam look—jumpsuits, bell bottoms, and shiny clothing encouraged; Saturday, 9pm to 2:30am. // DNA Lounge, 375 11th St. (SoMa); tickets at dnalounge.com.

Celebrate 15 years of NSFW storytelling at Bawdy Storytelling’s anniversary extravaganza. Hosted by sexual folklorist Dixie De La Tour, expect to hear infamously true tales of lust, love, gender redefinition, sexual identity, life-changing hook-ups, educational one-night stands, and everything in between; Saturday, 7pm to 9:30pm. // Verdi Club, 2424 Mariposa St. (Mission); tickets at eventbrite.com.

Come together for the Black Joy Parade and festival—the largest free family-friendly event of its kind in California. The hyper-positive celebration of the Black experience and the Black community’s contribution to history and culture kicks things off with Black Joy Brunches at Oakland’s best Black-owned restaurants; Sunday at 12:30pm. // 14th and Broadway (Oakland); details at blackjoyparade.org.

End the weekend with some sun salutations and a cold pint of Almanac Beer. On the fourth Sunday of every month, Almanac Beer Co. hosts all-levels yoga outdoors at their Alameda taproom; Sunday at 10am. // Almanac Beer Co., 651 West Tower Ave. (Alameda); tickets at eventbrite.com.

Shop for unique treasures at the Little Shoppe of Horrors pop-up. Curated by the rare, strange, and unusual plant procurers at Magpie & Thorn, this open-air market will feature tarot readings, MadMaggie’s Crafts and Curiosities, Haunted Manor Boutique, Gashly Tentacles, Eternal Craft Designs, Sixth Sense Soy Candles, and more; Sunday, 12pm to 5pm. // Magpie & Thorn, 2305 Santa Clara Ave. (Alameda); details at eventbrite.com.

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An Old Hollywood oasis has a modern renaissance in Death Valley National Park

On my first visit to Death Valley National Park, its historic inn, a green oasis of swaying palms and red-tile roofs, captured my imagination from afar.

Five years later, I have returned to the emerald isle in the middle of the hottest desert on Earth, this time as a guest.

The Oasis at Death Valley is built atop an honest-to-god oasis from which 80,000 gallons of subterranean waters bubble to the surface each day. When a hotel first went up here in the 1920s, the stunning juxtaposition of flourishing life amid a deadly desert drew Hollywood celebrities like Clark Gable, Bette Davis, and a young Ronald Regan.

The casitas at the Inn at Death Valley.(Scott Temme/Xanterra)

Ongoing renovations since 2018 have ushered the inn at the oasis into a new era in which nearly two dozen, updated one-bedroom casitas rise up from the fertile ground. There’s a restaurant, a cocktail lounge, and spa. A mile away, a second property, The Ranch, got its own extensive renovations including 224 updated guest rooms, soon-to-open cottages, and an ice cream parlor all arrayed around a quaint town square.

Dusty and dirty from a seven-hour hike to Panamint City, a ghost town on the park’s southeastern edge, by the time I stumble into the inn well after dark, it feels like a mirage. In short order, a staff member whisks me away in a golf cart to my casita. On the way, he explains that, once there, I’ll have a golf cart all my own to drive around the resort whenever I please; it comes complimentary with my stay.

Inside, the casita is dressed up in unpretentious, well-appointed comfort. Just beyond the back patio where I’ll drink hot tea with the rising sun, a creek wends its way through the casita village. And beyond that, a lovely garden of spindly palms, flowing waterways, and ponds beg for a stroll.

The Last Kind Words Saloon at The Ranch.(Scott Temme/Xanterra)

The next morning, after breakfast on the inn’s verandah, where the views stretch like taffy across the valley, it’s once again time to venture into that unforgiving desert. At Badwater Basin, the lowest point in North America at 282 feet below sea level, it’s 85 degrees. That’s downright chilly for the park which, last summer, reached the third hottest temperature ever recorded anywhere on the planet, 130 degrees Fahrenheit.

From there it’s on to the Artist’s Palette, a volcanic uprising of rock naturally colored in hues of blue, purple and pink, then to Rhyolite, another ghost town—this one accessible by car—just outside the park’s Nevada entrance. With the heat and the dust and the dry dry air, there’s just one thing I have in mind as I pull back into the parking lot at the inn: the spring-fed pool. With its stone chimney, open air cabanas and cushy lounges, it looks nearly identical to the historic photo that hangs on the wall of my casita, and was, I imagine, just as restorative then as it is now.

The Inn’s rooftop deck beneath a starry sky.(Mike Knetemann/Xanterra)

I head down to the Ranch for dinner that night and find myself belly up to the bar of The Last Kind Words Saloon, the resort’s steakhouse-cum-watering-hole, beneath a dense gallery of Western imagery, taxidermied animals, and cowboy accoutrement. A famous rendering of the 20-mule teams that moved borax, a mineral powder used in cleaning and washing clothes, through Death Valley in the 1880s, dominates one wall. Outside, diners are seated around a stone chimney that’s crackling with life.

I nosh on hearty, strength-reviving fare—dishes like ribeye, baby back ribs, and salmon—and by the time my belly is full, the stars have begun to emerge in the night sky; back at the inn, I have the most comfortable spot in the park to see them shine. I sit on a lounge chair on the fourth floor viewing deck and bask in their pale glow. Nearly full tonight, the moon keeps the Milky Way at bay, but in this certified International Dark Sky Park, thousands of pinpoints of light dance nevertheless.

The next morning, I sleep so soundly in my cozy casita that I miss the iconic sunrise at nearby Zabriskie Point, but no matter. I’ll be back,’I think to myself, as I steer my golf cart into the blazing morning heat.

// Oasis at Death Valley (Death Valley), oasisatdeathvalley.com

Zabriskie Point at sunrise.(Temme/Xanterra)

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