While 400 million people use ChatGPT every week, many people still think that it’s cold and lacks heart. Personally, I don’t love that people are using it to write their vows.
But can it be used in a heartfelt way without feeling icky?
In today’s newsletter, I’m sharing a warm and fuzzy way I used ChatGPT: to create a Palm Springs scavenger hunt for my mom’s 70th birthday.
Mom likes riddles, trivia, adventure, kitschy things, and being together as a family. A scavenger hunt around the city was the perfect idea. (Pretty sure it was my sister Naomi’s idea — remember she’s thoughtful one.)
My Palm Springs expertise sits narrowly within rental homes, Trixie Motel and the one Bachelorette-friendly restaurant on the main drag that serves dick cakes. So I saddled up with ChatGPT to get this scavenger hunt off the ground.
Prompt: I am creating a scavenger hunt across Palm Springs for a party, based on fun facts about locations around the city. Create an itinerary including 25 destinations and clues.
In hindsight, I could have been more specific. What kind of party, what are the demographics/psychographics of the attendees, how many miles from where we’re staying, etc. But I’m working from beginner status here. Learn from my mistakes.
I got back 25 destinations formatted with the location, the rhyming clue, and a fun fact.
Examples:
Palm Springs Art Museum
Clue: "Art that speaks without a single word—find where beauty is preserved."
Fun Fact: The museum features contemporary and Native American art.
Moorten Botanical Garden
Clue: "A desert oasis with plants galore, discover this garden and its tiny door."
Fun Fact: The garden features over 3,000 species of desert plants and a "Cactarium."
I was kind of eh on the results. They were fairly generic.
Can you make the destinations more quirky and less popular. Also, please provide details for each stop including the best thing to buy, order, or take a photo of.
The results were definitely better. I kept going.
Add addresses and order them so that it’s the most efficient sequence if driving by car. And then make all the clues rhyme so they sound like a poem all strung together?
And then attempted:
Now using these locations or others, make the scavenger hunt form the shape of a Q so if you were to follow the drive from clue to clue it makes the letter Q.
My mom’s name is Queenie and will often go by Q. Thought she’d get a kick out of this but it was a bust. It did not look like a Q. We figured it was better to choose fun destinations than force it.
I went back to the list of places and asked ChatGPT to create a printable map just so we could see where everything was in relation to each other, but we needed something more editable than a PDF. This is when Naomi and I did a bit of manual work. We looked at the destinations listed and double checked that they all still existed. Always double check AI’s work! Glad we did that because there were a couple that were seasonal and some that closed. Then we plotted the remaining locations on Google maps, narrowed it down to a shortlist based on what ground we think we could cover before the two little ones needed their afternoon nap.
Once we had our final locations and order, we put them back into ChatGPT.
Recreate the rhyming poem of clues based on this order of stops:
Carousel Bakery to get something to drink like coffee or tea
Palm Springs Air Museum to press a penny (mom LOVES to press a penny)
Robolights
Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway
Palm Canyon Theater
Forever Marilyn Statue
Sonny Bono Statue
Ruddy's General Store
That Pink Door
Crystal Fantasy
Lucille Ball Bench
Cheeky's for a bacon flight
Josh, who is a copywriter and, according to Gwen, the funniest person in the family, did some final punch ups to the clues.1
Naomi hand drew the map and found a portable microphone on a Buy Nothing facebook group.
April rented and volunteered to drive the 15 passenger van.
I ended up writing the final activities and fun facts (with some supplemental googling), printed everything out, put them in envelopes, and Gwen decorated them. And then we were ready to go!
Here’s the final result in case you want to take it for a spin:
"Begin your quest with a warm sip or two,
A coffee (or maybe hot water for you).
A bakery awaits with treats galore,
The perfect start to explore some more."
CAROUSEL BAKERY
Fun Fact: Carousel Bakery is a family-owned business: Alberto and Elizabeth Cervantes and their daughter Camila.
Activity: Order a warm drink
$10 cash
"Where planes once soared in skies so high,
Find a penny to press, give it a try.
A tiny memento from history’s flight,
To carry with you both day and night."
PALM SPRINGS AIR MUSEUM
Fun Fact: The Palm Springs International Airport traces its origins to World War II. In 1959, Palm Springs residents votes to establish an airport commission and renowned architect Donald Wexler was commissioned to design a new passenger terminal building for the airport. Wexler was known for his modernist architectural style throughout Palm Springs, which includes the home of Dinah Shore, which was later purchased by Leonardo Di Caprio! For the airport terminal, he created a unique and innovative structure that incorporated a distinctive folded plate roof and extensive use of glass. Completed in 1966, his terminal building is now on the National Register of Historic Buildings.
Activity: Press penny
Envelope: $1 cash; some pennies, some quarters
"A quirky display, both bold and bright,
With robots and colors, it’s quite a sight.
Snap a fun photo and marvel around,
This artistic place is quite renowned."
ROBOLIGHTS
Fun Fact: This quirky art installation features 100% recycled materials. Kenny Irwin, the artist being the project, reportedly builds robots 350 days a year, for up to 12 hours a day, and strings up more than a million lights each Christmas all by himself.
Activity: Take a photo
"A famous retreat, romantic and grand,
Where love and music went hand in hand.
Take a quick photo where legends have stayed,
And feel the magic that never will fade."
ELVIS HONEYMOON
Fun Fact: Elvis Presley lived here briefly with Priscilla Presley in 1967. The house’s nickname is “The House of Tomorrow” and features lava-rock walls that some say look like they’re from the Flintstones, a 64-foot built-in banquette sofa, and has a unique shape! No room is square. Instead, the house is made up of four circular pods that are connected. This house (also known as the Elvis Honeymoon Hideaway) has a unique mailbox that reflects its architecture. Elvis never actually owned the house, just leased it. Celebrities, they’re just like us!
Activity: Take a photo at the unique mailbox, sing your favorite Elvis song
"The stage is set, with drama in view,
A spot where the arts come alive for you.
If it’s hard, don’t give up; you’re not a quitter!
Here’s a clue, remember, “Springtime for Hitler”
PALM CANYON THEATER
Fun Fact: Founded in 1997 by a family from Kentucky who visited Coachella Valley and felt the desert needed BROADWAYYYYY.
Activity: Sing your favorite chorus from a broadway show, bonus points if it's from The Producers. You know the one!
"A timeless figure stands tall and true,
Her iconic pose admired by you.
Strike your own pose and mimic her flair,
This stop’s a treasure beyond compare."
FOREVER MARILYN
Fun Fact: The statue, Forever Marilyn, captures her iconic pose from The Seven Year Itch. Marilyn Monroe was a Palm Springs resident, or WAS SHE? Apparently, nobody actually knows. The tourism board just said she lived there with second husband Joe DiMaggio. But it could have been a little PR lie.
Activity: Take a photo
"Your next stop is a statue of a former mayor.
He was the weird little guy who sang beside Cher.
Take a quick pic with a nod of respect,
A music icon we won’t forget."
SONNY BONO
Fun Fact: After experiencing frustration with local government bureaucracy while trying to open a restaurant in Palm Springs (he literally just wanted a bigger sign for his restaurant), Sonny Bono made a successful bid for mayor, despite people thinking him running was a joke, and served from 1988 to 1992. He later went on to be elected to Congress in 1994 and quickly became an influential figure in the Republican Party. Goes to show that the capitalism to politics pipeline is also strong in the desert. Did people like him as a mayor? Who is to say.
Activity: Take photo
"Step into the past with wares on display,
A store from history, still here today.
Look for treasures from decades long gone,
A vintage experience that lives on."
RUDDY’S GENERAL STORE
Fun Fact: In 1983, Jim Ruddy purchased a museum in the midwest, which had a collection of Depression-era products and merchandise. He took more than 6,000 products to Palm Springs to create what is now Ruddy’s General Store. Every detail from the showcases, fixtures, and signs are authentic from the time. In 2003 he donated the entire museum to the city of Palm Springs.
Activity: Take a picture of something that reminds you of the good ‘ol days.
Envelope: 95 cents to get in, $5 to buy something
"A pastel door in a chic retreat,
An Instagram moment that’s hard to beat.
Snap your photo of this colorful delight,
A modern landmark that’s simply just right."
THAT PINK DOOR
Fun Fact: When New York interior designer Moises Esquenazi bought the house in 2004, the door was a dark brown color. It’s now a popular Instagram landmark, with visitors taking photos of themselves in front of it and posting them with the hashtag #thatpinkdoor. Don’t worry, the house is now a rental so go ahead and take a pic.
Activity: Take a selfie, do your best influencer pose
"Crystals and treasures, magic to find,
A shop of wonders that’s one of a kind.
Pick a small token to guide your way,
A mystical memento to brighten your day."
CRYSTAL FANTASY
Fun Fact: For the last 27 years, owner Joy Meredith has been at the forefront of bringing in classes, speakers and enlightenment oriented events. One of the weekly readers, Donna J. Sacks, who “works with the angels,” considers herself a ‘contactee.’ What does that mean? Apparently she was on board a spacecraft where she was “tagged” with a triangular shaped chip in her ear which was verified by a “doctor.” She holds classes on how to contact UFO intelligences. Readings are free, but a “gift” is appreciated.
Activity: Browse for mystical treasures like crystals or tarot cards. Purchase a small crystal or a spiritual charm as we wind down our quest.
Envelope: $20
"A bench for an icon-- star of the TV screen
The beloved red-haired comedy queen.
Her laughter lingers, her charm still holds true,
Find it or you’ll have some ‘splainin’ to do!”
LUCILLE BALL BENCH IN FRONT FROM WELWOOD LIBRARY
Fun Fact: Lucille Ball was an active participant in the desert community, including the Desert Circus, over which Lucille reigned as queen in 1964. She was also a fixture at the Bob Hope Classic Golf Tournament. In later years, Lucy could be found regularly at the Ingleside Inn playing backgammon.
Activity: Take a picture
"End your quest with a savory bite,
A flight of bacon to savor the night.
A spot where flavors are sure to impress,
The perfect ending to your fun success."
CHEEKY’S - BACON FLIGHT
Fun Fact: Tara Lazar and her husband, Marco Rossetti, opened Cheeky’s in June 2008 in the former Peppertree Bookstore on North Palm Canyon Drive. Lazar named the restaurant “Cheeky’s” because she’s a “smart-ass.” One would argue it’s a more catchy name than “Tara’s.”
Activity: Have lunch! Order the bacon flight. Snap a candid moment of you enjoying a treat with Palm Springs scenery.
Envelope: Print out a menu. Nat’s credit card.
And there you have it. A very fun, low stakes way to use ChatGPT. You can easily swap out Palm Springs for another city.
Mom had a blast. Gwen said, “are we lost?” multiple times.
The only disappointment was that the penny press was inside the TICKETED part of the museum. If only ChatGPT told us! My mom did mention that she has a penny press locator app on her phone. Of course she does.
We won’t be pivoting to tourism any time soon.
ChatGPT originally wrote a shady Sonny Bono line — “By the statue of one who sang with charm, a legend who brought this town much harm.” It was interesting to see it make that kind of judgement call.