Fifty dogs, an olive grove, and the people who pulled it off.
The Club went to the desert.
On May 1st, about fifty dogs and the people who love them showed up to Miralon — the olive grove community on the north end of Palm Springs — for the first-ever Canines & Cocktails Palm Springs.
We had a hunch the format would travel. It did.
The Setting
Miralon is a strange and beautiful place to host fifty dogs. Modernist architecture, working olive trees, the kind of light Palm Springs is famous for. Cocktails on one side, water bowls on the other, golden hour doing what golden hour does. If you've ever been, you know — the place is built for a slow drink with a good view.
It turns out it's also built for dogs.
The People Who Ran the Bar
We can't talk about this night without talking about That's the Spirit, the Palm Springs hospitality group who hosted us and ran the whole event from start to finish. They are, plainly, some of the best in the desert.
We've worked with them before — they catered our founder's wedding, so we may not be entirely unbiased — and they brought the same care to a patio full of fifty dogs as they bring to a wedding. The drinks were great. The crew was warm. The vibe was set the second people walked in. None of this works without them.
If you live in or visit the Palm Springs area and need someone to run a bar at your event, That's the Spirit is the only call to make.
A Word About the Vodka
A second thank-you goes to Hera the Dog Vodka, who donated the vodka for the night and ran a raffle on the patio. Hera is a woman-owned brand that gives a percentage of every sale to rescue organizations — which is, more or less, the entire ethos of this Club distilled into a bottle. Values, taste, and a sense of humor about the category.
If you didn't grab a bottle at the event, grab one now. It's a good pour. It's a better cause.
The Part We Keep Coming Back To
Fifty dogs. Zero incidents.
Everyone was friendly. Every dog was well-behaved. People who'd never met held each other's leashes while someone ran to grab a drink. Strangers traded recommendations on which trails were worth the drive and which patios let dogs upstairs. Dogs slept under tables while their people talked. There was a moment, late, when the sun had dropped behind the mountains and the playlist was doing its job, where you could look around and see fifty strangers acting like they'd known each other for years.
It was the kind of crowd you can only get when the people who show up genuinely want to be there.
It was, honestly, the perfect event.
What's Next
We're already thinking about where the Club goes next. We're not going to promise a city until the ink's dry — but if you want first dibs on the next one, join The Bulletin and you'll hear it before anyone else.
To everyone who came, to every dog who showed up well-behaved, to That's the Spirit, to Hera — thank you. We mean it.
See you at the next one.
— Good Boys Social Club
