As its residents admit, more people seem to stumble across Dateland, Ariz. than intentionally visit the little town dedicated primarily to the production of – you guessed it – dates. The town’s quaint and serene atmosphere is rife with pleasantly uncanny ’50s nostalgia, with waitresses in pink retro uniforms wishing customers “”howdy”” as they enter the green-checkered Dateland Restaurant, the town’s one diner.

The large billboard along Interstate 8 highlights the same landmarks that the sleepy town’s official Web site boasts: a date shop, a gas station, an RV park and the diner, featuring surprisingly mouth-watering cactus and date milkshakes. If there is any lingering doubt as to the town’s date fervor, one step inside the adjacent gift shop will quell it in an instant – books, postcards, hats, T-shirts and even shot glasses bearing the image of the yellow-brown mascot litter the small store like a busy garage sale. The only visible downside to visiting Dateland is time – with a population of 483 and a year-over-year population decline of 19 percent, who knows how long this little gem of the Southwest will stick around?