A genuine itinerary, written as a Quora answer in 2018.
The first day, compare Mexican food at Sobe’s, Letty’s, La Fonda and Camacho’s. Get a special quesadilla at least once, and some local beef.
The second day, take a trip to nearby Mexicali. Have some Chinese food. Get your teeth fixed cheap. Grab some booze — I suggest Herradura tequila — and some tourist junk. Wait in a long, long line to get back.
On day three, visit the local agricultural fields. Take a walk out and listen to the asparagus grow. Watch an agricultural burn. Hire on to pick lettuce and tomatoes. Smell the feedlots where cattle is fattened on local alfalfa. Go on a horseback ride.
Day four, if you’re there at the right time, go to the Mid-Winter Fair. Be sure to catch the livestock auctions.
Day five, cruise the old downtown.
On day six, drive up to “the Slabs” and see Salvation Mountain and the Salton Sea. Marvel that this used to be a major Hollywood getaway area.
Finally, on day seven, drive out to Mt. Signal. Enjoy the desert peace and quiet. Say hi to the border patrol. Collect some rocks and fossils. See the border monument.
Eat at Camacho’s again on the way home.
People ask me why I’d want to go back to El Centro. This is why.