April.
Following our week in Terlingua and Big Bend, we spent another week in Alpine, Texas. This gave us the opportunity to explore Marfa.
The high points included Big Bend Coffee
where we were able to take a tour.
There's nothing like the smell of roasting coffee.
We bought several bags in order to try out various blends. I believe that my favorite with the Mexico Chiapas.
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And then there's El Cosmico.
A little bit of retro-new-age-Portlandia stuck in the West Texas desert.
Love the mid-century modern furniture and the blue tile floor.
You can stay here in a tepee, a yurt, or in a refurbished trailer. Not cheap, but it would be an experience.
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Downtown Marfa
Palace Theater. Made me think of The Last Picture Show.
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The beautiful and historic Hotel Paisano
A few quirky items from the hotel gift shop.
With pictures you don't have to buy stuff to remember it.
However: I wish that I had bought one of these really cool needle-work cushions. Idea for future projects.
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Presidio County Courthouse
Looking up
A fact we wouldn't have known without the help of an employee at the courthouse: each door has a unique pattern on the hinges.
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Presidio Pass
And of course no trip to the area is complete without an attempt to see the famed Marfa Lights. While I am a skeptic by nature, I would have been pleased to be proven wrong so that I could join those searching for the scientific explanation.
On the way to the viewing center, I familiarized myself with the area through google maps.
Have I mentioned how much I love google maps?
Early on, the viewing center was mobbed with people of all ages and degrees of sobriety. The crowd rapidly thinned in the cool night air as people saw the lights and then moved on down the road back to El Cosmico. It was nice to see all of those shiny happy people. Happy people who had not looked at google to realize that what they saw was car and truck lights coming down a hill on Highway 67.
We didn't tell them.
One of the better reports I've read is "The Truth Is Out There" from the Texas Monthly back in 2006.
Now I'm not saying that there are no strange unexplained lights. I have a first-hand report that they do exist. But this night there were only headlights.
I guess that we'll have to make another visit. Someday. Maybe.
