Here in Lubbock, we say that we live in West Texas. Although that statement is not un-true, there is a place that is even further west than what we consider “West Texas,” and we went there this weekend.
We went to Marfa, Texas. As Meterologist Matt Laubhan stated, think Mexico, then up a little. It was only a five hour drive to get there from Lubbock, which surprised me, I thought it would be way longer. Marfa is centrally located 180 miles from El Paso and 180 miles (approximately) from Midland. This Google Earth picture isn't as clear as I had hoped, but yeah, find Mexico, then up a little...Marfa is marked on this map. Lubbock is where the little I-27 marker is.
Marfa is an odd little place, but we really liked it. It is frequently featured in Texas Monthly and I’ve seen it a time or two in Southern Living, so we have wanted to see this mysterious little place for a while. It’s known for several things: the Marfa lights, art, movies, beautiful scenery and our friend Eric Pierce.
The Marfa lights are a mystery. No one really knows what they are. They’re just lights that appear on the horizon east of Marfa at random times of night. My mom told me about them when I was little and it scared the dickens out of me. Unsolved Mysteries was even intrigued by the lights and did a segment on them. In order to face my childhood fears and in hopes of getting to dial 1-800-876-5353 to help solve a mystery, we went out to see if we could see the Marfa lights. No such luck. Eric grew up in Marfa and had seen the lights several times. I looked them up on the Internet, and there aren’t many good pictures of them, but you’re welcome to Google them yourself.
Marfa is also on the map because it’s an art community. In the 70s, an artist named Donald Judd (I guess he was famous, but I hadn’t heard of him, but I’m not as cultured as most) moved there and started using many of the building in town for his art. He acquired an old fort and renovated the fort’s building and grounds into art spaces. One piece of “art” is a bunch of cement blocks. Here’s a picture from Google Earth. I just don’t get it. The blocks are the dots on the right side of the picture in a straight line.
We went into a gallery and found a photo of Judd’s art on sale for $15,000. We passed on that in search for something a little less. This “Prada store” is actually "art." It’s a little box of a structure outside of Valentine. You can’t go in. It’s just an exhibit of Prada stuff, but the shoes and purses were from the 2005 line, so I wouldn’t want them anyway.
So now, artists flock to Marfa to set up shop. Many have a studio in New York and one in Marfa, like this Evan Hughes guy that makes furniture. Makes total sense.
Marfa was the setting for Giant, starring Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Rock Hudson and Dennis Hopper (God rest their souls). The cast and crew took over The Paisano Hotel in the 1950s, which has recently been renovated. We ate there Friday night. Yummy food! Can you imagine being a teenager in Marfa in the 50s and having that many movie stars in your hometown? I would have been in movie heaven! I still hold out hope the same thing will happen to Carmen, OK. Hey, it happened to Wakita. Anyway, No Country for Old Men was also shot there. It was an odd little movie, but I kind of liked it. I couldn’t get past the bad guy’s haircut. Finally, There Will Be Blood was shot there. That was the most horrible movie I have ever seen. What a waste of two hours of my life.
The area around Marfa, Ft. Davis and Alpine is just beautiful. They usually don’t get much rain, but after all the rain this year (thanks, Hurricane Alex), everything was so green and pretty. Very cool rock formations, mountains, old buildings and yes, even some art decorated the landscape. We really liked it there and hope to return at some point to see more sites.
Our friends, Eric & Melissa Pierce hosted us for the weekend. Eric’s family has a ranch south of town. The house is awesome!
The pond in the photo above is stocked with gigantic catfish and they love mealtime!
There was other wildlife (I only saw rabbits, but I kept my eye out for rattlesnakes, wild hogs and mountain lions). This jackrabbit couldn't figure out why I was walking in circles around the pond. I tried to explain to him that I was trying to get in shape for a wedding, but he just didn't get it. He's the tiny speck next to that plant. Squint your eyes, if needed.
Although we didn't see the Marfa lights, we saw some very pretty stars. The photo below is of the moon, but it didn't quite look like that in person.
Eric also took us to an old Indian camp. I don’t know what the holes in the ground were for, but it’s pretty cool. They found several arrowheads in the area of the camp. I didn't try to pick up arrowheads because I just knew if I put my hand on the ground a rattlesnake would jump out from underneath a bush and bite me. I'm petrified of snakes, if you can't tell.
Although Marfa is an odd little place, it was really nice and very enjoyable with great friends!
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