Weekend in Marfa, TX

Last weekend, a few of my girlfriends and I took at trip out to good ol’ West Texas.  We went to Marfa, TX which was such a neat, small town.  It has a population of ~2000, which is big, compared to the small towns around it, but it is small in my standards.  It is only 1.6 sq miles and located in the middle of nowhere, I loved it.

When we got into town, there was an Art Gallery grand opening with free wine and beer.  Sweet.  I love this town already.  We heard that we should eat early because food joints sometimes run out.  We lucked out that Fat Lyle’s was there and had just enough tacos for us!  I had the pork tacos and they were so juicy and delicious.

We stayed at the neatest place, El Cosmico, which is apart of the Liz Lambert hotel chain.  You can rent safari tents, tepees, or trailers.  It’s like girl scout camp all over again– community bathrooms, tents, and hammocks.  When we walked into the lobby, Charlie Mars was playing some beautiful acoustic music.  So far, Marfa was perfect.

We went to watch the famous Marfa Lights and we actually saw them!!  They don’t come out every night, but we got lucky.  The Marfa Lights Viewing Area is just a short 10 minute drive from town.  Be sure to bring blankets and a bottle of wine :)

Everything in town shuts down around midnight, except the late-night Grilled Cheese Parlour (open until 1am).  The town is dead quiet, but when you walk into this sketchy building, two guys are whipping up some grilled cheeses.  It was poppin’ inside.  If you walked by, you would have never known it was there.

Our first night in the tent was pretty cold, but El Cosmico had heated beds that saved. my. life.  I went to bed in sweats, thick socks, 2 sweatshirts, a scarf and a hat.  Definitely woke up at 4am sweating my life away.  (There is a train that runs through town, so bring ear plugs if you are a light sleeper.  I knocked out like a horse, but some of my friends didn’t sleep as well.)

We started Saturday with breakfast at Squeeze Marfa and ventured around town.  It was such a beautiful day, and the skies were incredible.

We had lunch at Food Shark.  At 11:15, we waited for the truck (opens at 11:30), but it didn’t come until noon.  Apparently, Marfa runs on it’s own time.  Try to get there early because the food takes a little while.  We were first in line and got some really great falafel, well…Marfalafel.

Of course, we had to venture over to the Chinati Foundation to check out some of Donald Judd’s work.

What I loved most was how quiet it was.  I am always on the go and it has been too long since I wanted to relax and read.  My friends laid in the hammocks, and I laid out on our tent deck.  It was so peaceful and I got to read and do some yoga.

That afternoon, we drove to Prada Marfa.  This is an art installation, literally, in the middle of no where.  There is absolutely nothing around– it was intriguing.  I have never seen anything like it.  

We had reservations for the star party at the Mcdonald Observatory, so we had an early dinner at the Pizza Foundation.  We got some thin crust pizza and it was fresh, surprisingly light, and therefore, I was a big fan.

The McDonald Observatory is a beautiful 45 minute drive away from Marfa and you get to pass through the super adorable town of Fort Davis.

 Once you get to the observatory, the sky is unbelievable.  I haven’t seen that many stars in a long, long time.  The star party is $14 and you get a constellation tour and the opportunity to look through crazy telescopes.  Plus, they have the craziest laser pointers… literally shooting miles of laser.

By the time we got back to El Cosmico, we were exhausted from our day of adventure.  No grilled cheeses tonight.

We closed our last day with a nice brunch at Buns N Roses.  They sell brunch AND flowers… who would’ve thought?  (and awesome ponchos as well).   This is a very cute, family run restaurant with amazing salsa, which they call ‘chili’.  I definitely recommend grabbing a bite here.

After eating, we headed out of town, back to the ‘big’ city of Austin.  If you are planning a weekend trip to Marfa, I’ve included our general plan below.  Feel free to contact me if you have any questions or want more recommendations!

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Friday:

• Drive to Marfa (6 hours from Austin)
• Dinner: Fat Lyle’s food truck
• Marfa Lights Viewing
• Late night: Grilled Cheese Parlour

Saturday:

• Breakfast: Squeeze Marfa
• Explore town
• Chinati Foundation
• Lunch:  Food Shark
• R&R
• Prafa Marfa
• Dinner: Pizza Foundation
• Mcdonald Observatory Star Party (take an ice cream stop in Fort Davis)

Sunday:

• Breakfast: Buns N Roses
• Quick stop in Alpine, TX
• Drive back to Austin!