Tag Archives: marfa

On the Road to Fort Davis

Teardrop Trail Log: March 28, 2016

Our next stop was the town of Fort Davis. On the way, we passed several giant greenhouses. I had purchased cherry tomatoes a few weeks ago in Austin and the package said these tasty gems were from Village Farms in Marfa. Tomato farming in Marfa? Yes, hydroponic greenhouses on a huge scale. Who would have known? You just never know what you are likely to see on the teardrop trail.

Jeff Davis County Courthouse

Fort Davis was originally a frontier military post on the Old Overland Trail. This small community has 23 historic sites on the 1 1/2 mile walking tour that starts and ends in the town square which seems to have changed little since the early Twentieth Century. Jim enjoyed photographing the Jeff Davis County Courthouse that was completed in 1911. Unlike the courthouse in Marfa, this one was surrounded by a fence with turnstiles to keep out the donkeys that had been set free after wagons became more prevalent.

Hotel Limpia

Hotel Limpia, built in 1913, from locally quarried pink granite is named for a nearby creek. This 31 room, historic hotel has forty rocking chairs on the expansive porches that invite guests to relax after a day of hiking or visiting the McDonald Observatory. Next time we will make a reservation.

Fort Davis Drug Store

The Fort Davis Drug Store was built in 1913 inside the Hotel Limpia and became a gathering spot for locals to get newspapers, visit the doctor and fill a prescription. It was relocated across the street in 1950. It offered a step back in time with a traditional 22-foot soda fountain, much like the one in the West Texas town I grew up in – a true old fashioned Texas experience.

After looking at the guide to Fort Davis, we know a repeat visit is in our future, especially when the brochure promises that it’s cooler in the summer in the Davis Mountains than anywhere else in Texas. Our next stop was the town’s namesake, Fort Davis Historical Site.

Classic Soda Fountain

Bidding Marfa Farewell

Teardrop Trail Log: March 28, 2016

We went in search of breakfast. On the teardrop trail, we try to avoid chain restaurants and convenience stores. We explore the local spots. We often rely on the Internet, an app or just exploring.

Breakfast taco at Farma

The day before, we found Farma (an anagram of Marfa) at the Tumbleweed Laundry where Jim had gotten his daily mocha. A uniquely quirky Marfa combination of lattes and laundry. The menu is spelled out in Scrabble letters. We returned, grabbed breakfast tacos and beverages. The bulletin board offers a listing of the happenings around Marfa, an interesting introduction to local goings on.

The Get Go

Next – resupply provisions. I’d heard about The Get Go. “Small desert outpost delivering natural and gourmet foods, wine, beer and a friendly attitude.” The offerings were amazing. A great selection of cheeses including Marfa Maid Goat Cheese. Local products and produce amongst hipster treats. Such a wonderful assortment stuffed into a convenience store size space in this tiny West Texas town. We will eat well!

While visiting Marfa, we enjoyed KRTS Marfa Public Radio, the NPR-affiliated station at 93.5 FM. I had discovered it when working in West Texas. The station was founded in 2005. They combine NPR with local news and programming, a very Marfa-centric mix. The station recently won every category in the regional Edward R. Murrow Awards. It has the smallest listenership of PBS stations in the lower 48. It has a geographic coverage about the size of South Carolina but a much greater reach through partnerships and live-streaming. We continued to enjoy the variety of offerings until we lost the signal after we left Ft. Davis heading north.

We found boomer heaven in Marfa and know we will return….

Marfa Texas — Architecture

Teardrop Trail Log: March 27, 2016

We had been camping for three nights in Study Butte, and decided to treat ourselves to a real bed and a shower. After checking into the hotel in Marfa, we turned our attention to the immediate problem: it was Easter Sunday; would anything be open for dinner? I also wanted a mocha if we could find one. It turned out that Jett’s Grill in the Hotel Paisano was open and accepting reservations. The prospect of a special dinner beckoned. We just had an hour or two to kill. After unhitching the Ambassador, we headed for the center of Marfa.

We found not one, but two coffeeshops in town, and we stopped at the first one: Frama. Mocha in hand, we decided to walk the area around the courthouse. The streets are very wide and flat and lay on a grid. In contrast to the other West Texas towns we had encountered so far, Marfa seemed very prosperous. There were many buildings that had been well restored, and more than a few that had been restored and modified to suite more modern purposes.

The Presidio County Courthouse, built in the Second Empire style at a cost of $60,000 in1886, is a stunning example of Texas public architecture. Directly across the street like so many other county seats, was the jail. Nearby were several churches — all beautifully maintained. St Paul’s Episcopal especially appealed to me with it’s river rock façade. Across the street was a small bungalow that had been completely renovated in a spare, mid-century modern style. It even had a Jesus Morales sculpture in the front yard. Marfa is clearly an artful place with the resources to show it.

On the other side of the courthouse, Highland Street stretched south into the distance. This is the main street of Marfa, and is lined with buildings that echo the town’s past. The Opera House, National Bank and Glascock buildings are but three examples. Most interesting to me however was the Hotel Paisano. Built in 1930 in the Spanish Revival style, and anticipating the oil boom that never came, it hosted area cattle ranchers who came to Marfa to buy and sell their herds. In June of 1955 however, Warner Bros. came to film the movie Giant. As the production’s headquarters, the Hotel Paisano hosted Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson and James Dean and 150 other cast and crew.

What a surprising town to discover in West Texas. After just a cruel tease, we’ll have to go back.