Marfa, Texas.

People have been asking me, “Why Marfa?”

It’s a fair question. And at first I was like, “Ummm . . . why indeed.” But I remembered. My initial plan was to get married in the middle of Big Bend on some scenic overlook with nobody around except maybe some Gray Breasted Jays and turkey vultures. Nice, huh? But for our marriage to be, like, legal and stuff, someone important with a title before their name had to sign some papers. So. I looked at a map, and had heard some cool stuff about the art scene in Marfa, about 120 miles from Big Bend. (Out there, that’s “close.”) And when I heard that I could get married in the 5th floor dome of the Presidio County Courthouse, it was over.

Marfa, it is.

So this is Jen’s Unofficial Guide to Marfa, Texas.

Do NOT go to Marfa on a Monday or Tuesday. (Which we did. Twice.) Wednesday is only marginally better. DEFINITELY go on a Thurs – Sun. If you do, leave before Monday morning if at all possible. If I could replan our vacation, I’d have done the trip backwards- Big Bend during the week, Marfa on the weekend.

Here’s why. No social scene. During the early part of the week NOTHING is open. Not the bookstore, not the art galleries, not the best restaurants, and sometimes not any restaurants. On Tuesday, we had to eat meat because the ONLY restaurant open was a BBQ joint. We actually enjoyed it immensely because it was so funky.

Wednesday as you know, we squandered the day on our bikes. But before we left, we stopped by what we thought was a smoothie place but is actually my new favorite restaurant. Squeeze Marfa has amazing sandwiches (my favorite is the fresh mozzarella, spinach and tomato with basil pesto), awesome smoothies with no added sugar, and juices they call “squeezes.” I had the Potassium Power twice. We also had breakfast there and it was awesome. We sat next to some women from New York and Denver and they congratulated us on our marriage and told us to meet them later and they’d buy us drinks. As you know, we never made it. Which is a shame- I could have used a drink later that night!

Thursday- finally everything was open! The bookstore, which is dope as hell. If they had an online store, I’d order all my books from them just to support it. We went to the Chinati Foundation in the morning for Part I of our tour. Here’s my favorite work, Donald Judd’s 100 Untitled Works in Mill Aluminum. There are (obviously) 100 of these rectangular shapes in 2 buildings that were used by the military during more than one war. Photos don’t capture it at all. Just go.

We ate lunch at Conchita’s, where I had an avocado and chile relleno torta which Dave just described as, “Fucking GOOD.” (Sorry, Mom, but it was.)

Then we went back for Part II of the Chinati tour, which was very cool. We almost skipped going to the Chinati altogether, but I’m so glad we didn’t. Definitely get yourself to the Chinati if you’re out that way. The website says you have to sign up 3 days in advance, but we just called and reserved our spots 30 minutes before the 10am tour.

And then we left for Terlingua. No meeting more New Yorkers at restaurants or hanging out with hipsters at bars. We came back on Monday to take our professional photos around Marfa and thank God for the Pizza Foundation and for Paisano’s Jett Grill, which is overpriced and only okay but MUCH better than eating snack foods from the local gas station. And the service there? Awesome! [Inside joke: the table behind us made complete ASSES out of themselves by complaining about the service, but the staff was cool, just busy, so we kept making loud comments about how WE think the service is GREAT!]

Also, as far as I could tell, Marfa had 3 radio stations- one Spanish, one country, and one Marfa Public Radio which played all my favorite stuff: All Things Considered, Morning Edition, etc. They had interviews with scientists, artists (local and not so local) and played all kinds of music. English, Spanish, indie, classic, etc. It was great. I bought a T-shirt and Dave made a donation to support it.

And the Thunderbird Hotel was probably one of the coolest I’ve stayed in. Actually, it was The Coolest. Well designed, keeping the Marfa minimalist tradition in mind. No polyester bedspreads- all cotton. Artwork on the walls was posters of art and music shows from Marfa. Even the bath products were awesome- hand soap hand made in Marfa. Mexican candies and votive candles for decor. And in the morning the hummingbirds ate breakfast on the vine outside the front door.

Wow, I almost finished this post without mentioning the Marfa Lights. The Marfa Lights is a phenomenon that has existed for over 100 years. If you drive out 9 miles toward Alpine and look south, you see lights on the horizon. No big deal, right? Being from Houston, I’ve never NOT seen lights on the horizon. Even over the ocean. So you look for a while longer and the light you were looking at goes out. Another lights up. Okay, still seems normal. Then one begins moving to the right and goes out. Then it lights up and wavers in the sky a little, glowing brighter, then splitting into 2 lights and both move away from each other, dimming, brightening, going out, coming back on.

That? That’s a little weird.

I suppose they could be the headlights from Highway 67, but if that’s the case, why did they not move in the same pattern, the way cars on a road do? Why were there no red tail lights moving along the same lines? What did the people in the late 1800s see? Anyway, there are entire websites devoted to that, so I’ll simply leave it with my observation.

So I give Marfa an A-. It is a town that makes me proud to be a Texan (and not much else does these days). You can leave your hotel key IN THE LOCK (we see you, Dave) and go drive around for 6 hours having a swim, dinner and watching the stars come out and come back home to find your room untouched with your Klein, Bianchi, MacBook Pro and Airport Express still there. You can walk around at night fearing only coyotes and really, not even them. It’s a town that’s more like Europe in the way you meet strangers and make plans to hang out later at a bar you can walk to.

They get the minus for Mondays and Tuesdays. In all aspects, but mainly food-related. I’m sure the Brown Recluse is a lovely café with its organic coffee and teas and fresh baked goods, but here’s what happened Monday.

“Are you serving lunch?”

“No.”

“But you’re open.”

“Yes, but it’s 2.”

“. . .”

On the flip side, on Tuesday Squeeze wasn’t supposed to be open but Dave went in and asked if they were open. The owner said, “Wellllll, I’m here, so . . . we’re open.”