Friday, February 4, 2011

Big Bend and Environs, Days 8 & 9 : Marfa (again) and Alpine (again)

Wednesday, December 29 -- Very sad to leave Captain Shepard's, but eager to get home to our kitties. Wonderful breakfast at the Marathon Coffee shop -- which was finally open! I do wonder how half of these places stay in business. The Oasis cafe looked like it was closed for the season. -- The breakfast enchilada was a welcome variation on the omnipresent breakfast burrito.
Driving in to Alpine gave us a completely different view -- figuratively and literally. There is much more to the community than is evident from the train. The first thing we noticed was Sul Ross Sate University up on the mountainside to the north. It reminded me very much of Weber State; built about the same period, and in a very similar setting. We were to learn that it began in 1917 as a Normal School, then became a Teacher's College in 1923, that it has about 1800 students, and 3 branch campuses. If they are hiring, buying Capt. Shepard's might not be so impossible after all. 
We decided that since as were in no hurry, we would do as the signs suggested, and visit the  Museum of the Big Bend. We followed the signs up around to the back of the campus to the Museum, housed in a picturesque stone building courtesy of the WPA that has been recently renovated.
The museum is more or less what one expects. It has multiple videos, re-creations, displays, etc. that attempt to present the geological and human history of the area. Interesting, if somewhat overwhelming, exhibit on early maps of Texas.
Even with that stop, we still had hours to kill before we could check in to our very own Airstream, so we stopped at the Apache Trading Post on the way out of Alpine and watched a video on the Marfa Mystery lights. I picked up some very nice gold and red jasper earrings made by as local artist, and an authentic Navajo wedding jar.
On a whim, we stopped at the Marfa Dairy Queen for lunch. After waiting for an inordinate amount of time, I was given the worst burger I have ever had. I swear it had been microwaved -- hot, limp lettuce, hot pickles, hot, soggy bun, and the beef had that boiled taste and texture. The microwave seems to be the cooking method of choice in these parts. Every dessert we've ordered has come to the microwave, and I'd lay money that our mashed potatoes and corn had been passed through it at the Famous Burro. I use it enough myself at home to know! Jett's Grill, the Gage Restaurant, and Starlight Theatre were the exceptions. I guess that the average person is so used to using it at home that it doesn't strike them as inappropriate to use it in a restaurant.
Finally time to head to El Cosmico. Bit of a letdown. Trailers not restored so much as made habitable. A distressed wooden table of the yard sale variety and two mismatched captain's chairs, a bit worse for wear, replaced the original -- what? probably a table with padded benches -- an electric cook top set into a hot pink stand in place of a stove; no oven, not even a (gasp!) microwave, the sofa is now a vinyl padded bench with no back cushions, and the bed was a futon on the floor. No rod in the closet. A small shrine had been set up on a counter, with an Indian-style print and candles. It's really all meant for the neo-hippie Marfa arts crowd, not us aging boomers with a nostalgia for our childhood.
Still, it was a Vagabond -- it did have the original wood paneling, sink and cupboards in the kitchen, and bathroom -- and the most privacy we had the entire trip.


We walked up to the town center and found that the gift shop next to the Paisano was closed, so I couldn't buy that bracelet I had seen a week ago, but the courthouse was open. We climbed up several staircases of diminishing sizes into the cupola. I kept a sharp eye out for any hidden nuns.

Then a stop at the Get Go for dinner fixings and breakfast provisions. Yet another establishment that does not live up to its press. Lots of bottled, canned, packaged "gourmet," and "natural," products and "specialty" personal care items, but very little food. No bread. Almost nothing that was fresh. Racks of gourmet teas, but no milk or eggs or juice. I finally found a couple of cans of a sparkling juice drink, and a pint of cream. Looks like we'll be finishing off the packaged oatmeal and cocoa that we brought with us, but we still have nothing for dinner.
Mike dragged me to the Marfa Mystery Lights viewing area a good hour before desk. Cold wind blowing. Cloudy skies. Spectacular panorama that loses interest after 15 minutes. Walked around and read the historical markers. Then, nothing much to do except wait. Others arrived more timely. Finally started seeing lights -- car lights on the highway from Presidio. Both of us astounded at people's gullibility and determination to see what they want to see. When you see a string of lights that begin one at a time at the crest of the hill, then follow each other in a straight line down the same path to the bottom, more or less evenly spaced, it's a fair bet that they are car lights -- particularly when there's a highway just over there.
Mike, of course, was more disappointed than I, since he's a true believer in the supernatural, but even I had half-hoped to see something mysterious and intriguing. I can't say that there are not mystery lights there. All I can say is that the only lights we saw were car headlights.
We then drove around for more than an hour trying to find a place for dinner. Everything was either closed -- including the burrito joint at the gas station -- or much too expensive -- we weren't about to pay Maiya's prices. Padre's turned out to be a bar that serves food. We would have stayed, but the band was just tuning up and we just wanted a quiet dinner. Ultimately discovered a Subway, bought sandwiches, and ate them in the trailer. Not so bad, but very frustrating -- pizza place closed for the season, Tacos del Norte closed for the season, Carmen's not open for dinner, other places either not open for dinner or not open on Wednesday. Once again I was left to wonder how people stay in business then they are closed during the tourist season. Perhaps they cater to the students as Sul Ross?
Thursday, December 30 -- Mike opted to brave the outdoor shower rather than try to squeeze into the tiny trailer tub. The water was warm, but the temperature was about 30, so I made do with the indoor facilities. I wonder if people were shorter in 1953?
Breakfast was a struggle with the 20 lb cast iron kettle. It might have been easier if the sprout were not broken, so that I had to lift it up to almost 90 degrees to pour out the hot water. I managed, however, to make the coffee and oatmeal. It was nice to eat out of real dishes rather than disposables.
Nothing to keep us in Marfa, so we got to Alpine hours early -- and realized that we could have had dinner at any number of restaurants there. Filled the tank and left the car at the train station while we re-visited the Holland Hotel. On our honeymoon trip from Los Angeles, the train had stopped at Alpine for an hour or more. We spotted the Holland, and walked over to check it out. The dining room was filled with locals enjoying Christmas dinner. We were enchanted with its quaint charm and quirky rooms, and planned to stay there when we came back to Big Bend. Sadly, when we were going to make reservations, we discovered that it had been "renovated" and all of the rooms standardized. The new lobby certainly is impressive, although I seriously doubt that the coffee bar is a "restoration," and I'm sure that the general public will be quite taken with the new look.
Tried to call Amtrak to check on the train schedule, but no cell phone service (we are getting rid of Virgin as soon as we get home!). Mike suggested that we ask the woman in Ivey's Emporium if she would call for us (she called the car rental company for us a week ago). Lovely woman  who just handed us the phone. And yes, they are that Ivey, the Terlingua Ivey's. Her daughter came in and we had a lengthy conversation about the Holiday Hotel, Starlight Theatre, the Holland Hotel, Sul Ross -- and Baton Rouge. Turns out she went to Nichols State and her son is planning to attend McNeese (or is it the other way around?). She also recommended the Alpine Guest Lofts, which they also own, the next time we are in the area. I picked up another pair of earrings made by a local artisan, and a little gift for our neighbor who was cat sitting.
Since it was only about 11:30, Mike insisted on an early lunch, "just in case we can't eat on the train." I agreed primarily to kill time. Another surprisingly good meal, this time at the Bread & Breakfast Bakery Cafe. I chose the carrot soup (which needed a little something -- tarragon? ginger? dill?) and half a turkey sandwich on freshly baked cheddar-jalapeno bread. Mike had a chicken fajita wrap which included a full complement of vegetables.
The train arrived more or less on time and departed quickly. Our roomette was not ready -- the previous occupants disembarked at Alpine -- so we were sent to the dining car for lunch! I did the sensible thing and ordered the spinach salad -- without chicken -- and treated myself to a raspberry sorbet. My husband, on the other hand, chowed down on the Angus burger and key lime cake. I shall say no more.
The trip home was not quite as excellent as the one out -- the crew were all tired, having been on the train since Los Angeles, supplies were running low, and we just wanted to get home -- but no major complaints. I finished the copy of "Giant" that I had bought at the Marfa Book Company the day we arrived. Interesting differences between the book and movie; more or less distorted the themes of the book and made them more palatable to the film's audience.
Dinner in our room again, and in bed sometime after San Antonio.

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