Great weekend getaway in Texas; Alpine, Marfa, & Ft. Davis

Gas prices putting a crimp in your vacation plans?

I took last Friday off from work and had a 3 day weekend trip. We took a nice weekend getaway without ever leaving Texas. My wife and I had a real relaxing time going over to the Big Bend country of West Texas. What is there to see? They just had some recent rains so everything had turned green. It is just beautiful to see mountains up close which were green, not brown.

Marfa: Ever hear of the Marfa lights? I’m sure the MUFON boys from Del Rio would love to explain them. The state put a real nice viewing area on the south side of US 90 about 10 miles east of Marfa. You need to experience it for yourself. You have to wait for the sun to go down and soon they start to appear. They have small telescopes free to look through. Our binoculars allowed a clearer view of the lights. Make sure you have a camera with features that can take photos in the dark. Our photos didn’t turn out.

Ft. Davis: A nice historic town reminds me of Bandera. Lot of nice shops and a nice country feel to it. They have a national historic site of the old Ft. Davis. If you love astronomy about 20 miles or so northwest of Ft. Davis is the McDonald observatory run by the Univ. of Texas-Austin. The ride up the winding roads into the mountains makes for a scenic drive. Be sure to keep a watch out for deer and other wild critters. On the drive between Ft. Davis and Alpine on State Hwy 118 is an outdoor nature lovers dream called, “Chihuahuan Desert Nature Center & Botanical Gardens”. It is a must stop. Remember to bring bug spray, sunscreen, water, a hat, and the usual stuff for outdoors on a typical hot Texas summer day. You can take a nice scenic drive on the loop through the Jeff Davis Mountains starting and ending outside of Ft. Davis on Hwy 118.

Alpine: A nice small town also has some nice shops and a country feel to it. The local chamber has some real friendly folk who are more than happy to show you everything there is to see in and around Alpine. A must stop is the Apache trading post with a free video of the Marfa lights phenomenon. They even have a small burro farm there.

There is an assortment of restaurants to eat at. In Ft. Davis just outside the historic fort entrance is an old Burlington Northern caboose that is now an ice cream shop serving your favorite flavor of Blue Bell ice cream. Next door is an antique store that has a collection of almost anything you can think of. Signed baseballs and bats of many famous ball players. Old books, magazines, and comics. Some train collectibles as well.

I could write 3 pages of stuff, but let me just close with this. It was a nice change of scenery from Del Rio. We had a nice trip and the wife wants to go back again soon. We highly recommend it.

Take some time to visit your own state. Texas it’s like a whole other country.

Here are some websites to visit for more info:
www.oldfortcountry.biz
www.thecaboose.biz
www.alpinetexas.com
www.blueskyofalpine.com
www.fortdavis.com
www.cdri.org
www.tpwd.state.tx.us Look for “Indian Lodge State Park”

Cheers, explore Texas, we did!