Thirty minutes outside of El Paso we were shuffled through border patrol, even though we had never left the country. This is a precaution of some sort.  As we scrambled to find our licenses, a drug sniffing dog found Jane. RUN! just kidding.  We revealed Jane, assured them she was 'merican dog, that we were going to Waco to visit friends, and all was good. Unlike security at the Hoover Dam, we weren't summoned to pull over and open our cargo container or trunk. (We safely led four mexican chihuahuas to safety.)

We woke early Halloween morning (a Tuesday) in Van Horn, TX. Van Horn was a ghost town, with boarded up shops, empty gas stations, and one glistening McDonalds. We headed south to Marfa.

On our way we skidded to a stop when Caylan saw a tarantula crossing the road. Don't worry, traffic is obsolete in this neck of the woods, er, desert.


We passed the Prada Marfa sculpture.


Marfa is an artists' community in the high dessert of West Texas.  Visiting the city was on my bucket list. I learned of it from my gay hairdresser when I lived in Houston just after college. He and his boyfriend would fly to Marfa for weekend getaways.  Marfa was formed in the 1880s as a water stop for the railroad. Since then, artists and writers (like Donald Judd and Peter Behrens) have discovered it and visit for inspiration. Such artists later brought Marfa artist foundations, writer in residency programs, and really good food.


There are several highly acclaimed restaurants and food carts. We ate at Food Shark, a trendy food cart that boasts dozens of reviews by critics like Bon Appetit, Gourmet, Vogue, Southern Living, Food and Wine, Forbes, and NYTimes (twice). The list doesn't stop there, the rest of the reviews are on their website. We loved our marfalafel and tender chicken tacos!


We shared espresso from Frama (anagram of Marfa - play on words crema, the foam on top of coffee)


We went to a great book store, but since we were there in the morning and not peak season, many of the shops were closed.

Border Patrol hangs out in Marfa, monitoring the area, searching for illegals. Apparently, Marfa is the first place in this region that has water, so it is more efficient to stay there and wait for a thirsty immigrant, than it is to patrol the entire border.

We are glad we went. We recommend going if you're within an hour of it, but don't go out of your way to visit.