24 Hours in Texas: Marfa & El Paso

Monday morning we woke up really early, like 5AM early, because we had to. We were driving to Marfa for a tour which started at 11:00 but we were losing an hour due to a time zone change.

We took advantage of the kitchenette one last time and made some egg and sausage croissant sandwiches.

We watched the sunrise as we drove.

Shortly after we made it into Texas, we were stopped at a border control checkpoint. They just asked us if we were citizens and let us on our way quickly.

MARFA

There was some unanticipated traffic and random construction so we made it to our tour just barely on time.

JUDD FOUNDATION TOUR - THE BLOCK
We weren't allowed to take photos on the tour, which is unfortunate because we saw some amazing stuff. I highly recommend a tour if you have the chance. Judd's attitude was pretty pretentious and overly sensitive, in my opinion, but his work is the kind of precise, geometric, industrial aesthetic that I really enjoy.

We attempted to get lunch in town before leaving. We tried Marpho (such a clever name) and Marfa Burrito, but both were closed. It wasn't surprising as it was the off-season and most places are closed on Mondays in Marfa.

CHINATI FOUNDATION
We also snuck a view of the famous concrete blocks at the Chinati Foundation (closed on Mondays) from the road.

We also stopped by Food Shark, as a little shoutout to Beyonce, before hitting the road.

PRADA MARFA
And of course, we had to stop by the iconic Prada Marfa. This was a compulsory stop and it elevated my Instagram from a low-level basic bitch to maybe the top 10%.

EL PASO
The airport closest to Marfa is in El Paso so that's where we stayed for the night.

SCENIC DRIVE OVERLOOK
Before heading to our hotel, we drove up to a high point along Scenic Drive.

The views of the city from up here are pretty spectacular and I'm sure they're gorgeous at dusk and dawn.

HOTEL INDIGO EL PASO DOWNTOWN

This modern hotel was gorgeous and comfortable.

This was definitely the most expensive hotel of the trip (at $170 per night) but it was the chicest and most spacious and I loved it.

ANSON11
For dinner, we went to a restaurant just a five minute walk from the hotel. We were given really delicious crusty bread to start and a plate of balsamic vinegar with chili flakes and parmesan for dipping.

We shared a starter of mussels and fries, which was fantastic. We were mopping up the white wine sauce at the bottom of the bowl with the fries and the bread.

For her main, D got the pappardelle. She let me try some and it was fantastic. It was savory and balanced with a delicious meaty broth-based sauce.

I went for the squid ink corzetti with braised octopus. The octopus was cooked until tender with just a slight chew and the salty, brothy sauce was the perfect accompaniment for the briny noodles.

We also ordered a house salad to share because we needed some greenery and freshness with our meal.

After dinner, we took a little nap and then met up with a friend from college who just happened to be visiting El Paso at the same time. As soon as we got home, we promptly fell asleep.

Luckily, we didn't have much planned the next day (besides our flight home) so we were able to sleep in a little bit.

ST. PATRICK CATHEDRAL

LUCY'S COFFEE SHOP

For breakfast, we went to a local restaurant with a great reputation. There were nothing but positive reviews on Yelp so we went for it.

We both went for the machaca. We watched the ladies working like busy bees, jumping from one task to the next. It made the food taste so much better because it felt super homemade and crafted with love.

After breakfast, we checked out and headed to the airport.

There were no direct flights available so we had a layover in Atlanta. We landed a bit late in Atlanta but it worked out because our connecting flight was also delayed. And then as we were approaching New York, there was loads of air traffic with too many planes and not enough runway space so we were circling a bit before we landed. Basically, we should have landed at 10PM but we ended up landing closer to midnight. But that didn't dampen my spirits. Plus, my sister picked me up from the airport with my dog, GM, so I was a happy camper.

It was a great trip. I'm just cementing my love for the American southwest with every visit. Maybe next year we'll head to Utah and Colorado?

xoxo.