Day 3 in Marfa

The next morning, everyone looks a little green as we rally back at the Brown Recluse, whose homegrown organic coffee is just what the doctor ordered. They were packed (thanks to us) and the huevos took a while, so we perused their selection of cool old books and bought some t-shirts. Everyone but us is leaving today, so people clear out quickly, and the newlyweds pack off to Alpine to catch the overnight Sunset Limited train to Houston.

Eric and I wander the town, it's still down season so it's pretty quiet, but we do find some galleries open, including Inde Jacobs, where we talk to one of the owners, Vilis Inde. He describes how much he loves living in Marfa, after time in New York in Santa Fe. It's a terrific little contemporary gallery. We stroll on and stumble on Yard Dog Gallery, the West Texas outpost of one of my favorite little Austin galleries. Chat with the gal behind the counter, a very cool chic who moved here from San Francisco to work at YD and pursue her video art. She, too, raves about living there. It's so interesting to think about the culture shock these artists went through, moving here from such huge cosmopolitan areas, and loving it so much!

Anyway, at Yard Dog I buy a couple of tiny nature photos mounted on 100% recycled barn wood by Rebecca Tolk, who shot them with a Holga. They're lovely, and only $20! You can buy them on her Etsy page at rebeccatolk.etsy.com.

Then, as we tend to do when we travel, we discover a great pizza place called Pizza Foundation. The pizza is so yummy, thin crispy crust, tangy sauce and tasty pepperoni. The frozen limeade rocks, too.

As we make our way back to the hotel, we mosey into the Presidio County Museum, a blissfully old-school and non-technological look at the history of the area, from fossils of the area to the lives of the Native Americans to the different sorts of barbed wire by ranchers. Good stuff.

After some chilling at the hotel, we decide to go for a drive. There are scenic drives all around Marfa, so we pack up a bottle of wine and hit the road, hoping to find a good sunset spot. Instead, we find ourselves meandering through Fort Davis, magnetically drawn to the McDonald Observatory (well-known for the home base of the NPR segment "Star Date"). It's about 40 miles from Marfa, and SO WORTH THE DRIVE! We're lucky enough to be there on the night of a Star Party - sign us up! We gather with a group of about 100 (apparently during the busy season it can be 1,000) at an outdoor amphitheater, watching the sun go down, the sky go dark, and the stars light up. It's close to a new moon, so the stars are really shining. I'm so happy to see the Milky Way again. There's classical music playing, and life is good! Here's a little clip.



After it gets pretty dark, and now that our eyes are adjusted a bit, a guy takes the microphone and starts telling us about what we're seeing in the sky. He has a really spectacular green laser pen, one so powerful that he can point out a constellation like it was a Power Point presentation. He shows us the Pleades (seen below, thanks NASA!), also known as the 7 Sisters, Cassiopeia, and so many others. It was so spectacular. He also pointed out something we'd never heard of before: the Zodiacal Light. Gorgeous! Everyone leaves the amphitheater and gets in line at one of five telescopes, each showing a different thing of beauty in the sky. The most amazing was Saturn - and its rings! It was crystal clear, it just felt like you could reach out and grab it.

What a great show that was! Drive back to Marfa (listening to Moby), stop for a drink at Maiya's, head back to the hotel and rent "Giant," (when in Marfa!) and stay away for about half of the movie. Life is good!

Next up: the journey back....