I had an eerie feeling driving into Marfa, Texas  last night. It’s truly in the middle of nowhere on the straightest, flattest road I’ve ever driven with only a single car passing by about every 10 miles. The iconic Prada Store is outside of town about 20 miles near Valentine and “Giant” cut-outs of James Dean and Elizabeth Taylor line Highway 90 into town. We spotted a UFO in the sky that turned out to be the border patrol blimp, and stopped to watch the magnificent sunset from a roadside picnic area. 

The town has seen better days, once hosting movies like There Will Be Blood, No Country for Old Men, Fandango, Grand Champion, Sylvester, and Results, not to mention the James Dean classic Giant. The nearby Hotel Paisano housed the stars during production. It was one of the few places open for a cocktail last night, and good to get my martini in a real glass, as opposed to a plastic cup the night before in Tucson. We have dinner reservations there tonight, after what is certain to be a long, quiet afternoon with little to do or see.

We are staying at The Lincoln, a unique collection of small eclectic apartment-like suites decorated antique-style. There was oddly no check-in, while the door to our rooms was left unlocked with the keys inside. With the loft, it could easily sleep six, as is probably the case when art festivals fill the town with tourists. COVID has definitely taken its toll on tiny Marfa with lots of boarded-up shops and very few visitors. It’s a quiet little ghost town, but as was the case with most Texas towns last night, high school football premiered. A small crowd gathered to watch the Marfa Shorthorns sadly lose their opener to Sierra Blanca 20-12. At least, it was a big improvement over last year’s 58-7 thumping.  

Tonight, on Day 8 of our Coast-to-Coast adventure,  we hope to witness the mysterious “Ghost Lights” of Marfa, after we make our way through the few remaining art galleries. Perhaps, two nights here is a stretch, but at 5,000 feet of elevation it is relatively cool considering the past few days of temperatures exceeding 115 degrees. Tomorrow we make the 6-hour drive into Austin to see some of the friends we made from our 5-years of being Texans before our move to Portland. I slept well last night in this sleepy little Texas town, with no disturbing traffic sounds or news helicopters covering the downtown riots, as was the case back home.