Have you ever looked at a map of Texas? Well if you do you will see how undeveloped the western region is- there are few roads in comparison to the eastern half where it's difficult to see the white of the map. If you visit West Texas you will quickly surmise the somewhat obvious notion that all the wealth in Texas is also in the other half.
First we tried to stop in Marfa, but it was late Sunday afternoon and everything was closed. So we headed to Fort Davis which was pretty much closed too. Maybe West Texas is just closed on Sundays. Well actually, all the towns are so small that it can be difficult to determine the difference between closed and open. However, this area is delightful with lots of history, green hills and golden grasslands. We camped at Davis Mountains State Park. Nice campgrounds with hiking trails and a lodge/hotel with a restaurant. And I saw a band of javelinas for the first time!
Fort Davis is the county seat and like all Texas county seats we visited it has a large, striking municipal building. In a town with a population of somewhere near one thousand, I thought it was curious that they felt the need to install turnstiles.
Fort Davis has 23 historical sites. The small "downtown" is well preserved with a cute hotel, a few gift stores, bank (below) and library. There are two markets for food. We shopped Stone Village Grocery, which had a surprisingly good selection of foods and a brain depository (think "Young Frankenstein", owner has a good sense of humor).
I toured Fort Davis Historical Site. The fort was established in 1854. I was particularly interested in the history of the area because I recently read, Empire of the Summer Moon, which documented the settlement of central and west Texas and the clashes between settlers and Comanche Indians and other tribes. It's a fascinating portrayal of Chief Quanah Parker and America's insistence on "taming" the region.
The landscapes are quite beautiful and many popular movies have shot scenes on location in this region. One filmed almost entirely in Fort Davis is "Dancer Texas, Population 81". Philip and I watched it one night just for the fun of it.
It got pretty chilly one night and we woke to a beautiful blue sky and icy crystal coated vistas.
We ventured out one night to view the Marfa Lights...if you're curious Google it. Marfa has a growing art community, but we were unable to return when things reopened (Wednesday-Saturday). We visited Alpine to check out the Museum of the Big Bend. It's a small museum located on the campus of Sul Ross University. Very well done and a great jumping off point for our trip to Big Bend National Park.
West Texas is an appealing, sparsely populated region good for history buffs, road biking and hiking, horseback riding and known for its restored, quaint hotels.
When out on these lonely roads, remember to wave to the the drivers. A tradition here. Just a few finger nod from the steering wheel will do, anything more vigorous and they might think you are a relative or bill collector.
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