Deep in the ‘desert’ of West Texas, you will find the small town of Marfa, increasingly regarded as an arts hub. The late Donald Judd, a famous American artist known for his minimalism, moved to Marfa in 1979 and set up the Chinati Foundation and the whole town draws from his minimalist aesthetic.
Little known to people outside the US, Marfa is becoming a draw for celebrities. The nearest airports are El Paso and Midland and usually require a connection, so the best way to get there is to drive, which is around 10 hours from the nearest major city. Marfa must be truly special and makes it a place we really want to visit.
We want to stay at the Hotel St George and El Cosmico
Drawing on the famous art installation by Donald Judd – concrete boxes. Hotel St George closed in the 1930’s and reopened in 2016. This minimalist structure took 18 months to complete and houses 100’s of original works of art as you’d expect in Marfa. Consisting of 55 guest rooms and will be launching an adjacent facility in the near future called the Farmstand which will provide more dining options and a swimming pool.
El Cosmico is not a traditional hotel. Open since 2009, El Cosmico is 21 acres of campground and hotel has become a hotspot for social media photographers as you can stay in vintage trailers the colour of candy which are scattered throughout the terrain, you can also camp or stay in teepees. It really err’s on the side of glamping rather than traditional camping.
We want to eat and drink at Cochineal and Do Your Thing Coffee
As a small town and in the middle of the desert, Marfa is not stocked with the options as you’d find in bigger cities. Having said that, we’d like to eat at Cochineal, a restaurant that must be reserved well in advance. With a large cocktail menu and a changing menu of sharing plates and large entrees, this restaurant serves mainly locally grown food and the highest end foods.
Do Your Thing Coffee serves great coffee from Four Barrel Coffee roasters, located in San Francisco. Here you can pick up a great cortado or flat white and satisfy your coffee fix. We also suggest you get your hands on some good Bluebell Ice Cream goodies, which is a Texas staple.
We want to workout at Iron Heart Bodybuilding
With a population of only 2,000 we are lucky that Marfa has Iron Heart bodybuilding which is a state of the art gym available to use while out in the desert.
We want to visit The Prada Store and Big Bend National Park
Aside from all the art installations around the town including the famous concrete block installations, there is the Prada “store”. You may think we’ve gone mad that we want to go to a Prada store. However, this isn’t an ordinary store. It is actually an art installation 26 miles out of Marfa and in the middle of the desert, Valentine, TX. Finally, we would also like to continue our pursuit of the outdoors in the vast
Finally, we would also like to continue our pursuit of the outdoors in the vast Big Bend National park, which is within driving distance from Marfa.
Are you a resident of Marfa or visited the area? What locations would you recommend we visit? We’d love your feedback. Let us know in the comments below.
