Day 3: Marfa, Alpine and Fort Davis

Our morning started with coffee from a convenience store as we got on the road early to head north from Presidio. No big breakfast today; we have plans for a delicious lunch! The road north went through some mountains, which were really pretty. Thank goodness for satellite radio out here!

Our first stop was in Marfa. Well, actually, it was in Valentine, which is northwest from Marfa. This was the town that Sean's dad was working in when he met Sean's mom. I also wanted to have my picture taken in front of the roadside art "Prada Marfa" fake storefront. So, we drove for 30 minutes to get there and back to Marfa. But I got my pictures! 

We drove back through Marfa, which is now home to many foo-foo people from Austin who have opened expensive restaurants and art galleries in the tiny town. There really wasn't much of interest for us here, so we kept on driving to Alpine. We liked this town a LOT better! It is home to Sul Ross State University, and the Big Bend Brewing Co. We had plans for lunch here at the original Reata restaurant. We are fans of their Fort Worth location, so we had to try the Alpine location. The restaurant is in an old house in downtown, and it is pretty small compared to Fort Worth.

There's a beautiful mural of James Dean and the Reata Ranch from the movie "Giant" in the courtyard. The movie was actually filmed outside of Marfa, but the set is long gone.

Of course, the food didn't disappoint! We love their tenderloin tamales, so we had those as an appetizer.

Sean had a chile relleno, and I had chicken enchiladas. Yum yum!

After lunch, we drove on to Fort Davis. Along the way, we stopped to take a picture at Camp Mitre Peak, which is the big Girl Scout camp where Sean's sister and her daughter both camped. The mountain that is the camp's namesake is beautiful!

We cruised into Fort Davis, and headed straight for the Fort Davis National Historic Site. This is the best preserved Texas frontier fort, and I had always wanted to see it. The fort is really nice! All of the officers' quarters, and many of the other buildings, have been reconstructed and restored. The exhibits in the post hospital were very interesting. 

The officers' quarters are in a perfect line that faces magnetic north.

We walked around and looked at the displays. Of course, I was impressed with the horse equipment! 

In the stable area, there were two horses and a goat. The one with all of the white wasn't very friendly, but the sorrel eventually let people pet him.

After visiting the fort, we headed for our accommodations for the night: The Mulhern House, which I rented through AirBnB. 

It was built in 1906 by a Houston lumber dealer so his family could have a summer get away to the cooler climate in west Texas. It is absolutely gorgeous! The house is furnished with antiques, and has a huge kitchen, dining room, and three guest suites. 

Fortunately, we had it all to ourselves! We happily sat in the rocking chairs on the front porch and relaxed before our big event that evening...