Kim and I have never traveled together before and as I suspected, we were compatible! Marfa was a perfect starter trip for us with Paris on our horizon. We spent the first night in a teepee and we were just in awe with how big the teepee was in person. It fit a queen bed, two bedside tables, a couch, and a daybed. During the season Oprah ended her talk show, she interviewed Ralph Lauren and he showed her a teepee he kept on his property. I thought, “wow, to ever sleep in a teepee in my lifetime…” And there I was, in a beautifully furnished teepee at El Cosmico. (What else can I manifest in my life?) El Cosmico had one bathhouse outdoors that loosely enclosed two toilets, one shower, and one bathtub. I say “loosely enclosed” because the wood panels were spaced so we were granted generous views of occupants should we wanted one. Though it was not the best place for modesty, there was something invigorating about showering underneath a clear blue sky and having the sun in your face.
The teepee experience also primed us to be appreciative of staying at Thunderbird in a room with our own private bath. The hotel had a lovely outdoor lounge where Kim and I spent the last few hours of our stay reading under the night sky. One of my favorite moments of the trip was where we sat in bed and wrote postcards to each other.
The skies in Marfa are vibrantly blue and it is impossible to get lost in Marfa for more than 2 minutes. All you do is turn around and you are found again. The people who visit Marfa are somewhat of kindred spirits to each other. We hypothesized that this is mostly because you have to actually seek Marfa out and there’s more determination needed to arrive in Marfa than say a city with its own airport. (Marfa is a 3 hour drive from the Midland airport.) Moreover, Marfa being such an artist friendly community attracts creative souls. The famous Prada art installation in the neighboring town of Valentine was like a watering hole for photographers. We had an amateur shoot ourselves.
I’m a city girl through and through and the last time I saw a night sky so densely dotted with stars was in the fifth grade on a camping trip. Another one of my many favorite moments was when we took a minute mid-walk to stop and look up at the stars. The Milky Way is such an amazing sight that I very rarely get to see. So I’m quite grateful to Marfa for giving me a gentle reminder to look up more often and seek more opportunities to enjoy a starry night.
More photos from our weekend trip can be found here.