There’s nothing quite like the freedom of hitting the open road in the Summer, and out of all the places we stopped last Summer along our cross country road trip Marfa, Texas may have been the one that surprised me the most…A tiny community in the remote Big Bend area of western Texas, Marfa (and the neighboring town of Alpine where we actually stayed) was a place we chose to stop almost purely for convenience to break up a long stretch between Austin and Scottsdale. Convenience and the fact that several years ago I had seen the work of community artists who had erected a Prada store (fully sealed) in the middle of the Texan tundra there. And so, with little more than a reservation we arrived in Marfa – a place best described as cowboy meets conceptual art. Staying at The Maverick Inn was the closest I’ll probably ever get to Ranch life – with cowhide rugs, hearty breakfasts and it’s own personal airstream. And besides a surprisingly delicious meal at Reata (where I told the boy I felt like we were on a romantic cowboy date) and stopping in to a few shops (like Marfa Book Co.), we mainly just took in the landscape along those long straight roads. And if you’re ever even remotely close to this little pocket of Texas – you’ve got to see Prada Marfa. The height of Italian fashion, sitting silently along an empty stretch of two lane highway. It’s a pretty incredible sight.
