We were in Marfa in February 2021, as part of our Winter Warmth Trip.

Marfa is a surprising place: a charming, half-hippie, half-cowboy little town waaaay out in southwest Texas. It’s known for a thriving art scene and the mysterious Marfa Lights, it has a walkable little downtown, and some good food and drink options. We’d visited on a day trip from Fort Davis five years ago, but this was our first overnight stay.

Campground

You have a few camping options close to the center of Marfa:

• El Cosmico looks like a fun, bohemian place to stay in a tent or one of their vintage trailers or yurts, but it’s not really an RV campground.
• We were intrigued by this Hipcamp site in someone’s yard a half-mile from downtown, but it has a two-night minimum.
• This campground is basically IN downtown, but they don’t take reservations, and we were too nervous to arrive in town without a reservation when the pandemic (and everyone taking road trips) has forced us to make advanced reservations everywhere.
• Marfa Yacht Club is an Airstream park! They have Airstreams you can stay in, or bring your own trailer of any variety. Very cool, but we ended up staying a little closer to town at Tumble In.

Tumble In RV Park is at the edge of town and was a great base for the night. It’s a peaceful spot with desert views and a neat neon art installation.

Eating and drinking and walking and viewing

We stopped in Alpine on the way from Big Bend to Marfa to grab lunch. I already talked about it on the Alpine post, but Cow Dog food truck deserves a second shoutout!

After we dropped the Airstream at Tumble In, we walked all over downtown. Maybe because it was a Wednesday, maybe because we’re in a pandemic, but the town was absolutely dead. There are some nice-looking shops on the main drag that weren’t there when we last visited, but Covid makes us not excited about going into stores.

Since we had nothing else to do, we figured we’d get a drink, and only one place was open before five o’clock: Lost Horse Saloon. The beer selection was crap, but the patio was spacious and empty and dog-friendly.

And then it was after five, so we could try out a different bar. We had a cocktail at Bar Saint George, a posh bar in a glamorous hotel with a lovely interior, but with only a sad little outside area on the front sidewalk for people who don’t want to sit inside right now.

We wrapped up our Marfa evening with a picnic! We picked up carryout from Jett’s Grill at the other fancy hotel in town and took it out to the Marfa Lights viewing area. The food was pretty good but very salty, and all we saw at the viewing area was lots and lots of stars–no paranormal or alien activity, at least that we were aware of. Eating in the pitch dark was a little tricky, but it was a delightful spot to relax for a while.

Next up is Tucson, and bear with me because we love Tucson and it might take me a bit to finish the post!