arts + events + social media musings
I’m back in Marfa this weekend. Having a relaxing, splendid time with some great folks.
Less pics this time, more enjoying things with my own eyes. Here are a few of the trip thus far.
New stuff this time includes Austin Street Cafe and Pizza Foundation. John’s cooking dinner at Q Wine Bar tonight and we’re attending a Star Watching Party at El Cosmico.
More later. More Marfa.
So while I was extremely happy with the way my iPhone photos of the West Texas trip turned out, I simply adore some of my traveling companions’ snaps. Here are some proper pics taken with proper photography equipment. Click to view larger images. (can you tell I can’t get this place out of my head?)
by Katie Laird
image by Katie Laird
I awoke on our final day in West Texas, a little bittersweet. I knew we’d be returning home the next morning, yet was very excited for our River Road trip to Presidio, Terlingua, Big Bend and Alpine. In 2 short days I had fallen in love with the charm of Marfa, and had already decided to make it a part of the rest of my travel life. Although I still couldn’t quite put my finger on what was so special about this place, I knew a piece of me had changed. It was the most relaxed I had been in months. Maybe years.
Could it be the distance from deadlines, clients, errands, events that led to this peaceful escape? I wasn’t sure what it was. But I was sure I wouldn’t be able to get this town out of my head. Read more…
So after we toured the amazing Chinati Foundation, we headed back to the casita and John cooked for us, a recipe from the novel, Marfa Shadows.
The second part of our day began at Cochineal Restaurant, with an amazing dinner of fried chicken, biscuits, and mashed potatoes. The modern, red-accented decor was a perfect juxtaposition to the home cooked faire. It was a perfect Saturday afternoon meal.
Cochineal
After dinner, we walked across the street to the Marfa Book Store for John’s reading and book signing. It was a packed crowd, as all of Marfa came out to support their prodigal son. We chatted with the adorable Tim Johnson, owner of the book store, and checked out the quaint gallery attached to the store.
John reading at Marfa Book Store
We headed back to Cochineal for dessert and some conversation on the patio, then back to Padre’s. Fellow Houstonian and El Orbits front man-turned-Mr. Marfa, David Beebe, invited us out to visit his restaurant and bar, Padre’s, while we were in Marfa. Apparently, it’s the only place in town for a beer and a band. We had visited with him the night before, and headed back on Saturday for more mixing with the Marfa locals. Beebe’s quite the character, even in Marfa, in a town where, as a local girl near the fire pit explained to us, “You’ve got to be eccentric here, or you just fade away.”
It was around that fire pit that we encountered Cowboy Ty Mitchell. A 6′4″ slender man, who we nicknamed Sam Elliot 2.0. He was everything we expected to find in a sleepy West Texas town, and nothing we could tear ourselves away from.
Cowboy Ty
We sat and talked with Ty for hours. He told us story after story, sprinkling in the most amazing sidebar quotes that had us giggling like school girls. Stories of him in the military in Central America, descriptions of life in Marfa, all while rolling and smoking his own cigarettes. Natch.
Ty told us that he’s scored a part in the next Cohen Brothers movie, entirely believable, as there is not one person I can thinking that embodies “cowboy” more than Ty.
We sat and observed the local Marfa folks as the waiter who served us dinner arrived and kissed her boyfriend, Tim, the owner of the Marfa Book Store, who of course hugged Cowboy Ty, and high fived the others around the fire pit. There was something magical unfolding about our experience in Marfa, and we all felt entirely privileged to be observing life in this small Texas town.
The Chinati Foundation
Donald Judd, 100 Works of Aluminum
Judd's Horizontal Installations
prada marfa
Hotel Paisano
katherine. laura. jenny.
I’ve just returned from a few days in endearing Kyle, TX with my good friend Laura. We visited the Texas Pie company, watched a tee ball game in Buda, and drank champagne on her lovely porch at 9am on a Thursday. It was rad.
Texas Pie Company, Kyle, TX
Laura and I were celebrating the 1 year anniversary of both of our blind leaps into the world of entrepreneurship. Last April 15th, both Laura and I quit our corporate jobs, and headed into a world of the unknown. And neither of us has looked back since. Read more…
And that’s exactly how we felt when we pulled across the Brooklyn/Queens Expressway…we made it.
After five days in the car, Andrew and I were low on energy and exhausted from late nights and early mornings. But as soon as we caught glimpse of the NYC skyline, our morale instantly improved with the thought of meeting up with the rest of the band shortly.
I’ve been to New York many times, but driving into the city that never sleeps is an experience I’ll never forget. Our day five commute had us departing Silver Spring, just outside of D.C. at 7am and through New Jersey, Delaware, and a quick detour through Philly, PA on the Ben Franklin bridge. Philly sure does have a purdy skyline, and that’s pretty much all we saw of it.
We rolled into Williamsburg about noon, met up with the rest of the band and Andrew’s buddy, Matt Pace, and artist and DJ in Brooklyn. It was quite the experience driving through Brooklyn in a huge Texas-sized SUV. Of course, I rolled down all the windows and blasted Jay-Z. What else was I to do? 
Matt took us to get some lunch in Williamsburg at Anna Maria’s Pizza, we then headed into the city to setup for the band’s first show of the day at Best Buy in Union Square. I drove the guys and their equipment across the Williamsburg Bridge and said a big hello to Manhattan! Read more…
Early, early morning. And it came really early. We departed Charlotte for DC. Six and a half hours later we arrived in our nations capital. Below is a video of us arriving (fully delirious from being in the car too long), soundtrack provided by Lauryn Hill.
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