From Marfa, With Magic

“Tough to get here, tougher still to explain, but once you get here, you get it.” 

In partnership with El Cosmico

Texas might not be the first place that comes to mind when someone says “cosmic.” But maybe they just haven’t had the opportunity to experience the quirks of Marfa, Texas. Perhaps it’s magic, maybe it’s cosmic energy, the mysterious floating lights, or maybe it’s the chorizo, egg, and cheese breakfast burrito at the local food truck. Whatever you want to call it, there’s something about Marfa that makes visitors and passersby alike pause and ponder their place in the grand scheme of the universe. And if that’s not cosmic, we don’t know what is. But, hey, don’t take our word for it. We enlisted a desert native and the head honcho of nomadic paradise El Cosmico, Liz Lambert, to help us put the feeling into words with some of the better places and experiences this Far West Texas oasis has to offer. Pack your telescope, we’re going to Marfa.

"My family has been ranching in Texas for seven generations, and I have been coming to the Big Bend region since I was a kid. This area has been the backdrop for so much of my life, it’s a deep part of me. The beauty is undeniable and has certainly informed my creative life and design work. Marfa, or more accurately, Far West Texas, is what might be called a “thin” or “transcendent” place — where the veil between Heaven and Earth is more easily pierced. The cultural heritage is a blend of Texan, Mexican, and Native American, and you sense all those influences when you are here. Something about the high desert, with its endless sky and blanket of stars at night, its vastness, jolts us out of the everyday. A journey to Marfa can be transformative." — Liz

Stay

Calling adventures and wanderers from near and far, this is not just your typical lodging. El Cosmico charges itself with being at the center of the “exodus from a world of urgency.”  Back in 2009, our friend Liz who you met a second ago was in search of a place to bring an idea to life. A search all too familiar to the seasoned creative. The idea? A space and community for artistic humans to take a break from the rat race and gather and let their minds wander together. As it happens, Liz found her answer not too far from her own Lone Star roots: Far West Texas. More specifically, 21 acres of high desert just on the outskirts of Marfa. And so El Cosmico was born.

Photo by Nick Simonite

Time disappears at this nomadic campground meets hotel. Concepts like “Mañana,” and “Dolce far niente” can be found in every detail — hammock groves, woodfired hot tubs, limited Internet access, and communal kitchen spaces to name a few. Don’t be mistaken though, adventure is as much a part of the El Cosmico experience as the slow life. Safari tents, vintage trailers, and open-air yurts place travelers in the ideal spot to experience the natural wonders and wide open spaces of the high desert. Perhaps it’s this duality that brings an element of mysticism and wanderlust to the whole operation. Their Mañanifesto says it all: “It seems like sometimes the only way to make something really amazing is through a steady balance of kicking the dirt around and napping.” Take the long road and find out for yourself.

Photo by Maher el Aridi | Unsplash

Do

Chinati (Liz's pick)

Chinati is an internationally known contemporary art museum founded by minimalist artist Donald Judd, who is by some accounts the patron saint of Marfa. After wandering Baja with his family in the 1970s, he sought further respite in the high plains ruins of West Texas. He came for the solitude and stayed for the quality of light, and he lured a caravan of the world’s greatest minimalist artists to spend time here. His massive artwork collection, on display in ruins of a US Army fort built in 1911 and in several locations throughout town, includes significant works by Judd himself (the famed concrete boxes among them) as well as works by John Chamberlain, Dan Flavin, Carl Andre, Claes Oldenburg, and others.

The Flow Trip also recommends:

The Marfa Lights

Also known as the Marfa Ghost Lights, the apt name hints at the unknown origins of these mysterious bright orbs that linger against the backdrop of Marfa’s arid desert nightscape. Allegedly best seen from the shoulder on Highway 90, nine miles or so outside of Marfa proper. If you’re not one for vague directions and lone highways, you can spot the lights from the Marfa Lights Viewing Center. Showing themselves less than 30 times a year, the lights can vary in movement and color. There are two important details though that anyone has yet to crack: what they are or where they come from. There have been a few theories thrown around, naturally. Said theories include but are not limited to car headlights and an atmospheric mirage. We have our own theories that may or may not involve small gray men. The fact remains that if you’re lucky enough to catch a glimpse of them, you might just be in for a cosmic awakening.

Big Bend National Park

If you’re looking to immerse yourself in the desert ecosystem and get your hands a little dirty, a national park tends to do the trick. A short trip from Marfa will put you right in the middle of an ancient landscape riddled with limestone canyons shaped by the Rio Grande. We don’t recommend dancing across for any Duran Duran fans reading this. A trip down the river in a canoe though is definitely worth the views of towering canyons and niche wildlife. A hike into the jagged peaks of the Chisos Mountains makes for a fine day of desert solitude too. If you find yourself in the mood for something a bit more, dare we say, cosmic, stick around until the stars come. As one of the darkest protected places in the country, ranger-led moonwalks, campfire stories, and night-sky viewing parties are an absolute must year-round. Whichever adventure you choose, just a friendly reminder to respect the land and nature around you.

Eat

Bordo (Liz's pick)

Bordo is one of my favorite restaurants anywhere. Inside an old adobe service station the fine folks of Bordo produce stone-milled heirloom flours, fresh pasta, seasonal gelato, and sandwiches from wood-fired bread. The menu changes regularly, but the sandwiches are a staple. Don't skip the Italian sodas.

The Flow Trip also recommends:

Marfa Burritos

If you’re looking for a hole-in-the-wall establishment where the only way the food is that good is because of a family-guarded secret ingredient, Marfa Burritos takes home the gold. But, we’ll let you in on the secret ingredient: homemade. From the salsas to the tortillas, it’s all made from scratch. That’s the edge of this no-frills, reasonably priced, one-stop burrito shop. It’s hard to say whether their chorizo breakfast burrito or the asado burrito would win in a fight. In part because Anthony Bourdain himself considered the latter to be “a serious burrito.” With all due respect to the late Mr. Bourdain, our money’s on the chorizo, egg, and cheese. 

The Sentinel

When the humans behind Marfa’s local paper, Big Bend Sentinel, were confronted with the matter of being a paper business in a rapidly paperless world, they took the road less traveled. And at the end of it, they created The Sentinel. It’s one of the few places you’ll ever come across that can claim to be a coffee-shop-meets-newspaper-meets-cocktail-bar. And proof that the past has a place in the future. In the mornings, you’ll find yourself sipping on a steaming hot cup of coffee and observing the handful of full-time journalists who continue to work in the newsroom next to the cafe. In the evenings, you’ll find yourself laughing around a table with aforementioned journalists over a cocktail in lieu of the coffee. A twofer, if you will. It’s places like this one that makes Marfa, well, Marfa.

Photo by The Sentinel