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Apr 10 2018

Marfa, Texas

Marfa was to be our bit of luxury at the end of our West Texas Wander but being in Marfa on a Monday put a different slant on the visit. Now I think Monday is the perfect time to visit as part of any West Texas adventure.

Marfa is in big danger of becoming the Aspen of Texas. It used a rail stop between El Paso and San Antonio and a watering hole for ranchers. Now, “local Marfans are losing ground to transplants from New York City and Seattle, the kind of people who thought they’d never set foot in Texas,” Mallika Raowrites in the Huffington Post

Why we visited Marfa on a Monday

We’d left Big Bend National Park later on that November Sunday afternoon than planned. It was a long drive on the River Road that follows the Rio Grande River to Presidio. The River Road passes through terrain that can look like another planet, but we didn’t stop to absorb the scenery. We were anxious to be off the road before sunset, but it would be worth it to linger as long as there is daylight.

Coming into Presidio as it became full dark, we were antsy to reach Marfa. Like horses headed for the barn, we’d been on the road for five days and were starting to get the traveler’s sense that it is time to go home.

Sunday night in Marfa

We finally got to Marfa, checked into the Hotel Paisano and went downstairs for a late dinner. Never one to sugarcoat things, Shane said, “I love you, Mom, but I’m ready to be around someone else.”

“I completely agree with you,” I told him. We toasted his conquest of Big Bend’s Emory Peak earlier in the day, both realizing the trip we’d planned and dreamed about for months was almost over.

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Mar 14 2018

Big Ass Crawfish Bash

In 2017, the Bigass Crawfish Bash grabbed the Guinness World Record for the most crawfish served in an 8-hour period. Almost 15,000 people consumed nearly 60,000 pounds of crawfish served up by 87 boiling teams. The Bash also raised a record $124,000 for charities, including Camp Hope, a place that helps veterans and their families cope with combat PTSD.

When the 4th Annual Bigass Crawfish Bash returns to Gulf Greyhound Park on March 24, you’re going to want to be there. After all, how can they possibly top last year?

Better logistics for one thing. This year, I-45 South won’t be in the middle construction and Bash organizers have set up a shuttle ($5 RT) at Mall of the Mainland. Still, expect to see huge flocks of seagulls circling Gulf Greyhound Park that day.

If the Bigass Crawfish Bash is unfamiliar to you, don’t feel left out. I’d never heard of it either until a friend started talking about it, a few months before the 2017 Bash. The fact this now-giant event exists is because a couple of guys were drinking beer and trying to get out of cooking. When you hear this story, you’ll appreciate the Bash even more.

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Nov 18 2017

Southwest Airlines Boarding Game

Flying with kids can be a painful experience for the whole family. Here’s a game my husband and I developed that kept our kids occupied while in line to board Southwest Airlines. Miraculously, it even kept them entertained once seated and waiting for other passengers to get settled.

It only works with Southwest Airlines because the airline has a different and quicker boarding procedures than other airlines. That boarding systems also makes Southwest more profitable. No wonder the flight attendants are always cracking jokes.

The Southwest Airlines System

Herb Kelleher drew up Southwest’s original Texas routes on a cocktail napkin. Herb was a prankster but his vision for a profitable discount airline was no joke. Southwest made money because it did away with a lot of luxuries we didn’t want to pay for. But mainly, it cut turnaround time to ten minutes versus one hour for many airlines.

That’s the time it takes to get a load of passengers off and another load of passengers on and get the plane back in the air. Planes only make money when they are flying. The ten-minute turnaround time was the Hail Mary pass that helped save the infant airline in 1972.

To make it happen, Southwest nixed assigned seating. You get an A, B, or C boarding pass and selected a seat once you were on the plane. To occupy my kids while we waited in our assigned group, we played this game. It also works with drunk adults! [Read more…]

Nov 16 2017

Frontier faith in far West Texas – Bloys Cowboy Campmeeting

Before Sutherland Springs became infamous for the killing of twenty-six people at a Baptist church service, that little town had a lot in common with the 128-year-old Bloys Cowboy Camp meeting we discovered outside Fort Davis. Both towns once helped pioneer religion flourish with their giant outdoor gatherings. Bloys Cowboy Campmeeting is still practicing frontier faith in far West Texas in a compound little changed in all these years.

Camp meetings were a phenomenon of frontier Christianity. The concept was brought west by thousands of settlers of Scot-Irish roots. These settlers were moving into new territories without towns or churches or ordained ministers. Itinerant preachers filled the void, finding an open patch of ground for a pulpit. Word would then spread to isolated settlers who traveled miles and days to get a religious experience and some feeling of community. [Read more…]

Oct 31 2017

Port Aransas post Harvey

POST MAY CONTAIN AFFILIATE LINKS- READ DISCLOSURE FOR INFO.

I drove south this past Wednesday with Joe Holley from the Houston Chronicle to see how Port Aransas post Harvey was faring.

Admittedly antsy as I rode the ferry, I worried about my friends and favorite places in this beloved Texas town. My anxiety ratcheted up when I heard from a very good friend who didn’t want me to post on social media that I was headed down there.

“Please delete your facebook post. The last thing the poor island needs right now is people down here who aren’t part of the clean up.” If I could have reversed direction in the ferry line, I might have done so but I am so glad I didn’t.

My friend’s frustrated reaction was completely understandable. I should know. My home in Houston flooded a few days before when Harvey paid us an unwelcome visit. But I was compelled to come down. Port A has always felt special. As Dan Solomon said on a recent Texas Monthly blog, “People from all over Texas have strong, tender feelings toward the town, and have long used the place as a getaway from their day-to-day reality. “

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