PATTY & MARY GO TO MARFA.

Patty and I have been pals for 27 years. We waited tables together at the R-12 Cafe in San Marcos. She had last week off and came to Del Rio (Thursday night) and we went on a road trip. We hadn't even left town yet on Friday and we were smilin'. This is at the gas station...she didn't buy that hat but looked so cute in it!

Stupid electrical lines always ruin my photos. It drizzled some and then began raining steady and continued to do so for a few hours. It was not fun and made me nervous driving. Lucky for my bad foot that Patty-Atty-Watty shared the driving. The clouds were a-sittin' on the hills/mountains. It always looks cooler in real life. We stopped for lunch in Sanderson at a tiny diner...as soon as we were done the lady put the 'closed' sign in the window and said it was her nap time.

Got to Alpine and this guy is sprucing up a mural on the side of Kiowa Gallery (which is the BEST art gallery/store ever). Getting ready for Alpine's big "Art Walk" at the end of this month. I like that 'peccary' in the bottom right corner....

I've seen this mural many times before....love the Dan Blocker/ Hoss Cartwright image. It's a damn good piece of art.

This is a new mural right next t'other one. Patty and I stopped at Needleworks in Alpine and heard a good story about the painting. FYI- Needleworks is the the 2nd store that Peggy Walker owns. I worked for her at her other place in Pecos. Anyways...when the artist was trying to get this done it was raining and raining. He needed to have it done for a particular event. He came back after it stopped raining and painted it by the light of the full moon...no lie. The saleslady in Neeedleworks told us about it and said she went over there at midnight and watched him do it. Damn...wish I'd been there. I like the tiny stars in the sky.

I have shown this mural before on my blog. I like the ranch/brands at the bottom and the big Texas sky. These murals are all located together....west, north and east. How cool is that?

We stayed at the Paisano Hotel in Marfa. It was built in 1930 and housed the cast of the movie "Giant" in 1956. There is a small room off the lobby that has memorabilia. We got the very last room available (booked online the previous night) as there was a 'meet & greet' going on there that  night for a wedding. Jamey and I stayed here for night when we lived in Pecos and she was there for quite a few days last summer when she volunteered for their film festival.

This is the view from our room at the courtyard as they were setting up for the wedding dinner. I bet it was chilly. At least it stopped raining.

The facade above some rooms over looking the courtyard. The architects for this hotels were from San Antonio and also did: the Gage Hotel in Marathon, the Holland Hotel in Alpine, the El Capitain Hotel in Van Horn etc.etc. I'm glad that places like this still exist.

Excellent painting in the lobby. There's only 2 floors and no elevator....I had a rough time w/ my bad foot going up and down a flight of steep stairs....sigh....grrr.

A lounge off of the lobby. We looked in there later in the evening and there was a nice fire and people hanging out. Beyond this room is the ballroom and a pool area. The halls are lined w/ excellent B&W pictures of the hotel and famous guests.

Yeah...so THIS was the big picture op of the day. The fountain usually has water flowing. We were told by a wedding guest that the florist drove all the way from San Antonio to make this arrangement and the table bouquets....that's over 6 hours!!! This picture was taken the next morning...so you don't see the table flowers and set ups etc. The wedding guests were moving to Cibolo Creek Resort Saturday night for the actual wedding. Big bucks....

This is on way home. Look at that blue, blue sky! Weather cleared up fine. Damn electrical wires. It's just west of Alpine.

We stopped in Alpine for a fine Mexican lunch. This is next door to the cafe....a cement artist works here.

The gate to the outdoor seating area of the cafe. Food was very goo'.

I hate to take pictures with the sun in front of me but just had to get a shot of this cement lizard a-slidin' over the wall at the outdoor cafe. Look at his tail. I wish it was in my yard.

Alpine. This place was built in 1886 and is right by the railroad tracks...as everything of importance was back then. It was open to the public until 1945. It has never had indoor plumbing. Hotel Richey has been purchased by somebody who wants to revive and restore it into an art meeting place.

I WILL be attempting to create some mosiac skulls like these someday.

We were 'riding the fence' about going to the museum at Sul Ross University in Alpine. I had been there before. But 2 different folks told us we HAD to go because there was a special showing of Frederick Remington art. It's called "Treasures from the Remington Museum" and rarely ever leaves their home in Ogdensburg, New York. We enjoyed it VERY much and some of the other exhibits as well. We could've stayed there longer but the day was going by fast. We hurried back to Del Rio and arrived just at dark and Mr. Geno had fajitas ready for us.Thanks for visiting Patty!!!!