Summer Vacation 2014--Day 5

As we drove from Alpine to the Fort Davis Historic Site, we stopped to read two Historical Markers along the way.  One was the first location of a school back in the 1800s.  The other was the ruins of a ranch home of a pioneer, which was abandoned in 1854.  It was later used as a Ranger Station from 1880-1882.

We decided to stop at the Chihuahuan Desert and Nature Center too.  It had a botanical garden completely made up of native plants to the Fort Davis Mountains and Chihuahuan Desert.  We walked through the botanical garden and a cacti greenhouse.  We then took a hike down to a creek, which we thought had water in it, but it did not.  It had a mine with items actually used in mining.  We thought it was a working mine or an area where the kids could mine, but it was not.  More of a little museum dedicated to mining. While it is situated in the desert area, it was a neat experience.  Take bug spray and sunscreen or an umbrella.

At Fort Davis Historic Site, we watched a movie about the history of Fort Davis and visited the museum.

We then walked the Fort.  A few of the buildings were open as museums for us to see how life would have been.  When comparing life there then to life now, they are very different.

We asked a few people at the Fort for lunch recommendations.  They told us about the Fort Davis Drug Store, Lupita's, and Cueva de Leon.  We decided on the Fort Davis Drug Store for lunch and we would choose one of the other restaurants for dinner.

We arrived for a late lunch, somewhere between 12:30 & 1:00.  It was a "seat yourself" kind of place, and it was full, so we waited. The people in front of us got tables, and then we took a table--a little small, but with 5 chairs.  During this 15-20 minutes, no one greeted us or even spoke to us.  We sat at the table for several minutes before a waiter came to clear part of the table from the former patrons.  He said he would get menus and a waitress.  Didn't happen.  We waited and waited.  Either Mom or my sister-in-law went and found menus.  We changed to a larger table.  Still no waitress.  Finally, a waitress walked by, and my sister-in-law stopped her and asked her to get us a waitress.  You should have seen the look the waitress gave my sister-in-law and heard the tone she used.  If there was anywhere else to eat, we would have left!  Once our waitress showed up, things got a little better.  She was kind, apologetic, and took our order.  However, a very large group of ladies came in after us and got their orders well before us.  Thank goodness the food was delicious (or maybe we were just starving).  By the time we left, we had been in there well over an hour and a half to two hours.  

Not only are towns few and far between in this part of the state, but restaurants are few and far between in each town.  Also, they do not have the best customer service.

We decided to go back to Balmorhea State Park to swim until dinner.

After our swim, we went to Cueva de Leon for a Mexican buffet of fajitas, enchiladas, rice, beans, and more.

We ended our night with a visit to the McDonald Observatory.  The view of the stars was AMAZING!!  We were able to look through telescopes after the constellation discussion to see Saturn, Mars, a galaxy, and a nebula.

Summer Vacation 2014--Day 4

When my niece and nephew were tiny, my brother and sister-in-law took them to the Fort Davis area on a rare family vacation that did not include Mom and me.  We did a little research, figured out how far it was, and decided to go for a weekend.  We hit the highway by 8:00 am and headed west.

We made it to Fort Stockton for a late lunch.  FYI:  They do not have anything gluten free at Pizza Hut except salad.  That just is not enough when you have gone that long without a snack.

When making this drive, you must get gas whenever you are in civilization b/c the towns are few and very far between.  Also, make sure you have snacks and water on all trips and blankets/coats during the winter.

We decided to drive straight to Balmorhea State Park to swim.  It is a spring with fish and turtles.  The water seems really cold when you are getting in, but once your body is in, you don't notice the cold at all.  I wish there was more shade around the swimming area.

When we finished swimming, we decided to go find our Value Lodge in Alpine.  I got a really good deal on this motel, and the pics looked decent for a family on a budget.  We weren't quite prepared for the dilapidated bathroom, but overall, the stay was fine.  You can tell the couple is working to fix up the place.  If you are used to fine hotels, this one is not for you.

We did a little research on places to eat.  We finally settled on a little Mexican food place.  When we arrived, we found it to be a house, and we noticed a sign saying they only took cash.  We made sure we had cash.  When we entered, we were greeted with "Do you have a reservation?"  We did not and had no idea we needed one.  Needless to say, we left.  We drove around town and saw a few saloons, but other than a McDonald's, we didn't see any place to eat that interested us or that looked kid friendly.  We decided to drive to Marfa to eat and then we could see the mysterious Marfa Lights on our way back.  We drove around Marfa and found even less than Alpine.  We finally found a restaurant, so we got out and went in.  Again, we were greeted with "Do you have a reservation?" Of course not! The waitress gave us a restaurant suggestion.  On our way out, a nice gentleman sitting at a table outside gave us the same suggestion.  Thank goodness for kind people!  We went to their suggestion--a Mexican food place.  We got out and went in.  This time we were not greeted with "Do you have a reservation?" but we did have to wait for them to clear a table.  The food was good, service was slow, and everyone in the place knew one another.

On our way back to the motel, we stopped at the Marfa Lights viewing area.  It was neat standing out in the cool summer wind watching the lights blink on and off making our own predictions.