September 03, 2023
On the way in which house from a visit to far West Texas in late July, my good friend and I swung by means of tiny Marathon, Texas, for lunch. Fifty miles east of Marfa and 50 miles north of Large Bend Nationwide Park, Marathon is called the gateway to distant Large Bend. Solely round 365 individuals dwell in Marathon, and but it boasts a fantastic resort and a number of other good eating places, bars, and outlets. Additionally, surprisingly, a European-style garden-park, which I hope to see on a future go to.
The Gage Lodge
The centerpiece of the primary highway by means of city is the western-elegant Gage Hotel, inbuilt 1927 and restored and reopened in 1982.
The yellow-brick resort presents greater than an evening’s sleep for outdoorsy sorts on their solution to Large Bend. With a spa, restaurant, the White Buffalo Bar, and wonderful landscaping, patios, and pool, the resort is a vacation spot in itself. Someday I wish to come again right here for star-gazing below the inky-black skies of West Texas.
Cottonwood-shaded sidewalk on the quiet most important road by means of city
An enormous trunking yucca towers over a shady courtyard. Behind the wall…
…a longhorn-shaped association of cow skulls adorns an adobe wall. How meta!
That is ranch nation, in any case.
A mural on a fence depicts rain falling on the Glass Mountains north of Marathon.
I wandered the grounds, admiring the patios and towering yuccas.
Arched portals adorned with chile ristras outline the out of doors areas.
One other inviting patio
A tile-roofed portal with ristras is irresistible.
On the opposite aspect, extra cow skulls, ristras, and yuccas add western type to the adobe constructing.
And take a look at the scale of those flowering yuccas!
Cat posed with them for scale.
Coyote fencing and yuccas
Smaller, softer yuccas right here
A double portal with a bell marks the doorway to Los Portales, a courtyard with motel-style rooms on the Gage.
I didn’t enterprise into this extra non-public house, but it surely was shaded and wonderful.
The entrance of the resort has a rocking-chair porch overlooking the primary highway by means of city.
Colourful pots gown it up below the Lone Star flag.
The resort foyer is a examine in rustic consolation, with deep-cushioned furnishings, a curlicued iron chandelier, and saddles and taxidermy on the partitions.
A chiseled wooden angel stands watch.
In a sitting room, a Mexican charro saddle with silver accents is displayed within the nook.
And a stuffed mountain lion lounges on a console desk.
Its cousin begs for head scratches out on the entrance porch.
Brick Vault BBQ
We ate lunch down the road at Brick Vault Barbecue.
I obtained the sliced brisket sandwich, and it was scrumptious.
Eve’s Backyard B&B
After lunch we drove round for a peek at the remainder of the city and noticed this greenhouse construction with a purple doorway.
And a cobalt wall with a prickly pear mural imitating life within the backyard.
That is Eve’s Backyard B&B, which has a captivating backyard with this mosaic signal embedded within the path.
One other little bit of the mosaic path
And extra! I’d like to have explored the entire backyard, however since I wasn’t a visitor I simply peeked from the parking space.
And right here’s the colourful entrance of Eve’s Backyard B&B.
That’s it for my sequence about my journey to West Texas! For a glance again on the native botanical backyard on the Chihuahuan Desert Nature Middle, click on right here. You’ll discover hyperlinks to the remainder of the sequence on the finish of every put up.
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