Posted By bbinns on March 9, 2009
Fort Davis. About 2 miles (as the crow flies). As a kid, I rode every summer up at a most excellent camp in the High Sierras. We cantered, galloped, learned to do an emergency dismount from a gallop, and just generally felt at home on the back of a horse. During my marriage-related 7-year sojourn […]
Posted By bbinns on March 6, 2009
Marfa, 0 miles. Or, not so much right now, because I have truly settled in. After the first 8 days or so were spent studiously avoiding the work, the words suddenly began to flow. If they are, perhaps, not coming trippingly from my fingers, they are at least not falling flat. The weather has been […]
Posted By bbinns on March 2, 2009
Marfa to Alpine. And back. 52 miles. You know what this is, right? You don’t? OK, you are in Santa Fe. You’ve just come back from Ten Thousand Waves, where you came to love the smooth, warm stones so much that you’d really like to propose marriage to them. You sat in a wooden tub […]
Posted By bbinns on February 26, 2009
Marfa, Texas. 0 miles. In addition to wrapping my chompers around some good grub, I like to wrap my head around the zeitgeist of a community I pass through. Roadfoodie.com reader Mel Green of Los Angeles, who owns a house in Lajitas (this is near Marfa, at least in Texas terms), advised me to watch […]
Posted By bbinns on February 23, 2009
Marfa, Texas. 0 miles. To Drink, in Texas: * Noun, singular: Drank, as in “Could ah git a drank, here, or whuut?” * Noun, plural: Dranks, as in “Me and Merle got a few dranks down to the corner.” * Verb, present: Drank, as in “Ah ain’t gonna drank that – it’s water!” * Verb, […]
Posted By bbinns on February 21, 2009
Marfa, Texas. 0 miles. As I settle in, I’m finding Marfa similar in many ways to my home village of Athens, NY. There’s the complicated relationship between long-time residents and artistic newcomers, (many of the latter are absentee homeowners who’ve innocently driven up property values); the wide-spread desire to encourage more economic activity for the […]
Posted By bbinns on February 19, 2009
2.17.09 Marfa The view out of my side door might not strike everyone as romantic. From my bungalow, I can see a host of wood, stucco, and stone buildings in various states of decay, a paved road that quickly peters out into a dirt road, and lots and lots of wrinkled and antique galvanized metal […]
Posted By bbinns on February 17, 2009
2.15.09. Las Cruces to Marfa, 240 miles. Two states: New Mexico and Texas. Dining alone is something I do quite often. I prefer to dine at the bar, because even if the bartender is too busy or not the friendly type, I feel engaged with another human. I’ve never felt the need to read a […]
Posted By bbinns on February 16, 2009
Valentine’s Day, Las Cruces It is simple serendipity that I find myself cooling my heels in Las Cruces for three days, not part of a comprehensive travel plan. But, since the world is my lobster, I had best set about cracking it. Last night, I was in the mood for cheese, but spent waaay too […]
Posted By bbinns on February 14, 2009
Friday the 13th, Las Cruces I’ll get to last night’s dinner shortly, but first there’s something more important to cover: I set out on a 3-mile hike this morning, up Bar Canyon and Soledad Canyon, directly east of Las Cruces via University and then Dripping Springs Road. As I approached the trailhead and the dramatic, […]
