Growing up in South Alabama, we were always piling in the car to drive to Destin, Orlando, Sandpiper, New Orleans, Atlanta, etc. We had so many road trip options, and now after living in Dallas for 10 years, we decided it was time to start exploring our state and see what our road trip options were. This particular road trip was much longer than the ones we were used to, but it was incredible!
THURSDAY EVENING:
We left after work from Dallas on Thursday and pulled into Odessa, TX around midnight. There are tons of hotel options, so we booked a hotel along the interstate when we got tired. This is the boring part of the drive, but we loved the podcast S-Town (we are obsessed) to make the evening speed along.
FRIDAY:
We woke up early and started our drive again! We headed to Marfa and were excited to discover this quirky town that we’ve always heard about. The drive was easy, no traffic, no cars, but make sure you have a full tank of gas!
I HIGHLY recommend Marfa – it’s a tiny town with no stoplights, but it’s really cool. We had lunch at Hotel Saint George, and I felt like I was in an upscale New York City hotel. The food was divine (truffle pasta- yes!) and the people watching was even better. Everyone in Marfa was incredibly chic and had an air of sophistication.
If you’re a fan of glamping, be sure to check out our review of El Cosmico Marfa here
OUR WEST TEXAS PACKING LIST
Via NPR
After our lunch we explored downtown Marfa and enjoyed meeting some of the wonderful people who live in this town – keep in mind, the total population is only 1,700 people. We also stopped by the Chinati Foundation, which is an art exhibit full of Donald Judd art – the man known for shaping Marfa. Lastly, you can’t visit Marfa without seeing Prada Marfa! Warning- it’s an extra 30 minutes outside of Marfa, but you have to do it.
El Cosmico (Image via Skift)
What To Do In Marfa:
- Eat: St George Hotel, Food Shark
- See: Downtown, Prada Marfa, Ballroom Marfa, Chinati Foundation
- Stay: El Cosmico (teepees, yurts, & airstreams!), St George Hotel, Thunderbird
- Wear: Chic Casual
Click here for our full Marfa city guide
FRIDAY AFTERNOON:
We left Marfa after exploring and headed to Lajita’s near Big Bend National Park. This is where the drive became absolutely beautiful! Within a few hours we arrived at our hotel – Lajita’s Golf Resort.
Evening was approaching so we explored the hotel grounds and sat down to enjoy a cocktail and dinner. The surroundings are beautiful and the food was great. The bar has live music every night (which we loved), so we enjoyed the bar while lounging on their comfy couches – so relaxing! There are many parts of the trip where you won’t have cell services, so plan on getting lots of R&R.
SATURDAY:
Since this was our main day at Big Bend, we really packed it all in! Next time we would spend 2 full days here. We had an 8AM tee time, and there is no doubt my husband counts this as one of his top three favorite golf courses. The views are stunning, and the course is really fun to play.
We grabbed a quick sandwich after golf and were ready to go hiking! We hiked Closed Canyon in the Big Bend State Park, which was about 20 minutes west of the hotel. This was an easy hike, but very unique since you are walking between two huge canyons. We had so much fun hiking that we decided to see the Big Bend National Park, so we drove to the Chisos Basin and had a glass of wine while we watched the sunset. It was absolutely perfect!
We stopped by Terlingua Ghost Town on our way back, which is a tiny town with some cool shops and restaurants. It’s very hippie and has Colorado vibes – a quirky change from Texas. Finally, we rounded out the evening by heading back to our hotel for dinner and more live music and margaritas!
Click here to read our full Terlingua guide!
What To Do In Big Bend
- Eat: Lajita’s restaurant (delicious breakfast tacos)
- Stay: Lajita’s Golf Resort or camp in the multiple campgrounds
- See: Golfing, Hiking, Terlinga Ghost Town
- Wear: Day – active wear. Night – casual, no heels
SUNDAY:
Drive back to Dallas
Whether you love a good road trip or are simply looking for a new weekend getaway in Texas, I highly recommend this route!
For other Texas adventures, check out our travel posts below:
Read Our Related Posts:
Marfa City Guide // Terlingua Travel Guide // Monahans Sandhills // El Cosmico Marfa