The Water Stop Marfa Texas

Before we left Fort Stockton RV Park for a day in Marfa, we searched online for a restaurant that would be open for lunch. That’s when we found The Water Stop Marfa Texas.

It helps to have an address to enter in our Jeep’s GPS. So even though we wanted to do some exploring first we used The Water Stop to get us to Marfa. Now, you need to understand that Marfa Texas is a really small town. But it is an art community. Sadly the few galleries and museums in Marfa were not open due to Covid. So we looked for places to explore that are outdoors and always open.

Homage to the 1956 movie Giant

I had read about a Prada store in the middle of the Chihuahua Desert. After doing some research I learned that it is really a museum and is just a few miles past Marfa. Steve and I decided to check it out before we ate lunch. On our way we came upon a really awesome homage to the 1956 movie Giant with famous movie stars such as James Dean, Rock Hudson, Dennis Hopper and Elizabeth Taylor. It was filmed on the Ryan Ranch, just west of Marfa. These larger than life cut outs included the ranch house, the stars and a car complete with music playing! It certainly took us by surprise. But it was a welcome relief from the monotony of the desert landscape.

The Prada Store Museum 

A bit further down the road we got to the Prada store/museum. The white building cannot go unnoticed because it is in the middle of nowhere. It is really surprising how many people drive all the way there just to see this unique tribute to Prada. Though you can no longer enter the “store” it appears ready to sell shoes and handbags. The back wall is lined with gorgeous shoes and large low tables display stunning handbags. I think Steve breathed a sigh of relief when he realized I could not buy even one pair.

The Water Stop Marfa Texas

By the time we finished photographing the Prada store we were starving. Fortunately we knew exactly where we were going for our late lunch – The Water Stop Marfa Texas! It didn’t look like much from the outside, which made Steve hesitant to go in. But once we were seated in the whimsical dining room our skepticism disappeared. The room’s decor was so fun and funky in a very artistic way. Everywhere we looked we found something new to talk about. This include a large sculpture of a tooth, complete with its roots.

And the food was really good too. The menu at The Water Stop Marfa Texas was pretty limited, but Steve and I still found a couple of items that interested us. Of course we decided to share. We had the Spicy Fried Chicken Sandwich with roasted jalapeños, shaved cabbage and spicy mayonnaise, the Migas Breakfast Tacos on mini flour tortillas with tomato, jalapeños, crisp fried corn tortillas and sharp cheddar cheese scrambled eggs and a side of French Fries. Both entrées gave us a nice variety of flavors and textures and the fries were crisp on the outside, tender on the inside and season with just the right amount of salt.

Valentine Texas

After lunch we drove around the town of Marfa for a bit and then headed back to Ladybug. But we took a different route home so there were new sights along the way.

The tiny town of Valentine boasts a population of a mere 217. I think this was the smallest town we had visited so far. The library looked more like a house. And there was a wall with the names of each librarian since it opened. Valentine was established in 1881 as a station on the Southern Pacific Railroad. Legend has it that the town received its name by being founded on Valentine’s Day. But it is more likely that it was named for John Valentine who was a Southern Pacific stockholder.

In the early 20th century, Valentine developed as a railroad division point, with a roundhouse and a boarding house for train crews. A loading pen for cattle served local ranchers. Speaking of those ranchers, we passed a huge herd of Texas cattle on our return drive to Fort Stockton.