Today was a rest day so we planned to visit Marfa, Historical Fort Davis, and the McDonald Observatory. Whew! Because the Marfa Lights Viewing area is about 10 miles outside of town, Phil decided to bike in to get some practice for tomorrow!
We did our own self-guided tour around town, which has a large arts community. This was Truckland Marfa – kind of fun to see the artwork here.
Continuing to downtown gave us a view of the beautiful courthouse and town square. Everything in the town was so neat and looked freshly painted.
Continuing to downtown gave us a view of the beautiful courthouse and town square. Everything in the town was so neat and looked freshly painted.
We went into the El Paisano Hotel which is on the National Historic Registry. The inside was beautiful and we spent quite a bit of time looking around. Apparently Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, and James Dean, the cast of Giant stayed here during its filming. They had lots of pictures displayed around the hotel. I liked that they had a longhorn steer mounted on display!
We also went by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, just north of the square. If I lived near Marfa, this is where I would want to attend church based on their welcome sign. I wish everyone could be so accepting!
We also went by St. Paul’s Episcopal Church, just north of the square. If I lived near Marfa, this is where I would want to attend church based on their welcome sign. I wish everyone could be so accepting!
After our little tour of Marfa, we all piled into our RV started our drive up Hwy. 17 to the McDonald Observatory. We stopped for burgers at the Fort Davis Drug Store in town. What a cute place, complete with a soda fountain.
They had all kinds of stuff for sale and since I love my sister, this was my favorite of the bunch.
Just outside of town is the Fort Davis National Historic site. We were not able to beyond the gates because of the government shutdown, so we took a few pictures. Perhaps on another trip …
Continuing on up the hill we could see some of the telescopes at the observatory.
The visitor’s center is fairly new and arrived in time to see the introductory video at 1:30 before our 2pm tour.
The 30 minute video was great and was then followed by about an hour presentation on the sun and what they do at the observatory. Our tour guide, Martinique, did a fantastic job and made me realize how smart the astronomers and scientists that work there are!
The McDonald Observatory was originally endowed by Texas banker William Johnson McDonald, who left about $1,000,000 to endow an astronomical observatory. After some legal battles with his relatives, the University of Texas at Austin received about $800,000 and began construction on Mt. Locke where the observatory is located. The then-unnamed Otto Struve Telescope was dedicated in May, 1939, and at the time was the second largest telescope in the world!
Our tour took us inside the building where the telescope is housed and our guide showed us how this gigantic telescope moves and the building it is housed in rotates to open the viewing windows. It was amazing!
They had all kinds of stuff for sale and since I love my sister, this was my favorite of the bunch. Just outside of town is the Fort Davis National Historic site. We were not able to beyond the gates because of the government shutdown, so we took a few pictures. Perhaps on another trip …Continuing on up the hill we could see some of the telescopes at the observatory. The visitor’s center is fairly new and arrived in time to see the introductory video at 1:30 before our 2pm tour. The 30 minute video was great and was then followed by about an hour presentation on the sun and what they do at the observatory. Our tour guide, Martinique, did a fantastic job and made me realize how smart the astronomers and scientists that work there are! The McDonald Observatory was originally endowed by Texas banker William Johnson McDonald, who left about $1,000,000 to endow an astronomical observatory. After some legal battles with his relatives, the University of Texas at Austin received about $800,000 and began construction on Mt. Locke where the observatory is located. The then-unnamed Otto Struve Telescope was dedicated in May, 1939, and at the time was the second largest telescope in the world! Our tour took us inside the building where the telescope is housed and our guide showed us how this gigantic telescope moves and the building it is housed in rotates to open the viewing windows. It was amazing! We were also able to go into the building where the Hobby-Eberly Telescope is housed. It is the largest telescope at the observatory and the third largest in the world. While we were there, they rotated the telescope and we were able to watch. Where the Otto Struve telescope is suspended and mounted to supporting brackets, the Hobby-Eberly is mounted on kind of air cushions to raise and lower its position.
Our tour concluded about 4:30 pm and my head was swimming with all of the information we received! I would love to come back for one of their evening programs when you are actually able to see what the telescope sees!
By the time we drove back down the mountain it was almost 6pm. We are staying again at the Marfa Lights Viewing Area. The moon rising was beautiful again, as well as the sunset.
Our tour concluded about 4:30 pm and my head was swimming with all of the information we received! I would love to come back for one of their evening programs when you are actually able to see what the telescope sees!
By the time we drove back down the mountain it was almost 6pm. We are staying again at the Marfa Lights Viewing Area. The moon rising was beautiful again, as well as the sunset.
We stayed up late because tonight was the total lunar eclipse. The photos below were taken between 9:30 and 10:45 pm.
Needless to say, it will be a short night since Tobey starts riding again tomorrow.
Needless to say, it will be a short night since Tobey starts riding again tomorrow.
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