By: Peyton Reed
We began our day with a trip to Cedar Coffee and Supply. The coffee shop was incredibly popular and trendy, something unexpected from a small town in the middle of west Texas. We each ordered an assortment of coffees off of the menu and had a delicious breakfast. Half of us ordered the Red Hatter, a delicious Belgian waffle covered in Rose Crème and fresh, organic strawberries.
The other half ordered the Ol’ Faithful, a hearty bagel with bacon, a fried egg and spinach. The morning was full of good conversation and stories told by Mark Burns.
After, Mark left to head back home and we explored the shop next door that had art from local woodworkers.
We went back to the hotel for a few hours of editing, then we revisited our new favorite coffee shop for Coffee milkshakes, Nitro Floats, Rose Lemonade, and a Basil Snap. After fueling up on coffee, we headed to the Museum of The Big Bend on the Sul Ross Campus. We enjoyed seeing the historical exhibits…
…history of photography installation, and an original mural painted by Xavier Gonzalez that is believed to have been painted while he was a student.
While downtown, we wandered into a co-op ran by a coalition of local artist who take turns running the shop. We purchased a couple of pieces, and I stepped in to help the artist running the shop change the receipt paper when it ran out.
While browsing, we met an artist named Tim McKenna, the photographer who composed the images used in the 2018 Big Bend Calendar. He took us to the art co-op next door and told us the stories behind some of our favorite images of his. We all purchased some of his prints, and even got a photograph with him and his wife, Julie.
Once we finished purchasing our pieces of art from the second Co-op, we were all ready for dinner, so we walked across the street to “Guzzi up,” a local restaurant. For starters, we had the garlic bread and spinach artichoke dip.
The appetizers were amazing and devoured within minutes. For dinner we ordered an assortment of items off the menu, a Margherita pizza, The Libby sandwich, a buffalo chicken sandwich, and grilled cheese with spinach and artichoke soup.
After dinner, we drove to the Prada Marfa art installation, which was about an hour from Alpine, Texas. Surrounded by a fence with locks left by people in love, the Prada building contains genuine Prada items, six bags and thirteen right shoes. As the sun set, we photographed the building and fence…
…and even got our signature LEAP shot.
The day was jam packed with lots of coffee, art, sightseeing, and invaluable experiences.
Center for Law, Engagement, and Politics 