I've been on a blogging hiatus. Again. Anyway, for my husband's birthday (a few weeks ago) we took a trip back to Big Bend National Park. We stayed in the cute West Texas town of Alpine again. I love that town so much! We wanted to stay at the Holland Hotel again, but it was completely booked for the weekend. We had a back-up hotel in mind, so we decided to stay there instead. BUT, I double checked the Holland's website right before booking the other hotel, and saw that they one ONE room available for Saturday night. So, I snagged the room to surprise the husband for this birthday (we had to stay at the other place Fri night, but it was super nice there too so no complaints). We got into Alpine on a Friday night, and on the way to dinner we came across a little street festival-like event, and stopped to check it out after we ate. It was at a coffee/ice cream shop that had a great outside area. There was even a fire pit on the side walk! The sky was super clear and the stars were out, there was a band playing, beer from Big Bend Brewing Co. in the garage, and a hot dog truck. I loved the chill feeling there. It was a great way to end our night.
Plaine, the coffee/ice cream shop. Below: Cow Dogs hot dog truck.
We had dinner at a place called the Saddle Club. They had a couple actual "meals" on the menu, but it was mostly tapas-style plates. The husband had the quail and pesto pasta, and I had a "cheat" meal of a pulled pork loaded baked potato. Both were delicious! I think I am going through a pulled pork phase... The drink menu here was very unique, most of the drinks had jalapenos or some other spicy ingredient and herbs in them.
We woke up early on Saturday morning and headed towards Big Bend. On the way we stopped in Terlingua to pick up our JEEP! This was part 2 of the husband's bday gift, but this part was not a surprise. He has wanted a Jeep since forever, so we thought it would be fun to rent one for the day. Needless to say, it was love at first sight for him.
Since we got to the park early, we decided to go to the Hot Springs first, in hopes that it would not be busy. We were in luck. We had the entire "pool" to ourselves! Much better then arriving at the pool to find about 20 middle-aged men in it like last time...
From there we took ourselves on an off-road jeep tour through the desert, and ended the day with a picnic in the Chisos Mountains. We both loved the Jeep, and were sad to part with it! We got back into Alpine Saturday evening, and headed to the hotel.
The Holland Hotel at dusk
We had dinner at a place called Reata. The food was ok, and the restaurant had a neat interior, but we were not overly impressed. The food was kinda overpriced for what we got. We both wished we had gone back to the Saddle Club! After dinner we headed back to the Holland Hotel to get our free drinks in the lounge. Another reason why I love that hotel! Before leaving on Sunday, we checked out Murphy Street. It is a cute little area, but there is not much there. We would have gone into the Murphy St. Raspa Co., but it was not open yet.
Back entrance to the Raspa Co.
We also came across La Yarda, a little taco place. If we get to go back to Alpine, we will definitely stop here!
Overall, we had another great trip to Alpine/Big Bend. I am so glad we got to go back a second time!
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