El Paso's Union Station

El Paso is still served by Amtrak, on the Texas Eagle and  Sunset Limited line and passengers heading our way can stop there, or in Alpine.  El Paso's Union Station, located just west of downtown is convenient for all travelers.

The Wikipedia article for the station says this:  "The El Paso Union Depot, also known as El Paso Union Passenger Depot, was designed by architect Daniel Burnham, who also designed Washington D.C. Union Station. It was built between 1905 and 1906 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971."

It is still a lovely place to catch a train! 

History along Holland Avenue: Alpine's Granada Theatre

Photo: Granada Theatre website

Visitors to Alpine need to take a leisurely stroll to see a peek back to an earlier time in Far West Texas.  So much of the historic fabric of the town is still evident along Holland Avenue, adjacent to the Amtrak station and the heart of the business district.  Case in point:  the Granada Theatre, open for business as Texas-flavored events space.

The history of the Granada Theatre, from its website:

"Construction started on the Granada Theatre in 1928 by the Johnson Company of Fort Stockton, Texas and was completed in 1929. The theater was utilized over the years for screening movies as well as being a place for community events such as the West Texas Jitterbug Championships in 1941 and The Stars Over Texas war bond drive in 1943. In June of that year over 2,500 gathered outside the Granada to catch a glimpse of Hollywood stars; Gene Autry, Chill Wills and Gayle Storm. The bond tour raised over eighteen million dollars for the United States war efforts against the Axis powers. The bond tour was headed by Granada Theater Manager C.W. “Wally” Davis of Alpine."

Today, the Theatre holds many events--some on our Texas Mountain Trail regional events calendar--for residents and visitors, including the Chuckwagon Show and Viva Big Bend festival.  Food is catered by the Theatre's next door neighbor, the Saddle Club.

Best of 2013: A Dream Vacation for Classic Film Fans

Another of our favorite posts--and favorite adventures--of 2013!

 

Interior of the fully restored Plaza
Theatre in downtown El Paso

Every year, film lovers in the know head to El Paso for the largest (and probably the best!) Classic Film Festival anywhere, its home base the lovingly restored Plaza Theatre.  This 1930 theatre (Wurlitzer organ and all!) offers a step into the past for film buffs.  Full screen showings of some true classics.  Meet and greet opportunities with stars.  Great, great fun.

What's showing?  Old classics like The Graduate,  Fahrenheit 451, The Third Man, West Side Story and It Came From Outer Space!  And new classics like Far Marfa!  Here's a link to the schedule! 

Watch new and old cinema classics
at the Festival!

El Paso's lovely Union Station

Inside El Paso's train station

May we suggest a true adventure?!?  Take a COMPLETE step into the past by arriving at the festival by TRAIN!  El Paso's station is just blocks from the Plaza Theatre...and the city is on Amtrak's Sunset Limited Line. Get on the train in Alpine, San Antonio, New Orleans, Tucson or Los Angeles to get to the Festival...no cars needed! link to the festival's website for more information!

Once you arrive, you'll be in the center of downtown's museum cultural "campus" with plenty of lodging and dining opportunities!  Here's a

Lodging and dining opportunities just
steps from the Plaza Theatre!

El Paso's Union Station

Just west of downtown El Paso
within walking distance of hotels
and restaurants, Union Station

El Paso is still served by Amtrak, on the Texas Eagle and  Sunset Limited line and passengers heading our way can stop there, or in Alpine.  El Paso's Union Station, located just west of downtown is convenient for all travelers.

The Wikipedia article for the station says this:  "The El Paso Union Depot, also known as El Paso Union Passenger Depot, was designed by architect Daniel Burnham, who also designed Washington D.C. Union Station. It was built between 1905 and 1906 and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1971."

It is still a lovely place to catch a train! 

A DREAM Vacation for Classic Film Fans!

Interior of the fully restored Plaza
Theatre in downtown El Paso

Every year, film lovers in the know head to El Paso for the largest (and probably the best!) Classic Film Festival anywhere, its home base the lovingly restored Plaza Theatre.  This 1930 theatre (Wurlitzer organ and all!) offers a step into the past for film buffs.  Full screen showings of some true classics.  Meet and greet opportunities with stars.  Great, great fun. 

What's showing?  Old classics like The Graduate,  Fahrenheit 451, The Third Man, West Side Story and It Came From Outer Space!  And new classics like Far Marfa!  Here's a link to the schedule! 

Watch new and old cinema classics
at the Festival!

El Paso's lovely Union Station

Inside El Paso's train station

May we suggest a true adventure?!?  Take a COMPLETE step into the past by arriving at the festival by TRAIN!  El Paso's station is just blocks from the Plaza Theatre...and the city is on Amtrak's Sunset Limited Line. Get on the train in Alpine, San Antonio, New Orleans, Tucson or Los Angeles to get to the Festival...no cars needed! link to the festival's website for more information!

Once you arrive, you'll be in the center of downtown's museum cultural "campus" with plenty of lodging and dining opportunities!  Here's a

Lodging and dining opportunities just
steps from the Plaza Theatre!

Alpine's Train Station and El Paso's Train Station and getting here by Amtrak

Inside Alpine's train station

There are two Amtrak stops in our Texas Mountain Trail region, Alpine and El Paso.  Click here for details about the Alpine station, and here for details about the El Paso station.  Both stations are absolutely lovely, and both are on the Sunset Limited Route.  Click here to read the Sunset Limited Schedule brochure from Amtrak.

Union Station, El Paso

View from the Amtrak

On the Sunset Limited, heading west to Marathon! 

view of the mountains near Marathon from Amtrak's Sunset Limited

A gracious way to travel...step off the train...and the best of the city is steps away

One of the loveliest and gracious ways to travel to the region is by train, through El Paso's Union Station.  Built in 1905 and renovated in 1982 (and on the National Register of Historic Places), the station was the first passenger station built in the United States specifically for international travel.  The county's website outlines the renovation work that was done to bring the station back to its original glory:

"The original tile floor was installed, the white paint on the outside bricks was removed, most of the original woodwork was preserved as much as possible, marble was imported from Italy to replace the damaged marble on the inside columns, and the tower and steeple were restored to their former place on top of the Depot."  To read more, click here.

Today, Amtrak's Sunset Limited runs through our region on its route from New Orleans to Los Angeles.  El Paso is a fully supported stop (meaning you can check luggage and bicycles!) on the route, and one of two stops in our region.  (Alpine is the second.)  Within walking distance is one of the hotels participating in our Texas Mountain Trail cycle-friendly program is the Holiday Inn Central El Paso.

The station is centered in the historic downtown, near the city's museum campus.  Consider visiting the city's Museum of History and Museum of Art.  Or the Insights Science Museum, or the Lynx Exhibits.  Since you've arrived by train, there's a place of special interest, El Paso's Railroad and Transportation Museum!

Dining on the Sunset Limited

Eating in Amtrak's Sunset Limited's dining car allows travelers to meet and visit with fellow adventurers.  The staff will seat you, and to our pleasure, we dined with a family coming back from a trip to Big Bend.  Their mission--besides having a great time--was to work on a series of children's books starring Explorer Bear (pictured above).   The family was charming.  Here "EB" is seated in front of the herb roasted half chicken, with vegetable medley (orange and yellow carrots, red bell peppers, green beans) and rice pilaf.  We also ordered dessert, in our case, a cheesecakey, cold lemon-berry tart.  It was rich and satisfying for all four of us to share!   Visit this page to download a Sunset Limited Dining Car menu as well as the National Cafe Car menu.  (Check the right side of the page, under Downloadable Info.)

We enjoyed the full view of the scenery from our table in the dining car...notice the plates and fresh flowers on the table!    During dinner, my companions told me about taking the train from San Antonio to Alpine, renting a car and heading to Big Bend National Park, and all about their hiking adventures there.  They had a terrific time and are eager to come back to work on more adventures with Explorer Bear!

We'll continue our series on traveling to the region by train after our return trip from Houston to Alpine.  (You can also reach our region on Amtrak through the El Paso station, which has full baggage services, which means you can travel with your bike!)

From our seat on the Sunset Limited, Views of the Texas Pecos Trail region

Today, we continue our journey on Amtrak's Sunset Limited, and the views we saw from our seat aboard the train.  We boarded the train in Alpine in early afternoon, which meant we traveled past some of the Texas Pecos Trail's scenic attractions in the waning (beautiful) light of the day. 

View from the Pecos River Bridge

We didn't miss anything, because the crew made announcements about each of these spots in plenty of time to fish cameras out of our luggage.  Our first photo opportunity in our neighboring Texas Pecos Trail was the Pecos River Bridge...check this page for photos of the bridge and a summary of its interesting history.  There's another neat photo of it here.

Lake Amistad at sunset

 Our next photo opportunity was Lake Amistad at sunset!  This is a national recreation area administered by the National Park Service.  Their website describes the area this way: 
"Amistad NRA is the United States portion of International Amistad Reservoir, formed on the Rio Grande along the border of the US and Mexico. Amistad is known for excellent water-based recreation, camping and is surrounded by a landscape rich in prehistoric rock art, a vibrant border culture, along with a wide variety of plant and animal life."

Near Del Rio, the Rio Grande and beyond that, Mexico!

As the train rolled towards Del Rio, the Rio Grande came into view.  One of the things we like about train travel is the opportunity to see homes and ranches and farms not normally seen from the road.  In addition to the sights here; we saw lots of goats, cattle and horses; dogs frolicking in an orchard after dinner; a large family barbecue and party with balloons hung in every tree in the yard! 

In our Texas Mountain Trail region, you can board the train in El Paso or Alpine, and travel the Sunset Limited or Texas Eagle lines.

From our seat aboard the Sunset Limited, views from the train from Alpine to Houston, part 1

We boarded the train at the Amtrak station in Alpine on Saturday afternoon, as the town was celebrating at their Fiesta del Sol.  We hopped aboard the Sunset Limited, stowing our large suitcase downstairs, and made our way to our assigned seat on the upper level. 

We wanted to take this journey by train, because we wanted to experience something new to share with our travelers to the region, but also, we confess we wanted some time to decompress and think.  Driving or flying didn't seem as conducive to actually relaxing, so we opted for the train...besides, it was a great adventure!

One of the neat surprises--in addition to having plenty of space in our car, so it was relatively quiet--was the ability to really SEE the landscape outside.  We headed out of Alpine and saw the magnificent mountains on the way to Marathon, and of course, the beautiful cloudfilled, blue sky.  Yes, these were all taken from our seat aboard the train...next installment, the sights from the Sunset Limited in our neighboring Texas Pecos Trail region!

New bike route: from cycle-friendly Hyatt Place to downtown El Paso and back!

Park your bike in your room!

 Our friends at GeoBetty.com put together an easy 12.8 mile (roundtrip) route from the very first Texas Mountain Trail cycle-friendly hotel, the Hyatt Place Airport El Paso, to downtown and back.

Starting Point:  Hyatt Place El Paso Airport, 6030 Gateway Blvd. E., El Paso, TX 79905
Phone 915-771-0022; Fax 915-771-0599, hyattplaceelpasoairport.com
Cycle-friendly features include: oversized guest rooms for safe storage of bikes, purchase freshly made breakfasts/lunches/snacks packs for cycling adventures , complimentary shuttle to airport and within 3 mile radius, 24 hour fitness center, outdoor pool, laundry/valet services, and more.

flowering cholla at Concordia Cemetery

Grave of gunfighter John Wesley Hardin

The route includes a swing by El Paso's historic Concordia Cemetery.  In the shadow of the Franklin Mountains, this is a wonderful stop, especially for history enthusiasts.  There's a special section for Buffalo soldier graves, for Chinese railway workers, for El Paso's earliest settlers, including famed gunfighter John Wesley Hardin!

 

Interior of the restored Plaza Theatre
 in downtown El Paso!



The El Paso Museum of Art is in the heart of downtown!



Downtown El Paso, the destination for this bike route offers so much to do!  There's a museum "campus" with so many great spots to visit--the Museum of Art, the Museum of History, a railroad museum, holocaust museum, science museum, and more, and more!



Historic Union Station still serves Amtrak...get off the train,
unpack your bike and head down this route
to the cycle-friendly Hyatt Place!



Dancers performing at one of El Paso's great downtown festival celebrations..here a Day of the Dead performance outside the El Paso Museum of History!

For more images from this route, visit our flickr slideshow, here.

For full route information from the geobetty.com website, click here. 

For a link to the Hyatt Place hotel, click here.

For regional cycling information for Far West Texas and the Texas Mountain Trail, including a full list of cycle-friendly hotels, click here.

"Good for the Soul" Mini-Break, Brewster County Courthouse in Alpine

 If you want to take a 10 minute departure from your day in Alpine, consider popping your head into the 1887 Brewster County Courthouse in the center of town.  Built in the American Second Empire style, this beautiful structure was listed in the National Register in 1978.  Thought to have been built with local brick, it is among the oldest buildings in Alpine. Inside you'll find wonderful photographs of early life and development in the area.  Spend some time with these photographs, and you'll come away with a greater appreciation of the strength and resilience displayed by early residents.  You'll see some amazing photographs of early ranch life and buildings of the area.
 
The Courthouse is also on Historic Alpine's Walking and Windshield Tour of the city.  Here's a link to some historic photographs of the courthouse on Historic Alpine's website.   Read more about Brewster County history here.  Check this link for information on the building of the courthouse.
 

Today's Feature:  Taking Amtrak to Alpine
Many visitors enjoy getting to the Texas Mountain Trail region by train, as Amtrak stops are possible in Alpine and El Paso.  Alpine's train station is just a couple of blocks from the Brewster County Courthouse.  Alpine is on the Texas Eagle and the Sunset Limited Routes.

Taking the Train: Union Passenger Station, El Paso

Travelers can drive, fly, and cycle into the region, but there's another option as well, the train.  Amtrak's Sunset Limited route runs from New Orleans to Los Angeles stops both in El Paso and Alpine.

El Paso's Union Passenger Station on the edge of downtown (pictured here) dates back to 1904, with a lovely restoration completed in 1982.  Bright, airy, and clean, this is a beautiful structure inside and out.

Also in the neighborhood is El Paso's Railroad and Transportation Museum.  To learn more, click here.

Amtrak's Sunset Limited route, the route from New Orleans to Los Angeles, makes two stops in the Texas Mountain Trail Region, Alpine and El Paso. This is the charming interior of Alpine's small station.

El Paso's railroad history is told at their Railroad and Transportation Museum.

Also check out the railroad exhibit at Alpine's Museum of the Big Bend!

Another way to travel west

Amtrak's Sunset Limited makes two stops in the Texas Mountain Trail region. You can start your vacation in Alpine or in El Paso. For more information on the Sunset Limited, click here.

Train station

Amtrak's Sunset Limited route, the route from New Orleans to Los Angeles, makes two stops in the Texas Mountain Trail Region, Alpine and El Paso.

This is the charming interior of Alpine's small station. El Paso's railroad history is told at their Railroad and Transportation Museum.