we did the drive in Sept. and i was hoping for the same thing.

to be honest, there's really nothing other than Fredericksburg as far as sight seeing goes. I packed a fried chicken lunch and we stopped at one of the rest stops and had a nice lunch.

Alpine is right outside of Marfa, and I recommend stopping in there.

Good Luck. and have fun. Marfa is such a cute little town!

The Paisano hotel is pretty amazing. The suites are named after the famous actors who were in Giant, which was filmed in and around the hotel. We stayed in the Rock Hudson suite for 5 nights during our honeymoon a few years ago and were very happy. The suite was larger than our apartment here in Austin, not even counting the huge private 2nd floor patio. The Paisano also has a decent restaurant and bar, where we apparently missed an appearance by Quentin Tarantino, who showed up shortly after one of our meals.


http://hotelpaisano.com/

When you get to Marfa and go to see the lights, be sure to look off to the right. When I went, the lights directly in front of the "Official marfa lights" area were obviously fake, but there was something crazy off to the right I can't explain.

take 90, not i-10! it takes longer but the drive is soooo pretty.

we took 90 there and i10 back and 90 was soooo much more enjoyable. you could even stop in del rio and go across the border to acuna for a meal, mmmmm real mexican food! (bring yo passport)

Make sure you see the American Plume FActory in Marfa--it's pretty amazing when the wind kicks up, and there are emus :) I camped out at the curb where you can see the Marfa Lights, bundled up in my car...didn't sleep a wink, but it was a magical evening.

Two days in Marfa? I can't imagine that...

my boyfriend and i drove out to Big Bend for a low budget trip over a weekend after christmas. we took 90 on the way there and i-10 on the way back. that way we got scenery and were able to get home quickly (speed limit is higher on i-10). none of the driving took as long as google predicted, and we didn't speed excessively (5+ most of the time, 10+ in dead spots)

we stayed overnight in Alpine at a very quaint little place called the Holland Hotel. it's super cheap but still nice enough and it doesn't have that crappy motel feel to it. if you want a cozy romantic type thing for 2, try to book the crow's nest room.

we drove into Marfa the evening we arrived (maybe 30/45 min from Alpine) and explored for a while, tried to see the lights that night but it wasn't clear enough. stargazing is excellent out there, of course. my bf mentioned trying to go to a star party some time, as there is an observatory out there.

there's really not much to stop and see or do en route. we paused in Del Rio and Fort Stockton for leg stretching. we didn't plan any stops though; we both though it would be neater (and cheaper) to pack food and drink picnic style, and that worked out very well for us.

imo, if you're going to go that far out, Big Bend is seriously worth devoting a day to. we went on the second day (the same day we drove back home) and both really wished we'd had more time.

happy roadtripping!

It's only a 6-7 hour drive from here (the speed is 80 on the highway), so it's not really an all-day thing. we left in the morning and still had time to go to the McDonald observatory, have some foundation pizza (best pizza ever) and see the lights.

No prob! It was a great trip!