Texas Highways Magazine February 2023

When photographer Jessica Lutz moved to Marfa a decade ago, she was drawn to capture West Texas’ light, land, and story. For the cover shot of Calera Chapel in Balmorhea, she wanted to evoke the expansiveness of the site. “From dawn until dusk, the changing light reflects on the exterior walls of the chapel,” she says. “Somehow, the feeling inspired by the vast landscape is enclosed within the chapel itself.” The chapel, which was restored in 2002 after being abandoned for decades, is open to visitors who often stop by on their way to nearby Balmorhea Pool. The latter is fed by San Solomon Springs, which has sustained communities for hundreds of years. The springs are one of the many sanctuaries—cultural, religious, and secular—we explore in this issue. Here, Lutz and…

Though contributing writer Katie Gutierrez had never heard of Balmorhea before working on “Eternal Springs” (Page 32), she says her solitary trip to the West Texas town was much needed. “It felt like a pilgrimage,” she says, “a long quiet drive toward finding something sacred.” She dove into the waters of Balmorhea Pool, among the world’s largest springfed pools and quite literally got lost in the Davis Mountains. She also ventured to nearby San Solomon Springs, a large series of ancient artesian springs that have provided for people throughout the centuries, from Indigenous tribes to the Mexican farming communities of the early 1900s. “I saw the springs as a constant, with almost a time-lapse of people around it—cultures shifting through the centuries, but not their need for water,” Gutierrez says.…

Buñuelos Grew up with these as a kid up in Washington [“I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” December]. My aunt made them, only ours are called rosettes. Christene Marie Graham Slaton Bakery I have a bag of their ginger snaps in my pantry right now [“Just Like Grandma Used to Bake,” December]. Love them! Lisa Mathisen Hines Santa Elena Sightseeing Love me some Big Bend Country [“Split Scene,” December]! Nothing else like this place. Ruth Cramer Smallwood Raisin D’être Years ago, we used to get together with the neighbor across the street to make tamales every Christmas [“I’ll Be Home for Christmas,” December]. She would make dessert tamales with pumpkin or other fillings and raisins, as well as traditional spicy pork tamales. In a few batches of the pork tamales, she would put in some raisins. I liked those the best…

South Padre Island beckons visitors for coastal getaways with seafood, nightlife, nature centers, fishing, bird-watching, and above all, miles of sandy beaches. It’s the water that draws Austin-based photographer Olga Melhiser to the Gulf of Mexico when she wants to unwind. “Escaping to the coast helps me de-stress and feel happy and forget about everything else,” Melhiser says. “Every time I go, I have a routine: I like to wake up before the sun rises, get a cup of coffee, and head out to the beach with all of my gear—and hope for some luck.” Melhiser took this photo on a stormy morning in summer 2020. “The rising sun was blocked by fast-moving dark clouds,” she says. “The sun never peeked through the rain clouds, but the lack of light…

Kaufman was among the earliest American settlements in the North Texas region known as the Three Forks, named for the convergence of the Trinity River’s West, Elm, and East forks. Mississippian William King arrived in 1840—a year before settlers showed up in the Dallas area—and built a stockade called King’s Fort for protection from Comanche and other tribes that had long inhabited the fertile prairielands. Over the last century, Kaufman has become known as the original home of Tex-Mex chain El Chico, which has locations in six states and the United Arab Emirates. It’s also the home of Kaufman County Veterans Memorial Park, which includes a four-fifths size replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. Hector Torres immigrated to Kaufman from Mexico when he was 17. He has…

In the Spanish-tiled lobby of the Faust Hotel, a large portrait of a bearded man with a pronounced mustache, wearing 19th century military armor, hangs on the western wall. He’s holding a helmet in his right hand. Aside from the baby grand piano against the eastern wall, with a tiny sign warning that unless you’re Mozart, please refrain from playing, this is the most noticeable decoration greeting hotel visitors. No plaque indicates who this mustached man might be, though it’s admittedly unusual to see a European military man given prominence in a Central Texas spot rather than, say, a Texan. I was first introduced to the Faust Hotel during the spring of 2019, before my debut novel, Tears of the Trufflepig, was released. One of the events on a little pre-publication…