Not everyone sees the lights east of town

Chicago Tribune (MCT) - While sipping whiskey in one of the few open bars in town _ actually it was the only open bar in town _ I got a warning.

"Don't write about the Marfa Lights," said Sam Watts, a fedora-wearing 25-year-old. "It's like going to Hershey, Pa., and writing about the chocolate."

"But I have to," I said.

"No, you don't!"

Yes, I did. And anyhow, Watts, a musician who recently moved here from New York City, said he had seen the mysterious band of glowing, colorful lights that jog through the sky just east of town. Witness accounts supposedly date to the 1800s.

"As far as a tourist trap goes, it's a beautiful one," Watts conceded.

But they're tricky. One woman told me she has seen the lights two of the four times she has looked. A local man said he has seen them once in 50 tries.

I had culled a few tips about finding the lights, some of which were contradictory. Go on a clear night. Go at sunset. Go three hours after sunset. It doesn't matter when you go. Only some people can see the lights. If you're not sure whether you've seen the lights, then you haven't seen them. The one thing on which locals agree is that they are real. Most people look for them at a viewing station 10 miles east of town.

My first try came that first night, about 11 o'clock with a can of Lone Star beer, a brew so tastefully lousy that it's just as good warm as cold. As I arrived, a band of hip Austin kids scouting for a movie location showed up in a truck. The men were dressed like cowboys but were too pretty to be cowboys _ beards and fashionable shaggy haircuts. The women wore vintage dresses and cowgirl boots.

They're the type of people who embrace Marfa with both arms _ for its weirdness, its off-the-gridness, its cachet. But they quickly grew tired of watching for the Marfa Lights.

"Why is nothing happening?" one said.

"Is this a big joke?" said another.

"You have to believe," a woman said.

"You have to be meditative," another insisted.

Three minutes later they rode off to find karaoke in the next town.

I stared into the warm dark for another 30 minutes and can report the following: There was a large milky light straight ahead, but I'm certain it was just earthly light reflected off a cloudy evening. To the left were static lights that didn't move or flicker. I later learned those were ranch lights.

The most intriguing find came to the right, where small white lights appeared and disappeared and didn't seem to follow a particular pattern. They were the right size to be car headlights, and I later learned that that's probably what they were, from the Presidio Highway south of town.

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I went back the next night with Amanda Mayo, a 22-year-old from La Grange who moved to Marfa last year after graduating from college. She works at the Chinati Foundation, the museum in the desert at the edge of town established by minimalist Donald Judd.

Again we saw the lights moving to the right, which I insisted were headlights. She disagreed.

"You have to believe," she said.

I wondered if it all comes down to faith. Maybe you do need to believe to see them. I also wondered whether, in an artists community, this was the biggest art exhibit of all _ a bunch of people at the edge of town looking for lights that exist only in their minds.

I went again the next night and saw more of the same. Which leaves me skeptical. But who am I to doubt so many believers?

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IF YOU GO:

GETTING THERE: The easiest way to Marfa is flying to El Paso or Midland and driving three hours _ but the drive only makes being there more rewarding.

EATING: Locals say Cochineal (107 W. San Antonio St.; 432-729-3300) is as good as any restaurant in Texas, and it may be true. After success with Etats-Unis on New York's Upper East Side, its owners sold and moved to Marfa to open this contemporary outpost of cleverly prepared meat and fish. If you have one meal in Marfa, this should be it ... Roundly considered the second-best restaurant in town, Maiya's (103 N. Highland Ave.; 432-729-4410), offers fresh, zesty Italian food. A bit pricey (a $26 slice of lasagna?) but worth a visit ... You can taste the East Coast pedigree _ which is a good thing _ at Pizza Foundation (100 E. San Antonio St.; 432-729-3377), a restaurant started by a Rhode Island couple in a former gas station ... Everyone's favorite underdog is Food Shark (Highland Avenue between the Marfa Book Company and the train tracks; 432-386-6540), which serves fresh, delicious meals from a lunch truck ... A warning: Jett's (207 N. Highland Ave.; 432-729-3838), the restaurant in Hotel Paisano, is often mentioned in the same breath as everything above but is vastly inferior. But go for a drink, and you'll meet plenty of locals.

WHERE TO STAY: There are two biggies in town. One is Hotel Paisano (207 N. Highland St.; 866-729-3669; hotelpaisano.com), where the cast of "Giant" stayed. It is clean, handsome and affordable, with rates as low as $99 plus tax ... The Thunderbird Hotel (601 W. San Antonio St.; 432-729-1984; thunderbirdmarfa.com) was renovated a few years ago into the hippest of destinations. It is spare, minimalist and full of clever amenities: a manual typewriter, a DVD library ranging from "My Dinner with Andre" to "Annie Hall" and a Stack-O-Matic record player (with records) for rent ... The owners of inde/jacobs gallery also run Marfa Vacation Rentals (marfaretreat.com; 432-386-7120), a collection of charming adobe apartments. They're clean and affordable (starting at $79 per night), and the varying sizes make them a great bet for families, couples or singles.

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WHAT TO DO: It's all about the art. Most renowned is the Chinati Foundation (1 Cavalry Row; 432-729-4362; chinati.org), a contemporary art museum started by Donald Judd just outside downtown in the late 1970s. The 100 aluminum boxes he planted there make for one of the coolest works you will ever see. Take your time looking at them from different angles and seeing how the desert light moves through them. Chinati also houses works from several contemporaries whom Judd invited to add to the collection ... Tours of Judd's home and studio, really a museum unto itself, are available through the Judd Foundation (104 South Highland Ave.; 432-729-4406; juddfoundation.org), and very much worth a visit ... Ballroom Marfa (108 E. San Antonio St.; 432-729-3600; ballroommarfa.org) is the third contemporary-art museum in town. It has no permanent works but commissions projects and is teeming with creative energy ... About 40 miles west of town, just past tiny Valentine, is Prada Marfa, an installation commissioned by Ballroom Marfa. It's a brilliant and hilarious commentary on consumerism (at least that's what I took from it): a Prada storefront in the middle of the desert with high-heeled shoes and purses from the 2005 collection on display. The rub: It looks as if it's all there for shopping, but you can't get inside. ... It's also worth browsing the other art galleries in town, where if you want to spend a few thousand dollars, you're in luck. Ask whatever dumb questions you like. I did. The gallery owners were all wonderful, patient and love their (adopted) hometown ... The Marfa Film Festival (marfafilmfestival.org) will be held from April 29 to May 3 and was lauded by an LA Weekly blogger as "the best little festival I've ever attended." ... There's a viewing station for The Marfa Lights east of town ... Big Bend National Park is about 80 miles south and one of the two or three most amazing national parks I've seen. Go, go, go.

A warning: Most everything is closed Mondays and Tuesdays. Do your research before showing up.

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