TRAVEL: El Paso’s charm sets border town apart
El Paso’s charm sets this border town apart from the rest
I forgot my passport, but that didn’t matter. I was in El Paso, technically not Mexico, but close enough.
I knew that Mexico was over there — the country felt like a portrait whose eyes were always following me — but it was also here, on this side of the fence. (One constant reminder of the shared boundary: U.S. Border Patrol vehicles parked along Interstate 10 and helicopters flying overhead.)
Signs in restaurant windows advertised menudo soup, and not just for Sunday supper; girls dressed in their quinceañera best posed for photos in San Jacinto Plaza. At H&H Car Wash and Coffee Shop, a waitress returned my morning greeting with a “buenos dias” before setting down a heaping plate of huevos rancheros.
At bars around town, I learned that a chile is the cocktail condiment of choice. Two customers at Love Buzz introduced me to the paleta shot, which evokes the chile-fied watermelon lollipops of their Mexican youth, and a bar-
tender at Cafe Central rimmed a mescal-filled glass with ground-up crickets, chiles and salt. Note to high school Spanish teachers: Add the phrase “sal de grillos” to your lesson plan.
Of course, the southern Joneses aren’t the sole influences on this sunbroiled city in the Chihuahuan Desert. El Paso is in the United States, after all, which means the Spaniards left their mark, as did — and still do — the Pueblo Indians. A shopkeeper at the Tigua Indian Cultural Center shared her recipe for traditional oven-baked bread. I’d need flour, water, salt, lard and an horno, she told me, or I could throw down six bucks for quicker loaf gratification.
And then there is the Texas connection. To feel it, I could look up at the 459-foot-long illuminated star set in the Franklin Mountains, or down at the pair of Rocketbuster cowboy boots that taught me how to walk the El Paso walk.
The National Border Patrol Museum, a nonprofit attraction started by retired agents and open since 1984, is full of “who knew?” moments. For example, did you know that the government created the earliest incarnation of the agency in 1904 to apprehend or deter Chinese and European immigrants who had failed their inspections at Ellis Island? (The BP as we know it arrived two decades later, on May 28, 1924.) That the enforcers accompanied James Meredith, an African-american student, when he registered at the segregated University of Mississippi? And that illegal immigrants affix horseshoe-shaped wood blocks and sponges to their shoes to avoid detection?
The information at this compact museum comes at you faster than the “Miami Vice”-style jet boat that was seized in the Miami area and used by Buffalo’s station to police the Great Lakes. At the gift shop, stock up on Border Patrol souvenirs such as beer koozies, a necklace-andearring set, T-shirts and baseball caps, including two styles that require credentials to purchase.
Franklin Mountains State Park, the country’s largest urban park, resembles a rocky mohawk parting El Paso. The nearly 27,000-acre sanctuary stretches to the New Mexico state line and incorporates the Wyler Aerial Tramway (one-way ride time: four minutes) and more than 100 miles of hiking and mountain biking trails. Choose your entrance wisely.
The Tom Mays Unit contains campsites and a diverse network of treks, including the easy-on-theknees Nature Walk and the moderate Aztec Cave Trail, which ends with caverns that once held pottery sherds and yucca mats and sandals.
At Mckelligon Canyon, pick up maps and advice, including a reality check on rattlesnakes and the heat, at the small visitors center and gift shop. (The park is building a new headquarters and visitors center at Tom Mays to replace the old facility; ETO is next summer.)
First things first: How to pronounce Hueco Tanks State Historic Site. Repeat after me, “Waco.” The Spanish noun refers to the hollows in the igneous rock that, after a good rain, transform into watery cradles for tadpoles and fairy shrimp. (New visitors must watch an orientation film and learn about the dire consequences of stepping in the egg incubators.) The 860-acre park ranks as one of the world’s best spots for bouldering, so don’t be surprised to see climbers hauling mattresses to cushion their falls. However, you don’t need to leave desert firma to view a sampling of more than 2,000 pictographs, including hundreds of masks; a handful of petroglyphs; and a subway car’s worth of historical graffiti.
The drawings and carvings range in date from 10,000 years ago to the 1990s. In Newspaper Cave, one inscription reads, “Francisco Avila 4-6-69.” Park superintendent Ruben Ocampo mulled the year: “Even though it says ‘69, is it 1869? 1969?” If only the rock walls could talk.
The 9-mile El Paso Mission Trail strings together two missions, one chapel and more than 335 years of history as dramatic as a Larry Mcmurtry novel. Moving from north to south, the silver-domed Ysleta Mission, which the Spaniards and Tigua built in 1682, is the oldest mission in Texas. The adobe structure survived Rio Grande floodings, fires and a transfer of sovereignty from Mexico to the United States. The Presidio Chapel at San Elizario (established 1877-1882) served as a revolving spiritual door for troops stationed at the garrison.
“Boring people don’t want our boots,” said Nevena Christi, owner of Rocketbuster, which has specialized in custommade cowboy boots for nearly 30 years. Some of the fascinating people who bust rockets include Taylor Swift, Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Steven Spielberg. (Check the Wall of Fame for additional heel dropping.)
But even regular people wear the iconoclastic footwear. A geologist for Chevron commissioned a pair featuring fossilstrewn strata and the company’s classic logo. A woman submitted 50 episodes from her life, several of which — her Jeep, pet dogs, tennis ball, school emblem — cover her boots like quilt squares. Visitors who can’t afford the starting price of $1,000 can take a free tour of the workshop and see the Guinness World Records’ largest pair of boots and a collection of vintage boots, plus new orders in progress.
Three generations of Alvidrez-herreras showcase their talents at The Eagle’s Path, an art gallery at the Tigua Indian Cultural Center. Yolanda (grandmother) and Albert (son) specialize in Pueblo pottery molded of red or white clay. Their mugs, plates, bowls and wedding vases (two spouts on one vessel for the happy sipping couple) are resplendent in Native American iconography such as bears, feathers, flowers, lizards and the sun. Pamela (daughter) constructs nativity scenes populated by traditional and nontraditional figures, and Encarnacion (grandfather) crafts animals, birds and bugs out of metal. Allie Hope (granddaughter, 10) and Paul (grandson, 11) contribute to the family trove with painted wooden crosses, felt ornaments, pottery and ojo de dios, or God’s eyes conceptualized in yarn. Opposite the shop, two hornos produce freshbaked loaves of Pueblo bread, sometimes up to 30 a day.
From the backyard cactus garden at Casa de Suenos Country Inn, you can tick off Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. The fourroom lodge in the Chihuahuan Desert is only 2 miles from West El Paso, although its proximity belies its New Mexico address. Marlene Eichner and her husband purchased the three-acre property in 2002 and set about renaming and redecorating. Out: the original Cowboys and Indians Board and Bunks moniker and John Fordstyle props. In: the English-translated House of Dreams and Southwestern-mexican motif. Each room is named after a spirit animal or figure. In my Kokopelli suite with a private patio and gurgling fountain, the fertility god appeared on coasters, wall hangings and even the soap dispenser. The rate includes a homemade breakfast — ask Marlene for green chiles, if you dare — and the patios are equipped with brushes to sweep away the sand whipped up by the spring
Five Points makes a strong case for retaining authenticity and grit without sacrificing hipster tastes. “The older businesses didn’t want to gentrify,” Adam Bedoya said. “They wanted to keep the feeling of Five Points alive while bringing some new life into it.” That new vitality includes the year-old Salt and Honey Bakery and Cafe, where Bedoya, a waiter, serves all-day brunch and breakfast, housemade pastries and coffee drinks, such as a tri-flight of espressos.
Across the street, Joe, Vinny & Bronson’s Bohemian Cafe hydrates patrons with the holy trinity of beverages: coffee, wine and craft beer. JVB’S signature drink is the Golden Milk, a symphony of turmeric, honey, soy milk and cinnamon, with a crescendo of espressos.
Around the corner, Pershing Inn, which opened in 1946, takes its booze and bands outside to an openair patio with a full bar, stage and picnic tables that encourage family-style drinking. Love Buzz hosts live and loud music — metal, punk and indie rock — three times a week. For a taste of Old Five Points, grab a red plastic tablecloth-covered table at the Italian Kitchen, which recalls the neighborhood from seven decades ago.
Known as the “Ellis Island of the Border,” El Segundo Barrio was established by Mexican immigrants in the late 19th century and is considered one of the most historic Hispanic neighborhoods in the country. It’s also a great place to experience Mexico without a passport. “Do you want to try some pig skin?” asked a woman behind the counter at Burritos y Carnitas Yoni, which also sells burritos, tortas and tacos. At Ruidoso Super Market, pick up bilingual religious candles and Costco-size packs of tortillas. Murals illustrate the area’s people and past in vivid detail. “El Paso Port-all,” a 90-footlong artwork at the International Bridge, offers a highlight reel of El Paso. Images include the crocodiles in San Jacinto Plaza (once live, now sculpted), a taco cart, a Mexican woman harvesting crops and the giant star over the Franklin Mountains that shines down on two cities sharing one border.