Many thanks!  We thought about the trailers at El Cosmico but decided they might not be so fun at night in December. The trip is booked and we're excited.

Thanks! I love the restaurant recs and hadn't heard of the Gage Hotel. I'll definitely check it out. We thought about El Cosmico but decided trailers and yurts might not be so fun at night in December. So we're at the Thunderbird. The trip is booked and we're excited.

Many thanks! I'm really intrigued by the lights. What's the story with them? Do you have to drive out into the desert to see them? Is there a certain time of night that they're more pronounced? I'm not expecting to solve the mystery but I'm excited to see them.

Hello Ann - In talking with my family and friends about "deep issues," I am fond of jokingly stating "this may be one of the mysteries of life for which we may have no answer." With regard to the Mafa Lights, this may actually be one of those mysteries for which we may never have an answer.
 
As I understand it, a cowboy herding cattle noticed the lights in the late 1800's and reported it and people have been going out there to view them ever since. Native Americans had observed them too and were also mystified by them. I am a historian, so my guess is that it might have been Comanches as this was Comancheria land and you didn't want to be found on their land if you weren't a Comanche.
 
There have been some scientists that have gone out there and done some studies but could not come up with an explanation. Some have tried to approach the area of the lights only to not be able to observe them when they got there. Speculations have been that they are some type of gases, trick lights, ghosts but no explanation has held. Trick lights in the 1800's? - that definitely would have been a trick.
 
The best time to go out there is when it is at least a half hour after sundown or it's dark enough to see only your car's headlights or the Marfa lights. If I remember correctly, the lights pop up in different colors and move straight up and down. There is a roadside area that the State of Texas has placed as an observation area and it has bathrooms and a viewing area and of course a place to park.
 
The Lights are just outside of town and alongside their main highway, you will have no problem with access. Look for this marked roadside area and you will be at the correct site. Yep - this part of Texas is definitely desert - Chihuahuan deser;t but still as beautiful as our Texas hill country, plains, piney forests - just a different kind of beauty.
 
You will find the Lights fascinating.

You were right. The lights were perplexing and cool. We drove out to see them around 11 on New Year's Eve, and lucked out and found them there. Thanks again for the info.