Cibolo Creek Ranch

Sunday I went to a party at Cibolo Creek Ranch, which offers the most exclusive lodging in the region. The extremely remote location and the beauty of the place makes it a favorite of those who crave peace and privacy. The rates are hefty for my wallet ($500/night), but it isn't a surprise that a Dixie Chick chose the ranch for her wedding, and that Mick Jagger likes to stay here, too. The accommodations are very nice. Those little lakeside doors lead to a sleeping porch with huge Mexican beds, and full luxury rooms beyond. The rooms are made of adobe and have large exposed ceiling beams, and sculpted nooks and fireplaces.

Milton Favor started the ranch in 1857 as a fort against the Apaches, and the current owner has restored the property to that time, adding some buildings for visitor rooms, and engineering a small lake downstream from a vibrant spring on the property. He's reestablishing a peach orchard, which was part of the original ranch. There's a great adobe chapel, cool and dark and full of Mexican devotional objects.

The setting is spectacular, but you have to know how to get there. Even their website, www.cibolocreekranch.com doesn't give the exact location. You have to drive about a half-hour south of Marfa, know which gate belongs to the ranch, drive four miles to a second gate, and push a button that is hard to find unless you've received instructions ahead of time from the staff, and drive about 10 miles more down a dirt road to get to the main ranch. It is WAY out there, but the beauty of the property is stunning. My pictures are a little dark because it has been raining and raining and RAINING here, but party-goers got lucky and it was dry all afternoon and evening even though the clouds seemed ready to burst again.

Confession: when I was in my office in Iowa, surrounded by bits and pieces of annual giving stats and budgets and needing a break from the sheer frustration of it all, I'd often take a mini-break and let the ranch's website tour scroll through spectacular pictures of the ranch, audio turned down. Hey, a girl's gotta dream, and sometimes the dreams come true!

A couple hundred of us were treated to a full barbecue meal, the best I've ever had. I was there as a guest of Larry, my favorite board member, who is Director of the Museum of the Big Bend and a county commissioner. Politicians, influential business people, and ordinary folks with a familial connection to the ranch were on the guest list. The next day, the public was invited for a less elaborate open house.

One of my recent projects has been the production of a rack card to promote the historic hotels in the region at the State Fair, which is coming up at the end of the month. This place is on it, of course.