Day Two: July 15 Marfa to Tucson
The next morning, we woke up hungry as a coven of vampires so naturally, we walked across the street to the lounge to grab a bite to eat before hitting the road. It was 7:30am.
Sadly, upon seeing that the continental breakfast selection was purely gluten based, think oatmeal, granola, bagels and cream cheese, and some bran muffins, I had to march out to the car and grab an apple from the day before. At least I got to eat it on a really cool disposable bamboo plate. And they had coffee, which was really all I cared about. I did have a nespresso espresso machine in my car in case I got in a pinch, but I didn’t want to break it out ’till I made it to California.
Leo enjoyed a bagel with cream cheese and strawberry preserves. Since the internet connection sucked worse than a hose with a kink in it, we quickly paid and began making a b-line for the exit.
On the way out of town we passed, by far, the most random and strange business that I have ever encountered “The Museum of Electronic Wonders & Late Night Grilled Cheese Parlour.”
It was the first time I’d seen what someone had devised as a way of life during a heroic dose of acid and actually gone through with it. It made me wonder if the grilled cheese would be laced with liquid LSD, making the electronic wonders truly wonderful and the grilled cheese a thing of legend.
“Leo,” I said out of the corner of my mouth, “you see that right there? That is one of the many reasons why we will never live in Marfa.”
“But why, mommy,” he asked, genuinely interested?
“Because I don’t trust their grilled cheese,” I smiled.
“Man, well if you can’t trust their grilled cheese, then you can’t trust their fries,” he replied.
“Aptly said, darling. Aptly said.”
So we pressed out of town towards Tucson. We stopped in Las Cruces for lunch and the only gluten free options they had were either an omelette or a chicken salad. I ordered the chicken salad but it came out covered in croutons, even when I said repeatedly that I was allergic to bread and please no croutons. So they brought me a southwest omelette with no cheese. It was like eating a rubber sock with flash cooked vegetables. It became my “not delicious” meal. I was starving, so I gagged it down. I felt only slightly guilty when the waiter asked if I was okay when he saw me holding my nose as I swallowed each bite down with my eyes pinched closed. I didn’t even want to ask if they knew what gluten free was. So I didn’t.
So we hopped in the car and didn’t get out till we arrived in Tucson. Did I mention that Leo is an amazing traveler? He has been a rock star the whole time.
When we arrived at the Arizona Inn, I felt like I’d stumbled into a real life oasis.
We got settled in, walked around the grounds and settled in for an early dinner, which was impressively gluten free. I had a New York Strip with asparagus and carrots. As a surprise, they brought me warm gluten free “rolls” that were as rubbery as my omelette, but the mere fact that they brought them without my asking with rolled butter, well you can bet that Leo and I ate every last crumb of them. When I asked the server what he thought about the gluten free movement, he said he thought it was timely that all restaurants became educated about the situation because he had family members that were affected and he saw first hand how deeply it changed their lives. At last. a voice of clarity and reason. It only took 892 miles to stumble upon ‘em!
They had free ice cream banana splits by the pool so we headed to the cabana and I had one of the best evenings I’ve had to date in over a year.
Then we headed to or bungalow and prepared for the next day…Palm Springs and the Parker Meridien.
