Tin Valley Retro Rental

At Tin Valley Retro Rentals, just outside of Terlingua, recycled old school buses, cars, and trailers are renovated to make for a cozy stay. This campground, located between an open desert in the middle of a small mountain range, is equipped with an outdoor pool, showers, barbecue grills, and Wi-Fi at the more upscale rentals. My favorite part of staying here, though, was meeting Sampson, the campground’s pet donkey. If you’re looking for an unconventional getaway in West Texas, I can’t speak of it highly enough.

—Kathia Ramirez, art assistant 

 

The blend of languages, foods, folklores, and music along the U.S.-Mexico border informs “Between Two Worlds,” the University of Texas’s Visual Art Center’s new exhibition. The show features the likes of a terra-cotta figurine of a paletero and a gorgeous oil painting of a woman—but I’m partial to the artistic pieces that use guajillo chile, an ingredient in Mexican dishes like pozole, pambazos, and red enchiladas. Visitors can either make an appointment to see the exhibition or participate in the virtual studio visits on Instagram, where artists discuss how their experiences in southern Texas and northern Mexico have influenced their works.

—Sierra Juarez, assistant editor

Casa Colombia

When deciding what to have for dinner a few nights ago, I simply couldn’t shake my craving for plátanos maduros and tostones. Despite the voice in my head saying “Hay comida en la casa,” I gave in. Si, hay comida en la casa—Casa Colombia, that is. Casa Colombia, a family-owned restaurant in East Austin, offers staple snacks like arepas, empanadas, and fried pork rinds, and larger entrees including arroz con pollo and pescado frito. Reasonably priced and portioned, and with takeout options, it’s the closest I’ve come in a long time to the classic Latin comfort food I know and love.

—Gianni Zorrilla, editorial intern

To the People of the Land

Released last week—a few days ahead of Indigenous Peoples’ Day—the music compilation To the People of the Land is an effort to show solidarity with the Estok’Gna (also known as the Carrizo/Comecrudo Tribe of Texas, the name given to them by Spanish colonists). Currently, multiple liquid natural gas terminals and pipelines are planned for construction on Estok’Gna land, and Texas regulations mean the tribe could face felony charges and fines for occupying and praying at their sacred sites. To help them, the independent Austin label Keeled Scales and singer-songwriter Jordan Moser curated 31 artists, many of them Texans, to contribute songs for To the People of the Land. All proceeds from the album, which features an energetic live track by Jackie Venson and a reverberating ballad by Molly Burch, among others, will benefit the Estok’Gna and their legal fund.

—Arielle Avila, editorial coordinator