December 2, 2025 • 49 mins
What if your Big Bend trip started with stillness? We kick off a West Texas series by dropping into Marathon, a tiny town that appears like a mirage after miles of open desert—and turns out to be the smartest basecamp for exploring Big Bend National Park. With guest insights from Samuel, guest services manager at the Gage Resort and Spa, we unpack how a 1927 hotel became an oasis of warm wood, courtyards, and gardens where the noise of the world finally lets go.
gagehotel.com
We trace the property’s roots from Alfred Gage’s original build to JP Bryan’s restoration and careful expansion, including Los Portales rooms, casitas, and the historic Captain Shepherd House. Samuel walks us through the event-ready Gage Gardens, where desert chic meets rose-lined paths, and explains why weddings here feel close-knit and unhurried. Need recovery after a canyon day? The spa delivers massages, facials, an outdoor hydrotherapy pool, steam room, and an infrared sauna, with a full gym included for guests.
Food lovers get plenty to savor. The White Buffalo Bar pairs a legendary mount with a standout prickly pear margarita. 12 Gage serves contemporary American with West Texas flair, while Ghost Fire Pizza fires sourdough pies in a Napoli oven, and Brick Vault Brewery and Barbecue brings weekend smoke and house beer. Mornings belong to V6 Coffee for roastery-fresh drinks, hearty breakfasts, and boxed lunches for the park—because inside Big Bend, options are limited.
We share practical trip planning: why Marathon’s 45-minute run to the park entrance is a fair trade for comfort and culture, how to structure a two to three day stay, and where to fly (Midland–Odessa commercially, with private options nearby). Along the way, expect stories of quiet balconies, birds in old trees, and the kind of community warmth that makes you think, I could live here. If West Texas has been on your list—or if it’s never crossed your mind—this guide will make you see the desert differently.
Enjoyed the story and the tips? Follow, share with a friend who needs a desert reset, and leave a quick review so others can find their way to Marathon and Big Bend.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_02 (00:00):
I am Alexa and together we are to each other.
Right.
We are a touring musical duo.
SPEAKER_04 (00:11):
And our music has taken us to all kinds of places
all around the world and keepsus always on the go.
SPEAKER_02 (00:17):
We hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while
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And we hope to facilitate your busy lifestyle
and feed your inner travel bug.
Hi everyone, welcome to today'sepisode.
If you have been following us,and even if you haven't, we did
a series with Jennifer Broom,where she was sharing the best
national parks to visit at whichtime of year.
(00:45):
And so our winter episode wasepisode 259.
And she recommended Big BenNational Park as one of her
national parks.
SPEAKER_00 (00:54):
But Texas and I've been back multiple times, and
one of the big reasons isbecause of Big Bend National
Park.
They're interlinked with Texas.
And Big Ben is the only nationalpark with an entire mountain
range within its borders.
There's hot springs that are notfar from that border crossing,
but just an epic drive.
They always say everything'sbigger in Texas.
(01:15):
Well, I mean Big Ben is massive,massive.
And you know, I mean it's it'sjust an incredible landscape to
enjoy.
Big Ben, West Texas.
Oh, it's it's that's one of myfavorite places on earth.
So I'm sharing all my favorites.
SPEAKER_04 (01:28):
That really got us inspired, and we we were like,
we live in Texas.
Why don't we go to Big Ben?
We take Jennifer's inspirationand now have visited Big Bend.
And this month we are going tobe sharing our adventures with
you in Big Ben National Park.
After you listen to all ofthese, go back to Jennifer's
(01:50):
episode, episode 259, becauseshe covers some information that
we didn't.
We're gonna try to give youadditional information and not
just regurgitate what she talkedabout because we had totally
different adventures than shedid.
So check out 259 with her.
But then this whole month, we'regonna be talking about and
unrolling our adventures in BigBen National Park.
(02:12):
So we are very excited to sharethat with you.
And we kick off all of thoseadventures in the town of
Marathon.
It's a surrounding town to theBig Ben National Park.
It is a must-see.
And we are looking forward toyou hearing our conversation
with a local there who works atone of the reasons to go, the
(02:36):
gauge.
Here we go.
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to the Romies Podcast.
Welcome to the Romies Podcast.
Very happy today to share withyou guys a very fun town that we
got to explore when exploringBig Bend.
It is a town about maybe anhour, hour and a half outside of
(02:59):
the actual national park.
We'll we'll get some close.
But we got to go to Marathon,Texas.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (03:07):
Have you heard of Marathon, Texas?
SPEAKER_04 (03:09):
Marathon, Texas is such a cute town.
Lori and I like pulled up and wethought this place is so
adorable.
We could live here.
This is a fun place.
SPEAKER_02 (03:18):
It's so bizarre.
SPEAKER_04 (03:20):
Just have like this cool vibe.
SPEAKER_02 (03:21):
Yeah, and it's only a sh like a little short strip.
SPEAKER_04 (03:24):
You know, like I mean, really, there's a lot of
small towns have just like onestrip.
Yeah.
It's had like one strip on oneside of the road.
SPEAKER_02 (03:32):
But you could walk that strip in less than well, in
a minute, probably less than twominutes, the entire strip.
SPEAKER_04 (03:38):
So it was, it was, it's just so cute and so
engaging.
Engaging.
SPEAKER_02 (03:44):
Ah I get it.
Engage.
Because that's see, you can usethat now.
You're probably you're well,you're welcome.
SPEAKER_04 (03:52):
Because there is the gage hotel there.
And y'all, it's like it's reallynot the gauge hotel.
Like, it's like the resort, andlike it's a bunch of stuff.
Like, it's just really big.
SPEAKER_02 (04:07):
It's pretty much the tale almost.
SPEAKER_04 (04:09):
Right now, for this quick minute, we're gonna call
it the gauge.
And you want to go and you wantto experience it, and we got to
stay there.
And so y'all are gonna see videoand all of that on our socials
of like our room and how coolthat was and the whole deal.
But like, y'all, this hotelspans like a block or two or
(04:31):
three or four, and it's reallyit's just how it's laid out is
so interesting and cool, and youhave to go see it.
SPEAKER_02 (04:39):
Vibe now everywhere.
SPEAKER_04 (04:42):
Yes, and it just has this fun, yeah, super fun vibe.
So today we're gonna talk aboutit, but we more excitingly get
to share a topic.
SPEAKER_02 (04:52):
Excitingly, I love your your adverbs are wonderful.
SPEAKER_04 (04:59):
Um, but y'all, we're gonna get to introduce y'all to
someone at Vugade.
They and his name is Samuel, andwe have Samuel on today, um with
us today.
So welcome to you.
SPEAKER_03 (05:11):
Welcome to it, everyone.
SPEAKER_01 (05:13):
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_04 (05:15):
Yeah, we're super glad to have you.
We had our own experience,right?
We had our experience as liketravelers into the town, but you
actually work at the live inMarathon, and you are like a
part of this whole community andstructure.
And so we we thought it'd be funto just kind of like get your
(05:35):
perspective on things.
And y'all, Samuel has been therea whole year.
He's gonna like be able toconnect us and hook us up with
lots of fun info.
SPEAKER_02 (05:44):
So, so what is your official position there at the
Gage Hotel?
SPEAKER_01 (05:48):
Yeah, so my official position right now is uh guest
services manager, and that meansthat I manage the hotel, all of
the hotel reservations, theconcierge services, I help with
all of the bookings andbasically anything, you know,
that the guests need whilethey're while they're here
staying with us.
(06:09):
So it's you know, I kind of getto be a part of everything, you
know, tell them where to go,what to do, them with any
requests.
SPEAKER_02 (06:17):
In a good way, tell them where to go and and what to
do.
I'm sure it's all good.
SPEAKER_01 (06:22):
Yeah, just the fun, fun things to do if, you know,
because a lot of people havenever been out here all this
way.
And so, you know, they they wantto know where to where do I go?
What do I see?
I seems like I'm in the middleof nowhere.
SPEAKER_02 (06:34):
And so and they would be pretty much accurate.
SPEAKER_01 (06:39):
They would be correct, they would be correct,
but there is a lot to do and seeout here.
So I I get to share that withpeople and and just help them
have a great experience whenthey come out here.
SPEAKER_04 (06:49):
Oh, very yes, because marathon itself is a
remote place, it's remote remotevillage, it's very remote.
Yeah, okay.
So I have been calling it thegauge until we can hop on with
you.
So would you call it the GageHotel?
Would you put the word resort inthere?
Because y'all do have a resortin spa.
SPEAKER_02 (07:11):
So what do we need to call the Gage Carlton's?
SPEAKER_01 (07:14):
Yeah.
So it's always been called it'salways been named the Gage
Hotel.
It was built by Alfred Gage asthe Gage Hotel, but a couple
months ago we've startedrebranding, and so now we are
calling it more the Gage Resortand Spa.
Okay, which is where I share itstuff here.
(07:35):
Gage Resort and Spa.
SPEAKER_04 (07:36):
Ah, see.
SPEAKER_01 (07:38):
I still have some of the merchandise that just says
Gage Hotel.
So it's always been Gage Hotel,but we do offer more resort
style things.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (07:49):
Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01 (07:50):
Yeah, just walking the grounds, that is pretty
obvious.
SPEAKER_04 (07:53):
Right, right.
It's to me, it it was a littlemore than just a hotel.
It had a whole experience.
Like just the hotel itself is anexperience, I think.
SPEAKER_01 (08:03):
Yeah, that's really funny.
Definitely.
SPEAKER_04 (08:06):
So, can you tell us a little bit more about the
history of the property and thecurrent owner, I guess, JP
Bryant?
SPEAKER_01 (08:12):
Absolutely.
So the Gage Hotel itself wasbuilt in 1927.
So it's almost a hundred yearsold, which is which is very
impressive and very cool.
And it was built, like I said,by Alfred Gage.
He was a businessman and arancher, as from what I
understand.
And he he actually moved herefrom Vermont, funny enough, to
(08:36):
pursue like a banking andranching empire, is what we've
always heard.
And so I think he he primarilyresided in San Antonio, and then
he had a massive ranch out herein Marathon, which is another
thing.
The locals pronounce it asMarathon.
SPEAKER_04 (08:58):
Marathon.
So y'all don't listen to thefirst part of this episode where
I said it wrong.
SPEAKER_02 (09:06):
Well, you have to listen to the first part of the
episode, just ignore themispronunciation of marathon.
SPEAKER_01 (09:10):
Ignore the mispronunciation.
I'm still working on it myself.
I still say marathon, butanyway.
SPEAKER_04 (09:16):
So but if we want to be cool, it's marathon.
SPEAKER_01 (09:20):
Marathon.
That's the local thing.
That's how you say it.
So you're gonna be so cool now.
Yes, and now you'll know fornext time, and they'll be very
impressed.
So he built this hotel as kindof like a hub to do business out
of when he would come to town todo business for his ranch and
his, you know, kind of business.
(09:41):
He built it always as a hotel.
A lot of people believe it wasbuilt just as his house.
It wasn't built as his house, hebuilt it as a hotel in the first
place, just kind of for hisemployees or businessmen to stay
at when they would come throughand work with him or for him.
So that is why the original GageHotel was founded.
And also there, you know,there's a railroad that goes
(10:03):
through here, hundreds ofthousands of ranching acres.
So that's that.
And then ever since then, it'sjust kind of expanded.
Something else that is very kindof sad but interesting, is
Alfred Gage himself actuallypassed away the year that it
opened.
So he didn't even get to fullyenjoy that when he built it.
(10:27):
Yeah.
So it's it is it's sad, but it'syou know, he built it in 1927
and then he passed away shortlyafter.
So that's a little bit ofhistory as well.
SPEAKER_02 (10:37):
I do have to say that as soon as you pull into
the town, there is a sense ofhistory, an immediate sense of
history.
And it's it's a real uh mix ofoh, this looks like an old
western town.
Uh, and then mixed with what theheck?
(10:57):
This is like a 1940s or 20shistory.
This uh sort of the made methink of um oh the Great Gadsby.
Uh it's this really cool mix uhwhen you get to the area that
the Gage Hotel, uh the GageResort and Spa.
SPEAKER_04 (11:12):
Yeah, all at the same time, it felt very modern
and like current.
Yeah, yeah, at the same time.
SPEAKER_02 (11:18):
Yeah, it didn't feel dusty, outdated, old dead town.
There's no feeling of that goingon.
SPEAKER_01 (11:25):
Right.
Exactly.
Exactly.
And so yeah, it's just it'sfunny when you uh either when
you're driving into the town,you're either coming in uh from
Alpine or from Fort Stockton orSanderson, and you know, from
there you're just drivingthrough empty ranch land or
empty desert land, and then youjust pull in to the town and
(11:48):
then you're here.
Yeah, you're like, oh, that cameout of nowhere.
So what the heck?
SPEAKER_03 (11:53):
That's exactly what happened to us coming from
nowhere, and here's something.
SPEAKER_02 (11:57):
Yeah, yeah, here's a towel.
Yeah, yeah.
A jewel in the midst of all thecarbon that surrounds it, a
diamond.
SPEAKER_01 (12:04):
Exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_04 (12:06):
So who owns the property now?
SPEAKER_01 (12:09):
So now, like you said earlier, it's Mr.
JP Bryan, and he bought thegauge in the late 70s.
I believe it was 1978, and sobut before that, it had sat
abandoned for a long time.
Uh and just had kind of fallenapart.
And so he purchased it.
(12:29):
He is out of Houston, he's abusinessman, and um he purchased
it in the 70s and then startedrestoring it gradually, and so
that main building that you see,the Gage Hotel, is the original
building, and there's 14 hotelrooms in there, and that's what
was built in 1927.
(12:50):
And so since the 70s, he's justbeen growing it and building and
renovating it since then, and hestill owns it to this day.
SPEAKER_02 (12:59):
Okay.
How many how many additionalrooms are there now?
SPEAKER_01 (13:01):
A total of rooms.
In total, we've got 48 units, 48uh places you can stay, and
that's including the historichotel and then the Los Protalis
courtyard is a very popularplace for people to stay.
We've got rooms with king bedsand fireplaces out there.
(13:22):
And then if you need a littlebit larger, we have rooms that
have two double-sized beds inthem, as well as a c an owner
suite, and then uh another suitethat has a porch.
Very serene area out there.
There's a fountain, there'syeah, it's a beautiful
courtyard.
Big time.
SPEAKER_04 (13:39):
And it's not a small one.
SPEAKER_01 (13:41):
Yes, it's there's 20 rooms out there, and then we
have the Captain Shepherd housewhere you guys stayed.
unknown (13:47):
Yay!
SPEAKER_01 (13:48):
And that was so cool.
It is so cool, and that house isthe original the the founder of
Marathon.
That was his home.
And that was Captain CaptainShepherd, and I believe it was
built in 1886, something sometclose to that.
And he built his home when hefounded this town, and it
(14:11):
reminded that the town remindedhim of Marathon, Greece, because
of the mountain structures,which is why it's called
Marathon, after Marathon,Greece.
SPEAKER_02 (14:21):
Which it doesn't explain why we really pronounce
this marathon, but we're yeah,but we're just in Texas.
SPEAKER_03 (14:29):
So that's it, baby.
SPEAKER_01 (14:32):
Yeah, exactly.
And so there's seven rooms overthere where y'all stayed, and
then we have about sixoff-property little casita, like
little small houses.
And so there's 48 total rightnow.
And then by fall of 2027, wewill have 24 more rooms built.
SPEAKER_03 (14:49):
Wow.
Wow.
Where are those going?
SPEAKER_01 (14:52):
Yeah, what are those going to be like those are going
behind the Los Protaliscourtyard?
I don't know when y'all werethere, if y'all saw where all
the trees were being cut down.
It's oh, it's kind of adjacentto the spa.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (15:04):
Okay.
And y'all again, this coverslike blocks.
Like, yeah, this isn't just likeone building, it's kind of like
very spread out.
Yeah, but like Los Angeles isnot like New York City, right?
New York City's all these onearea in Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_02 (15:23):
And like Los Angeles, all of the grounds are
beautiful.
We stayed at uh the captain'shouse, as you said, and I walked
out.
We had just gotten there, putour luggage down, and we're kind
of exploring a bit, and I walkedout on the the balcony or the it
covers the whole second floorupstairs.
I walked out on that, and therewas like it was like there was a
(15:46):
feeling, a really strong emotionwaiting for me there on the
balcony.
A good one, and I walked intoit, and there was such peace.
And you could you could hardlyhear anything, maybe a bird
singing.
There was no traffic noise thatI was.
I mean, it's a small town,right?
There was no traffic noise I washearing, and it just felt so
good.
(16:06):
I went back in and told her,wow, uh that I just walked out
of that balcony and he was readyto, okay, we can live here.
Yeah, it felt amazing.
I mean, it's hard to explain.
SPEAKER_01 (16:17):
I think it's very impressive for being so remote.
It's just a very impressiveoperation.
And, you know, we just have somany dedicated and hardworking
people that keep keep thisoperation going.
You know, we've got beautifulgrounds that you know, we have a
great grounds and and gardensteam.
We've got the Gage Gardens,which is 27 acres.
(16:38):
Hopefully, y'all got to walkthrough there.
SPEAKER_04 (16:40):
Um we'll be showing y'all that on our socials as
well.
SPEAKER_01 (16:44):
Yeah.
So we've it's just, you know,like you said, it's it stretches
blocks.
So yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (16:52):
And y'all, this is in like a desert part of Texas.
Like this is and you're on thelike so close to the border of
Mexico, and you're just kind ofout in these very rugged, harsh,
desert areas and like rocky,mountainous dirt-filled kind of
mountainous right there, butit's not like everything is like
(17:16):
lush and green and beautiful.
SPEAKER_03 (17:17):
Green play around there.
SPEAKER_04 (17:20):
But when you are at the Gage Hotel and the Gage
Resort and Spa, the grounds it'san oasis.
Yes, yes.
And so they kind of theycomplement the scenery, but they
also enhance it and bring morelife to it than just like the
surrounding area.
(17:40):
So that's one kind of very coolthing.
Um, and Rory, you talked aboutstepping out on the patio um out
in the in the um shepherd housethat we were in, but we also had
our own balcony deck in ourroom.
So we had like like that wasjust so fun, and it was crazy
(18:00):
because in the morning when Iopened the door and stepped out
on the deck, there's this gianttree at the deck that goes with
our room.
And like bird after bird waslike flocking, and you could
hear them just moving around andshaking the leaves and like
flying away because I, you know,had disturbed them and woken
them up or whatever.
(18:21):
But I mean it was like so manybirds living in those trees, and
you know, because they found apeaceful place as well.
But uh, it was just such a sucha beautiful place.
Now I have a question for you,Samuel.
So there were, I think it wasrooms number four and number
(18:41):
five.
They had two doors.
So what's the deal?
Like, and they weren't together.
So, like, y'all, we walk up thestairs, it's like a mansion
feel, right?
So you kind of like we walked upthe stairs to the right was our
room, and then ahead was likerooms three and four or four and
(19:01):
five.
But then the once you're at thetop, you've you climb the
stairs, you're on the floor.
If you go to the left, there'slike additional doors labeled
number four.
And I'm like, wait, but four'sover there and four's over here.
So what's the deal?
SPEAKER_01 (19:16):
So the deal is there's those two rooms, number
four and number five, those donot have the the bathrooms
ensuite, they're not inside theroom.
SPEAKER_03 (19:28):
Oh they're down the hallway.
SPEAKER_01 (19:31):
They're still, you know, the guest's private
bathroom.
You're the only one that usesit, but you do have your own key
to it.
And so you have to walk just afew steps down the hallway to
use the restroom or shower orwhatever it is.
And so, yeah, number four, whichhas two full-size beds in it,
and then number five has aking-size bed in it.
(19:53):
And so those that's that's whatthose mystery doors are.
Yes.
Okay, awesome.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_04 (19:59):
The whole house it's so nice that they're private to
that room.
SPEAKER_03 (20:02):
Yeah, yes, yeah, that's great.
SPEAKER_04 (20:04):
And you can have your own private bathroom
altogether, you know, becauseyou're you're not even having to
share it with your whoeveryou're in the room with.
SPEAKER_02 (20:11):
Yeah, yeah.
The whole house has such a areally cool historic feeling,
but it's uh and the mansionfeeling, like she said, but not
in a cold way.
It's very warm, lots of wood,very western in a sense.
It's got this great mix of ofthis, what you'd think of as the
West in the US, and also some ofthe mix of the Mexican influence
(20:33):
that just gives it a really,really cool vibe.
I'm sure there's a name forthat.
Uh, I'm sure your mom could tellus what it is, but whatever that
mix of styles is, but reallywarm feelings.
A little bit, yeah.
With big pieces of wood and allthis, yeah, yeah.
It makes it just makes you wantto hang out there.
SPEAKER_04 (20:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (20:51):
Um, well, we'll have some pictures of that too, like
she said, uh like the otherthings on our socials.
SPEAKER_04 (20:56):
And that also makes it a very inviting, like,
wedding destination or you know,events kind of space.
SPEAKER_02 (21:02):
Yeah, I mean it's set up for that, right?
SPEAKER_04 (21:04):
Yeah.
So, and then you also have thegardens, which can also serve
that.
So, if you want to you youtouched on the gardens, um,
which, you know, we got to walkthrough and they were really
pretty, but like you want toexpand on kind of some of those
features?
SPEAKER_01 (21:19):
Sure, sure, yeah.
So we we are very big withevents here as well.
That's a whole other thing thatwe do.
So we we do host a lot ofweddings here, and we have
several different areas wherepeople can decide to have their
ceremony.
The gardens is the most popularspot for that.
There's a beautiful rose gardenout there.
(21:42):
There's ponds, fountains.
It's very serene, like you guyssaw.
And so the gardens is a verypopular wedding uh ceremony
location, and then the backyardof the Captain Shepherd house
where y'all stayed.
That was the first um ceremonyspot.
So that's you know, they've gotit landscaped out there, they
(22:03):
have the lights, it's verypretty.
We and then we have thecourtyards by the historic
hotel.
So it's it's almost it's like adestination wedding still in
Texas, you know, and and somepeople say, Well, why do you
want to go all the way out thereand get married?
Well, it is it's you know, whenyou come out here, it's just
(22:23):
like you said, a beautiful,serene location, and it's just
that desert western vibe.
So people love that like desertchic appeal.
SPEAKER_02 (22:35):
Yes, very much, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (22:36):
And and and for me, like we had a wedding.
SPEAKER_02 (22:39):
What do you do for a wedding?
You invite your friends andfamily, those you're close to,
right?
And then you have it somewhere,but there's still every
distraction in the world that'spulling it, everyone who's
there, and like uh uh well, Igot oh, I'm sorry, I gotta go, I
just got this call about.
But when you go to Marathon tohave your wedding, wedding a
(23:00):
destination there with withthese guys, you're there, and
it's so cool because, in myopinion, I think that as a
family and friends, thatcommunity, that that love, and
that that whole thing would bemuch stronger and more present
because you're all theretogether, and there's nowhere
you're gonna go to get away fromit in a good way.
(23:22):
So I think it'd be a fantasticplace.
It's just fantastic.
SPEAKER_01 (23:27):
It's very, you know, when when people have weddings
here, it it's just a veryclose-knit celebration.
You know, it's their closestfriends, our closest family who
are willing to take the trip outhere and spend the weekend with
them.
And uh it's just fun.
It's and it's it's just fun.
SPEAKER_02 (23:44):
So so tell me this.
We've we've talked about uh allthe uh the facilities that you
guys have for people to stay, uhthe spa.
Tell us a little bit about thespa in just a second.
And we've talked about uh theplace we stayed, how much we
love that, and that the placehas a wonderful energy to it,
the whole town.
Uh so two things.
Tell me about the spa, and thenbecause the wedding guests, I
(24:05):
think, as a destination thing,and any guest would love that.
But then I want to find outabout what do they do for food
because we've talked about howsmall of a town it is, and well,
is there you know, is thereanywhere to eat?
Well, we stayed there.
We know they're wonderful,really cool, fun places to eat,
and even a uh grocery store, uhsort of a general store, if you
(24:26):
will.
But okay, tell us a little bitabout the spa, and then what are
their options if people do gothere for food and stuff?
SPEAKER_01 (24:32):
This spa, the spa is amazing.
So it's not very old.
It's the spa, I would say, isless than 10 years old, so it's
a newer addition to ourfacilities, and they just do
great, great work over there.
They've got massages, facials, Ithink they do waxing services,
they do hand and foot soakrenewals, they've got several
(24:53):
aestheticians, very good massagetherapists.
There's an outdoor hydrotherapypool, which is like a large hot
tub for soaking.
There's a steam room, there's afitness center, which is
attached to the spa, and inthere there's all the equipment.
And then there's an infrared hotsummer.
SPEAKER_04 (25:12):
Oh, nice.
SPEAKER_01 (25:13):
Awesome.
SPEAKER_04 (25:14):
And sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, but I
wanted to just point out thatthe fitness center is part of
your stay.
Just like if you were gonna stayat the Holiday Inn and go to
their little fitness center,yes, y'all, you know, y'all have
a real one, like a really niceone that is just part of your
room and it's part of what yourI can't believe you said the
(25:34):
name of an of a rival hotel.
SPEAKER_02 (25:37):
Well, of course, not America.
There are no rival hotels.
SPEAKER_04 (25:39):
No, they're not even I wouldn't call them a rival at
all.
SPEAKER_03 (25:43):
Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01 (25:45):
Yes.
So if, you know, when you staywith us, you do have access to
that fitness center.
People like to go in there andjust have a little workout, use
the infrared hot sauna, book aspa appointment.
It's just a very relaxingexperience over there.
They do the spa is veryimpressive.
(26:05):
You know, it's one of thepremier destination spas in West
Texas.
So it's, you know, and the forthe fact that it's out here in
Marathon is very, veryimpressive.
SPEAKER_02 (26:17):
Yeah, yeah.
So, okay, uh, I love buffalo.
People love, you know, they goplaces just to see buffalo.
I remember being in the Badlandssurrounded by buffalo.
I didn't see any buffalo there,but coming to mind, there's
something about a white buffalo.
Uh you kind of, what's the dealwith the white buffalo?
SPEAKER_01 (26:35):
Yes, something, yes, yeah.
So we um the white buffalo baris our is our bar.
It's our it's in the back of ourrestaurant, and it is a very
well-known bar in Texas, theWhite Buffalo Bar.
They the atmosphere in there isjust unlike any anything else.
It's there's a large whitebuffalo head on on the wall,
(26:58):
which just gives it its name,White Buffalo Bar.
And they make a very goodprickly pear margarita.
That's what we're known for, isprickly pear margarita.
And in West Texas, why not?
So right.
SPEAKER_04 (27:12):
Yeah, as you will be watching on our socials as we
kind of talk about Big Ben andthe area, you're going to see a
lot of prickly pear.
And uh it's very, very commonout there.
So if you don't have a contextyet for what he's talking about,
we sure will.
There's prickly pear everywhere.
(27:33):
And we learned about the purpleprickly pear plants out in the
desert.
I know.
Okay, anyway, back to your bar.
SPEAKER_01 (27:42):
Yes.
So the bar, the yes, pricklypear.
It's like, you know, like theprickly pear cactus.
So that's the context there.
But very good, very, verypopular.
People, people love that.
And it's just a great, greatvibe.
It's not a it's not a largebuilding by any means.
It's a smaller, smaller area,but it's people love there.
People love it.
(28:02):
They come here just to hang outat the bar.
So that's that's the whitebuffalo bar.
And and you know, there's aninteresting story of people ask
us, where did this white buffalocome from?
Is this from here?
Well, where is this from?
And so the story with the whitebuffalo from the bar is our
(28:22):
owner, Mr.
JP Bryan, he's very involved inin history.
He owns a museum in Galveston.
He he loves he loves Texashistory, history in general.
And he was visiting a museum uhyears ago, and he was in there
and he he wanted to purchasethis white buffalo head, is the
(28:43):
story.
He wanted to purchase this whitebuffalo head to to put
somewhere.
He just loved it.
And the owner said, I will notsell you this white buffalo
head.
I you you cannot, it's not forsale.
And so instead, Mr.
Brian just bought the entiremuseum so he could just have the
white buffalo.
Oh, it is for sale.
(29:05):
So everything's negotiable,apparently.
But that's the that's the story,and that's where we gather it
from.
SPEAKER_02 (29:13):
That's pretty great.
Okay, so there's the whitebuffalo bar, you gotta check
that out.
Really cool place.
But there are several foodoptions.
SPEAKER_04 (29:22):
For example, we attach to that is the 12-gauge
restaurant.
SPEAKER_02 (29:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (29:27):
Tell us about the food there.
A little bit like what's theapproach to the chef.
SPEAKER_01 (29:33):
Yeah, so the 12-gauge restaurant is our more
upscale restaurant.
It's like a contemporaryAmerican cuisine um with a West
Texas kind of flair, West Texaschic flair.
Which it should have.
It should, yes.
It's very i it's nice.
I I like it.
It's very West Texas and theyserve great food.
(29:56):
They'll do, you know, steak,chicken fried steak, but then
they also do some.
Great fish, bunch of differentoptions, and it's very, it's
very good.
SPEAKER_02 (30:05):
Yeah, unless less you think lest you think, well,
they're landlocked.
Well, what's the fish thing?
Let me remind you that Texas ison the Gulf of America, so they
are not landlocked.
They can get fresh seafoodanytime they want.
SPEAKER_01 (30:21):
Exactly.
Yes, and we've yes, and we'vegot great chefs here that that
do that prepare that reallywell.
So yeah, the 12-gaugerestaurant, people also people
come here just to eat at ourrestaurant.
You know, they come here for therestaurant and the bar.
And you know, that's just that'sjust a large part of the
experience.
SPEAKER_02 (30:40):
Yeah, having a restaurant of that caliber in
the middle of nowhere, it's Imean, it's shocking, really.
Uh what we uh we ate there, itwas wonderful, but we the first
night ate at Ghost Fire Pizza.
Ghostfire Pizza.
SPEAKER_01 (30:56):
Yes, Ghost Fire Pizza.
So that's that's our newestaddition to our food and
beverage offerings.
And that for context forlisteners, is is just down the
street past the spots attachedto a local distillery, Desert
Ghost Distillery.
And it is a brick oven pizza.
So it's like that thin crustpizza.
(31:18):
They make it there right infront of you.
And it is just it's amazing.
My favorite is the pesto Diablo,it's incredible.
Nice got that pesto and hothoney on it.
Chef's kiss.
It's so good.
SPEAKER_02 (31:34):
That's what I had, man.
That's what I had.
That's a recommendation.
I was like, uh, honey on apizza.
Okay, I'll try it.
SPEAKER_04 (31:41):
And we we actually have an excerpt from some guys
there.
So we're gonna hop to that realquick and let y'all hear a
little bit about our experiencein Ghostfire.
Okay, so we'll insert there.
Um and he talked about the um Ididn't get a good recording of
(32:03):
the sourdough part.
So I might just mention that.
And then we can go into um wedidn't do the brick wall, but we
did the six.
Well, we can talk about it realquick.
Yeah.
So what is it?
Oh hold on.
So um yeah, it was really fun totalk to the chef who had been in
(32:26):
Naples, Italy.
Which, y'all, if you ever heardRoy talk about pizza, he goes on
and on about his experience inNaples and all of that.
SPEAKER_02 (32:34):
As a matter of fact, their oven says Napoli, so it's
an oven, a brick oven fromNaples, Italy.
SPEAKER_04 (32:39):
But he learned about sourdough crusts, and so the
pizza that they make there is asourdough, so that's really,
really fun.
So, um, but tell us about thebrick vault, brewery and
barbecue.
We actually didn't have time togo there.
SPEAKER_01 (32:56):
Yes, the brick vault, barbecue and brewery,
it's fantastic barbecue, andlike you said, they they brew
their own beer there as well.
It's open on the weekends.
So that's something that isinteresting out here is you
know, most of our restaurants,if you if you want to get the
best experience about eating atall of our different
restaurants, the weekends iswhen everything is open.
(33:18):
So the brick vault is openThursday through Sunday.
They do great barbecue.
On Thursdays, they'll do like asmash burger special just to
kind of switch it up.
But they do brisket, turkey.
Turkey is amazing as well, andit's just really good.
And you know, they they justthey work hard.
SPEAKER_04 (33:35):
That's very Texas, you know, y'all, because Texas
is really the longer Rory and Iare living in Texas, we're
learning, you know, people areall about the barbecue.
SPEAKER_02 (33:44):
Barbecue.
We travel to other countries andthey talk about the vegan.
SPEAKER_04 (33:50):
You know, this trip, I think Rory won the KJ versus
vegan.
SPEAKER_02 (33:55):
As I always do.
SPEAKER_04 (34:00):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (34:01):
When's the last time you walked by a barbecue pit and
said, Oh, it smells like they'rebaking, like they're grilling
broccoli?
SPEAKER_04 (34:07):
Grilled broccoli is yum.
Grilled asparagus is yum.
SPEAKER_02 (34:11):
You walk by a barbecue pit or a restaurant and
you smell the meat.
SPEAKER_04 (34:14):
Whatever.
Okay, so we also now we also gotsome vegetarian breakfast.
I had okay, y'all, the bestbreakfast potatoes I've ever had
were at V6 Coffee.
SPEAKER_02 (34:28):
Yeah, we gotta brag on this place.
Man, it's a big but that'sanother thing.
You're in a tiny town.
You've got this upscalerestaurant, you've got your own
brewery and barbecue, you've gota pizza place, right?
You've got the the uh bar, thewhite buffalo bar, and you've
got a huge, it's big coffee shopright next door is a roastery.
SPEAKER_04 (34:49):
Yeah, and it's not just coffee, like they serve
food.
SPEAKER_02 (34:53):
Yeah, I had their breakfast, two eggs, uh sausage,
see, he's at the breakfastpotatoes.
I was not breakfast, breakfastpotatoes, coffee.
The breakfast potatoes wereamazing.
The whole meal, y'all.
Like the two ladies, okay, theshow.
Yeah, we we'd just finishedordering, and one of the ladies
(35:14):
came out of the kitchen and shesaid, Hey, and I was like, Hey,
and she's being so nice.
And I walked over to talk to herbecause she was being so nice,
and she gave me a hug and shesaid, Um, you're so-and-so, and
I was like, Nope, I'm Rory.
And she said, Oh, you look justlike so-and-so.
And I was like, Yep, nope, notme.
The other lady came out, I said,Well, I'm giving you a hug too.
(35:35):
So I take her.
It was great.
That's one thing that you'llfind about marathon is the the
sense of community.
It is very real there.
Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, really cool.
So, all right, use it's coffee.
SPEAKER_04 (35:48):
Another thing that you can get at V6, you can buy
things for a takeaway lunch sothat you can take it with you
and go on your adventure.
SPEAKER_02 (35:56):
So you can take it away.
SPEAKER_04 (35:59):
Because Marathon is a nice place to stay with you.
Where what is what is marathonis a nice place to stay when
you're gonna go to the park.
So if you have more to say aboutfood, Samuel, go for it.
And or this can be your segueinto the park.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (36:17):
So VC, like you know, V6 is amazing.
I love the V6 coffee bar.
They they, like you said, theydo a great breakfast.
I've heard that from a lot ofpeople that they the breakfast
potatoes are amazing.
And they are.
I agree.
And so, like, yeah, too,exactly.
What you were saying is, youknow, uh, we are a great, you
know, base camp to go into BigBand National Park.
SPEAKER_04 (36:42):
Which you want to go to, just saying.
SPEAKER_01 (36:43):
Yeah.
If you're come all the way outhere, you have gotta check it
out.
It's just it's just incredible.
And a lot of people are here tosee the park.
And so there's not a lot of, youknow, you can't, there's not
any, there's not very many foodoptions in the park.
And so you you really need totake something with you.
And so what the V6 coffee shopwill do is you can order a box
(37:08):
lunch and take it with you.
So you can order it the daybefore or early in the morning,
and then they can get it to youa little bit after that.
And it's usually like a sandwichand chips or something like
that, just like a little picniclunch you can take with you on
your hike or on your you knowyour drive through the park.
And it's just very handy to dothat.
(37:29):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (37:29):
Now, for our British listeners, he means a sandwich
and crisps.
Just saying.
SPEAKER_01 (37:35):
Oh yes.
And we, you know, you mentionedyour British listeners.
We we have people come here fromall over the world, from from
Britain, from uh fromeverywhere.
We we really do.
SPEAKER_02 (37:50):
I'll bet.
I'll bet.
SPEAKER_04 (37:52):
They should come.
It's worth the trip.
SPEAKER_02 (37:53):
So I'm gonna jump on what he said as far as it being
a place to stay, coming in andin and out of the park.
It's it's really awesome.
But I say you need to spend aday there, at least a day there.
In Marathon.
In Marathon.
In Marathon.
It's just I mean, you won'tregret it.
It just to sit in the vibe andthe community of the place is
really cool.
(38:14):
And you can see the garden, uh,you can check out the other the
other parts of their properties,spend a day at the spa.
It's just a really cool place tobe.
SPEAKER_04 (38:24):
One of the things too I wanted to point out, you
were talking Rory was talkingabout how peaceful it is.
Samuel was pointing out like theweddings and the events that you
can have.
And like, if you just need areally like what you're maybe in
a season in your life and youjust need to get away.
SPEAKER_03 (38:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04 (38:42):
You need some just quiet you time, maybe to plan
your your next year, or youknow, just you need to grieve
because you've gone through acrazy season and whatever it is,
like this is the place to go.
SPEAKER_03 (38:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (38:59):
To just have some you time and meet you and God
time, breathing time, you know,because it's so peaceful, and so
it can be that for you too.
SPEAKER_03 (39:12):
So it can be it can be just your quiet getaway, it
can be your super fun vacationtime, yeah, adventure, it can be
your entrance to the park andall of those adventures and and
explorations.
SPEAKER_04 (39:24):
Like it it I love that it serves all of those
purposes.
So whatever season you're in, orwhatever need that you might
have in your life right now foryour travel needs, this is a
place to check out and considerand go.
SPEAKER_02 (39:38):
Marathon and the gauge resort and spa.
SPEAKER_01 (39:42):
Yes, a hundred percent.
And you know, you're saying, youknow, you and your in God time.
I think this is one of the bestplaces to see God's creation is
out here in the mountains.
I think it's great.
SPEAKER_02 (39:52):
Yeah, and it blows your mind totally unexpected.
If you're not, if you've neverbeen down there and you're from
Texas, what it blows your mind.
This is Texas, holy cow! And ifyou're from Colorado, you think,
yeah, we got all the mountainsor Utah or Idaho.
No, you don't have all themountains.
It's really cool.
SPEAKER_01 (40:13):
Yeah.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
SPEAKER_04 (40:16):
And Samuel, just confirm real quick.
Remind me, was I right about thethe length of the drive from
Marathon into like the entranceto the park?
SPEAKER_01 (40:27):
Yes, I would say so.
Yeah, I think an hour is that sowe I say it's a 45-minute drive
just to the entrance, and thenit's another, you know, another
20 to 30 minutes to the mainvisitor center, which is Panther
Junction.
And so an hour, hour and 15 justto that center point visitor
(40:47):
center.
And that's about as closest asyou can get as like a nice place
to stay.
Absolutely.
Right.
SPEAKER_04 (40:55):
Because yeah, yeah, I mean, I guess you can camp in
the park if you like you ifyou're doing that, but like for
a hotel or for a lodging option,yeah.
This Big Ben Park is so giantlyhuge that you you're not like an
(41:16):
hour is close.
And and that's that'sreasonable.
And you know, I would you wouldneed to.
SPEAKER_02 (41:22):
I would I would I would frame it like this.
You might hear people say, Yeah,it's the only place to stay.
So, you know, that's where westay.
Those same words.
Yeah, it is the only place tostay.
That's why you go there becauseit is the place you want to go.
It's what Samuel said as far asnice accommodations and
restaurants and and the bar andthe hanging out, the cool
(41:44):
community, that's where you wantto be.
SPEAKER_01 (41:47):
Yes, yeah, and people, you know, people I love,
I tell people that all the time,you know, you really need
multiple days here.
If you want to go into the park,you know, go into the park a
day, hang out at the gauge aday, you know, then see the
surrounding towns a day,something like that.
I you know, it's and a lot ofpeople, like you said, they can
(42:08):
camp in the park.
You can there's campsites,plenty of campsites, a few
lodging options in the park, butyou know, it's not the same as
where we're at.
And so, you know, a lot ofpeople will do that too.
They'll go, they'll stay here anight, they'll go into the park,
and then they'll stay with us onthe way back, you know, to
rejuvenate.
SPEAKER_02 (42:28):
Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_04 (42:32):
You mentioned that some of the surrounding towns.
We are going to be like in ourseries this month, as we're
talking about Bake Bend, we aregoing to share about Terlingua,
which is another kind of uh townthat borders the park.
Yeah, um and it's totallydifferent um experience and vibe
than you're gonna find inMarathon.
(42:53):
So it's um you have some reallycool options, but I think
marathon needs to be like amust-do when you come down.
SPEAKER_01 (43:03):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (43:04):
That's our two cents for you.
SPEAKER_01 (43:06):
I agree.
I agree.
Yeah, cool.
SPEAKER_02 (43:10):
Man, well, thank you for being with us, Sandra.
Is there anything anything youwant to add before we go?
SPEAKER_01 (43:15):
Well, I mean, I just think it, you know, a lot of
people have lived in Texas theirentire some people have lived in
Texas their entire lives, andthey've never never been out
this far west.
And you know, that's it's calledfar west Texas.
And so I just would encourageanyone who has lived in Texas
who has never been this far outto come and just see it because
(43:36):
it's just incredible.
You you know, it's it's hard tobelieve we are in Texas
sometimes, but we are, and it'sit's great.
Yeah, it's very yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (43:43):
What if and if we're flying in, is get is El Paso
going to be kind of the closestum airport for folks, Stockton
or where would they fly into ifthey're coming from other states
or countries?
SPEAKER_01 (43:58):
So actually the closest commercial airport is
Midland, the Midland Odessa.
SPEAKER_04 (44:02):
Okay, Midland Odessa.
SPEAKER_01 (44:04):
And that's about a two and a half hour drive from
us.
Okay, and then El Paso.
Um, and then of course, ifyou're if you can fly private,
if you've got your own plane,there's a private airport in I
think Fort Stockton and also inAlpine, which is Alpine's only
30 minutes.
SPEAKER_02 (44:19):
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
I would say this uh Texans havea very strong sense of pride.
Growing up next door inLouisiana, we always knew it.
My dad's from Texas, we alwaysfelt it.
But what struck me, honestly, Ihad these thoughts going through
my head after visiting downthere, the level of pride, like
it just went up.
I mean, seriously, because ifyou've never been there, you
(44:41):
need to go and it willabsolutely blow your mind.
Really, really beautiful,wonderful, and you'll think,
wow, yeah, this is this is mytaxes.
Exactly, yes, it does get moretaxes than this.
SPEAKER_04 (44:53):
Love it.
SPEAKER_01 (44:54):
Yep.
Hey, how do people find youguys?
People can find us on we're onInstagram at GageResort.
We've got our website, which isstill, I believe, gagehotel.com.
So, gagehotel.com.
We're on all the socials, we'renot on any third-party booking
platforms.
You can book your stay directlythrough our website or giving us
(45:16):
a call.
SPEAKER_04 (45:18):
Okay, great.
Well, we will put thatinformation in our show notes so
you guys can reference that.
Just call them direct and gofrom there.
Love it.
SPEAKER_02 (45:26):
Yeah.
Man, thanks for joining us,Daniel.
Spa, y'all gotta check it out.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (45:32):
Thank y'all so much for having me this episode.
SPEAKER_04 (45:37):
Thank y'all so much for joining us on this episode.
We look forward to sharing moreadventures with you surrounding
our adventures in the nationalpark.
We hope we've inspired you thisepisode.
Please subscribe to Ray andShare a podcast.
(45:58):
And please like and follow us onInstagram, YouTube, and
Facebook.
And our main hub is our websiteat www.roomies.com.com.
(46:21):
We'll be there until next time.
Thanks for listening.
I am Alexa and together we are to each other.
Right.
We are a touring musical duo.
SPEAKER_04 (00:11):
And our music has taken us to all kinds of places
all around the world and keepsus always on the go.
SPEAKER_02 (00:17):
We hope you enjoy our stories and adventures while
running around working to allyour places.
SPEAKER_04 (00:22):
And we hope to facilitate your busy lifestyle
and feed your inner travel bug.
Hi everyone, welcome to today'sepisode.
If you have been following us,and even if you haven't, we did
a series with Jennifer Broom,where she was sharing the best
national parks to visit at whichtime of year.
(00:45):
And so our winter episode wasepisode 259.
And she recommended Big BenNational Park as one of her
national parks.
SPEAKER_00 (00:54):
But Texas and I've been back multiple times, and
one of the big reasons isbecause of Big Bend National
Park.
They're interlinked with Texas.
And Big Ben is the only nationalpark with an entire mountain
range within its borders.
There's hot springs that are notfar from that border crossing,
but just an epic drive.
They always say everything'sbigger in Texas.
(01:15):
Well, I mean Big Ben is massive,massive.
And you know, I mean it's it'sjust an incredible landscape to
enjoy.
Big Ben, West Texas.
Oh, it's it's that's one of myfavorite places on earth.
So I'm sharing all my favorites.
SPEAKER_04 (01:28):
That really got us inspired, and we we were like,
we live in Texas.
Why don't we go to Big Ben?
We take Jennifer's inspirationand now have visited Big Bend.
And this month we are going tobe sharing our adventures with
you in Big Ben National Park.
After you listen to all ofthese, go back to Jennifer's
(01:50):
episode, episode 259, becauseshe covers some information that
we didn't.
We're gonna try to give youadditional information and not
just regurgitate what she talkedabout because we had totally
different adventures than shedid.
So check out 259 with her.
But then this whole month, we'regonna be talking about and
unrolling our adventures in BigBen National Park.
(02:12):
So we are very excited to sharethat with you.
And we kick off all of thoseadventures in the town of
Marathon.
It's a surrounding town to theBig Ben National Park.
It is a must-see.
And we are looking forward toyou hearing our conversation
with a local there who works atone of the reasons to go, the
(02:36):
gauge.
Here we go.
Hi, everyone.
Welcome to the Romies Podcast.
Welcome to the Romies Podcast.
Very happy today to share withyou guys a very fun town that we
got to explore when exploringBig Bend.
It is a town about maybe anhour, hour and a half outside of
(02:59):
the actual national park.
We'll we'll get some close.
But we got to go to Marathon,Texas.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (03:07):
Have you heard of Marathon, Texas?
SPEAKER_04 (03:09):
Marathon, Texas is such a cute town.
Lori and I like pulled up and wethought this place is so
adorable.
We could live here.
This is a fun place.
SPEAKER_02 (03:18):
It's so bizarre.
SPEAKER_04 (03:20):
Just have like this cool vibe.
SPEAKER_02 (03:21):
Yeah, and it's only a sh like a little short strip.
SPEAKER_04 (03:24):
You know, like I mean, really, there's a lot of
small towns have just like onestrip.
Yeah.
It's had like one strip on oneside of the road.
SPEAKER_02 (03:32):
But you could walk that strip in less than well, in
a minute, probably less than twominutes, the entire strip.
SPEAKER_04 (03:38):
So it was, it was, it's just so cute and so
engaging.
Engaging.
SPEAKER_02 (03:44):
Ah I get it.
Engage.
Because that's see, you can usethat now.
You're probably you're well,you're welcome.
SPEAKER_04 (03:52):
Because there is the gage hotel there.
And y'all, it's like it's reallynot the gauge hotel.
Like, it's like the resort, andlike it's a bunch of stuff.
Like, it's just really big.
SPEAKER_02 (04:07):
It's pretty much the tale almost.
SPEAKER_04 (04:09):
Right now, for this quick minute, we're gonna call
it the gauge.
And you want to go and you wantto experience it, and we got to
stay there.
And so y'all are gonna see videoand all of that on our socials
of like our room and how coolthat was and the whole deal.
But like, y'all, this hotelspans like a block or two or
(04:31):
three or four, and it's reallyit's just how it's laid out is
so interesting and cool, and youhave to go see it.
SPEAKER_02 (04:39):
Vibe now everywhere.
SPEAKER_04 (04:42):
Yes, and it just has this fun, yeah, super fun vibe.
So today we're gonna talk aboutit, but we more excitingly get
to share a topic.
SPEAKER_02 (04:52):
Excitingly, I love your your adverbs are wonderful.
SPEAKER_04 (04:59):
Um, but y'all, we're gonna get to introduce y'all to
someone at Vugade.
They and his name is Samuel, andwe have Samuel on today, um with
us today.
So welcome to you.
SPEAKER_03 (05:11):
Welcome to it, everyone.
SPEAKER_01 (05:13):
Thank you for having me.
SPEAKER_04 (05:15):
Yeah, we're super glad to have you.
We had our own experience,right?
We had our experience as liketravelers into the town, but you
actually work at the live inMarathon, and you are like a
part of this whole community andstructure.
And so we we thought it'd be funto just kind of like get your
(05:35):
perspective on things.
And y'all, Samuel has been therea whole year.
He's gonna like be able toconnect us and hook us up with
lots of fun info.
SPEAKER_02 (05:44):
So, so what is your official position there at the
Gage Hotel?
SPEAKER_01 (05:48):
Yeah, so my official position right now is uh guest
services manager, and that meansthat I manage the hotel, all of
the hotel reservations, theconcierge services, I help with
all of the bookings andbasically anything, you know,
that the guests need whilethey're while they're here
staying with us.
(06:09):
So it's you know, I kind of getto be a part of everything, you
know, tell them where to go,what to do, them with any
requests.
SPEAKER_02 (06:17):
In a good way, tell them where to go and and what to
do.
I'm sure it's all good.
SPEAKER_01 (06:22):
Yeah, just the fun, fun things to do if, you know,
because a lot of people havenever been out here all this
way.
And so, you know, they they wantto know where to where do I go?
What do I see?
I seems like I'm in the middleof nowhere.
SPEAKER_02 (06:34):
And so and they would be pretty much accurate.
SPEAKER_01 (06:39):
They would be correct, they would be correct,
but there is a lot to do and seeout here.
So I I get to share that withpeople and and just help them
have a great experience whenthey come out here.
SPEAKER_04 (06:49):
Oh, very yes, because marathon itself is a
remote place, it's remote remotevillage, it's very remote.
Yeah, okay.
So I have been calling it thegauge until we can hop on with
you.
So would you call it the GageHotel?
Would you put the word resort inthere?
Because y'all do have a resortin spa.
SPEAKER_02 (07:11):
So what do we need to call the Gage Carlton's?
SPEAKER_01 (07:14):
Yeah.
So it's always been called it'salways been named the Gage
Hotel.
It was built by Alfred Gage asthe Gage Hotel, but a couple
months ago we've startedrebranding, and so now we are
calling it more the Gage Resortand Spa.
Okay, which is where I share itstuff here.
(07:35):
Gage Resort and Spa.
SPEAKER_04 (07:36):
Ah, see.
SPEAKER_01 (07:38):
I still have some of the merchandise that just says
Gage Hotel.
So it's always been Gage Hotel,but we do offer more resort
style things.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (07:49):
Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01 (07:50):
Yeah, just walking the grounds, that is pretty
obvious.
SPEAKER_04 (07:53):
Right, right.
It's to me, it it was a littlemore than just a hotel.
It had a whole experience.
Like just the hotel itself is anexperience, I think.
SPEAKER_01 (08:03):
Yeah, that's really funny.
Definitely.
SPEAKER_04 (08:06):
So, can you tell us a little bit more about the
history of the property and thecurrent owner, I guess, JP
Bryant?
SPEAKER_01 (08:12):
Absolutely.
So the Gage Hotel itself wasbuilt in 1927.
So it's almost a hundred yearsold, which is which is very
impressive and very cool.
And it was built, like I said,by Alfred Gage.
He was a businessman and arancher, as from what I
understand.
And he he actually moved herefrom Vermont, funny enough, to
(08:36):
pursue like a banking andranching empire, is what we've
always heard.
And so I think he he primarilyresided in San Antonio, and then
he had a massive ranch out herein Marathon, which is another
thing.
The locals pronounce it asMarathon.
SPEAKER_04 (08:58):
Marathon.
So y'all don't listen to thefirst part of this episode where
I said it wrong.
SPEAKER_02 (09:06):
Well, you have to listen to the first part of the
episode, just ignore themispronunciation of marathon.
SPEAKER_01 (09:10):
Ignore the mispronunciation.
I'm still working on it myself.
I still say marathon, butanyway.
SPEAKER_04 (09:16):
So but if we want to be cool, it's marathon.
SPEAKER_01 (09:20):
Marathon.
That's the local thing.
That's how you say it.
So you're gonna be so cool now.
Yes, and now you'll know fornext time, and they'll be very
impressed.
So he built this hotel as kindof like a hub to do business out
of when he would come to town todo business for his ranch and
his, you know, kind of business.
(09:41):
He built it always as a hotel.
A lot of people believe it wasbuilt just as his house.
It wasn't built as his house, hebuilt it as a hotel in the first
place, just kind of for hisemployees or businessmen to stay
at when they would come throughand work with him or for him.
So that is why the original GageHotel was founded.
And also there, you know,there's a railroad that goes
(10:03):
through here, hundreds ofthousands of ranching acres.
So that's that.
And then ever since then, it'sjust kind of expanded.
Something else that is very kindof sad but interesting, is
Alfred Gage himself actuallypassed away the year that it
opened.
So he didn't even get to fullyenjoy that when he built it.
(10:27):
Yeah.
So it's it is it's sad, but it'syou know, he built it in 1927
and then he passed away shortlyafter.
So that's a little bit ofhistory as well.
SPEAKER_02 (10:37):
I do have to say that as soon as you pull into
the town, there is a sense ofhistory, an immediate sense of
history.
And it's it's a real uh mix ofoh, this looks like an old
western town.
Uh, and then mixed with what theheck?
(10:57):
This is like a 1940s or 20shistory.
This uh sort of the made methink of um oh the Great Gadsby.
Uh it's this really cool mix uhwhen you get to the area that
the Gage Hotel, uh the GageResort and Spa.
SPEAKER_04 (11:12):
Yeah, all at the same time, it felt very modern
and like current.
Yeah, yeah, at the same time.
SPEAKER_02 (11:18):
Yeah, it didn't feel dusty, outdated, old dead town.
There's no feeling of that goingon.
SPEAKER_01 (11:25):
Right.
Exactly.
Exactly.
And so yeah, it's just it'sfunny when you uh either when
you're driving into the town,you're either coming in uh from
Alpine or from Fort Stockton orSanderson, and you know, from
there you're just drivingthrough empty ranch land or
empty desert land, and then youjust pull in to the town and
(11:48):
then you're here.
Yeah, you're like, oh, that cameout of nowhere.
So what the heck?
SPEAKER_03 (11:53):
That's exactly what happened to us coming from
nowhere, and here's something.
SPEAKER_02 (11:57):
Yeah, yeah, here's a towel.
Yeah, yeah.
A jewel in the midst of all thecarbon that surrounds it, a
diamond.
SPEAKER_01 (12:04):
Exactly, exactly.
SPEAKER_04 (12:06):
So who owns the property now?
SPEAKER_01 (12:09):
So now, like you said earlier, it's Mr.
JP Bryan, and he bought thegauge in the late 70s.
I believe it was 1978, and sobut before that, it had sat
abandoned for a long time.
Uh and just had kind of fallenapart.
And so he purchased it.
(12:29):
He is out of Houston, he's abusinessman, and um he purchased
it in the 70s and then startedrestoring it gradually, and so
that main building that you see,the Gage Hotel, is the original
building, and there's 14 hotelrooms in there, and that's what
was built in 1927.
(12:50):
And so since the 70s, he's justbeen growing it and building and
renovating it since then, and hestill owns it to this day.
SPEAKER_02 (12:59):
Okay.
How many how many additionalrooms are there now?
SPEAKER_01 (13:01):
A total of rooms.
In total, we've got 48 units, 48uh places you can stay, and
that's including the historichotel and then the Los Protalis
courtyard is a very popularplace for people to stay.
We've got rooms with king bedsand fireplaces out there.
(13:22):
And then if you need a littlebit larger, we have rooms that
have two double-sized beds inthem, as well as a c an owner
suite, and then uh another suitethat has a porch.
Very serene area out there.
There's a fountain, there'syeah, it's a beautiful
courtyard.
Big time.
SPEAKER_04 (13:39):
And it's not a small one.
SPEAKER_01 (13:41):
Yes, it's there's 20 rooms out there, and then we
have the Captain Shepherd housewhere you guys stayed.
unknown (13:47):
Yay!
SPEAKER_01 (13:48):
And that was so cool.
It is so cool, and that house isthe original the the founder of
Marathon.
That was his home.
And that was Captain CaptainShepherd, and I believe it was
built in 1886, something sometclose to that.
And he built his home when hefounded this town, and it
(14:11):
reminded that the town remindedhim of Marathon, Greece, because
of the mountain structures,which is why it's called
Marathon, after Marathon,Greece.
SPEAKER_02 (14:21):
Which it doesn't explain why we really pronounce
this marathon, but we're yeah,but we're just in Texas.
SPEAKER_03 (14:29):
So that's it, baby.
SPEAKER_01 (14:32):
Yeah, exactly.
And so there's seven rooms overthere where y'all stayed, and
then we have about sixoff-property little casita, like
little small houses.
And so there's 48 total rightnow.
And then by fall of 2027, wewill have 24 more rooms built.
SPEAKER_03 (14:49):
Wow.
Wow.
Where are those going?
SPEAKER_01 (14:52):
Yeah, what are those going to be like those are going
behind the Los Protaliscourtyard?
I don't know when y'all werethere, if y'all saw where all
the trees were being cut down.
It's oh, it's kind of adjacentto the spa.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (15:04):
Okay.
And y'all again, this coverslike blocks.
Like, yeah, this isn't just likeone building, it's kind of like
very spread out.
Yeah, but like Los Angeles isnot like New York City, right?
New York City's all these onearea in Los Angeles.
SPEAKER_02 (15:23):
And like Los Angeles, all of the grounds are
beautiful.
We stayed at uh the captain'shouse, as you said, and I walked
out.
We had just gotten there, putour luggage down, and we're kind
of exploring a bit, and I walkedout on the the balcony or the it
covers the whole second floorupstairs.
I walked out on that, and therewas like it was like there was a
(15:46):
feeling, a really strong emotionwaiting for me there on the
balcony.
A good one, and I walked intoit, and there was such peace.
And you could you could hardlyhear anything, maybe a bird
singing.
There was no traffic noise thatI was.
I mean, it's a small town,right?
There was no traffic noise I washearing, and it just felt so
good.
(16:06):
I went back in and told her,wow, uh that I just walked out
of that balcony and he was readyto, okay, we can live here.
Yeah, it felt amazing.
I mean, it's hard to explain.
SPEAKER_01 (16:17):
I think it's very impressive for being so remote.
It's just a very impressiveoperation.
And, you know, we just have somany dedicated and hardworking
people that keep keep thisoperation going.
You know, we've got beautifulgrounds that you know, we have a
great grounds and and gardensteam.
We've got the Gage Gardens,which is 27 acres.
(16:38):
Hopefully, y'all got to walkthrough there.
SPEAKER_04 (16:40):
Um we'll be showing y'all that on our socials as
well.
SPEAKER_01 (16:44):
Yeah.
So we've it's just, you know,like you said, it's it stretches
blocks.
So yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (16:52):
And y'all, this is in like a desert part of Texas.
Like this is and you're on thelike so close to the border of
Mexico, and you're just kind ofout in these very rugged, harsh,
desert areas and like rocky,mountainous dirt-filled kind of
mountainous right there, butit's not like everything is like
(17:16):
lush and green and beautiful.
SPEAKER_03 (17:17):
Green play around there.
SPEAKER_04 (17:20):
But when you are at the Gage Hotel and the Gage
Resort and Spa, the grounds it'san oasis.
Yes, yes.
And so they kind of theycomplement the scenery, but they
also enhance it and bring morelife to it than just like the
surrounding area.
(17:40):
So that's one kind of very coolthing.
Um, and Rory, you talked aboutstepping out on the patio um out
in the in the um shepherd housethat we were in, but we also had
our own balcony deck in ourroom.
So we had like like that wasjust so fun, and it was crazy
(18:00):
because in the morning when Iopened the door and stepped out
on the deck, there's this gianttree at the deck that goes with
our room.
And like bird after bird waslike flocking, and you could
hear them just moving around andshaking the leaves and like
flying away because I, you know,had disturbed them and woken
them up or whatever.
(18:21):
But I mean it was like so manybirds living in those trees, and
you know, because they found apeaceful place as well.
But uh, it was just such a sucha beautiful place.
Now I have a question for you,Samuel.
So there were, I think it wasrooms number four and number
(18:41):
five.
They had two doors.
So what's the deal?
Like, and they weren't together.
So, like, y'all, we walk up thestairs, it's like a mansion
feel, right?
So you kind of like we walked upthe stairs to the right was our
room, and then ahead was likerooms three and four or four and
(19:01):
five.
But then the once you're at thetop, you've you climb the
stairs, you're on the floor.
If you go to the left, there'slike additional doors labeled
number four.
And I'm like, wait, but four'sover there and four's over here.
So what's the deal?
SPEAKER_01 (19:16):
So the deal is there's those two rooms, number
four and number five, those donot have the the bathrooms
ensuite, they're not inside theroom.
SPEAKER_03 (19:28):
Oh they're down the hallway.
SPEAKER_01 (19:31):
They're still, you know, the guest's private
bathroom.
You're the only one that usesit, but you do have your own key
to it.
And so you have to walk just afew steps down the hallway to
use the restroom or shower orwhatever it is.
And so, yeah, number four, whichhas two full-size beds in it,
and then number five has aking-size bed in it.
(19:53):
And so those that's that's whatthose mystery doors are.
Yes.
Okay, awesome.
Thank you.
SPEAKER_04 (19:59):
The whole house it's so nice that they're private to
that room.
SPEAKER_03 (20:02):
Yeah, yes, yeah, that's great.
SPEAKER_04 (20:04):
And you can have your own private bathroom
altogether, you know, becauseyou're you're not even having to
share it with your whoeveryou're in the room with.
SPEAKER_02 (20:11):
Yeah, yeah.
The whole house has such a areally cool historic feeling,
but it's uh and the mansionfeeling, like she said, but not
in a cold way.
It's very warm, lots of wood,very western in a sense.
It's got this great mix of ofthis, what you'd think of as the
West in the US, and also some ofthe mix of the Mexican influence
(20:33):
that just gives it a really,really cool vibe.
I'm sure there's a name forthat.
Uh, I'm sure your mom could tellus what it is, but whatever that
mix of styles is, but reallywarm feelings.
A little bit, yeah.
With big pieces of wood and allthis, yeah, yeah.
It makes it just makes you wantto hang out there.
SPEAKER_04 (20:51):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (20:51):
Um, well, we'll have some pictures of that too, like
she said, uh like the otherthings on our socials.
SPEAKER_04 (20:56):
And that also makes it a very inviting, like,
wedding destination or you know,events kind of space.
SPEAKER_02 (21:02):
Yeah, I mean it's set up for that, right?
SPEAKER_04 (21:04):
Yeah.
So, and then you also have thegardens, which can also serve
that.
So, if you want to you youtouched on the gardens, um,
which, you know, we got to walkthrough and they were really
pretty, but like you want toexpand on kind of some of those
features?
SPEAKER_01 (21:19):
Sure, sure, yeah.
So we we are very big withevents here as well.
That's a whole other thing thatwe do.
So we we do host a lot ofweddings here, and we have
several different areas wherepeople can decide to have their
ceremony.
The gardens is the most popularspot for that.
There's a beautiful rose gardenout there.
(21:42):
There's ponds, fountains.
It's very serene, like you guyssaw.
And so the gardens is a verypopular wedding uh ceremony
location, and then the backyardof the Captain Shepherd house
where y'all stayed.
That was the first um ceremonyspot.
So that's you know, they've gotit landscaped out there, they
(22:03):
have the lights, it's verypretty.
We and then we have thecourtyards by the historic
hotel.
So it's it's almost it's like adestination wedding still in
Texas, you know, and and somepeople say, Well, why do you
want to go all the way out thereand get married?
Well, it is it's you know, whenyou come out here, it's just
(22:23):
like you said, a beautiful,serene location, and it's just
that desert western vibe.
So people love that like desertchic appeal.
SPEAKER_02 (22:35):
Yes, very much, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (22:36):
And and and for me, like we had a wedding.
SPEAKER_02 (22:39):
What do you do for a wedding?
You invite your friends andfamily, those you're close to,
right?
And then you have it somewhere,but there's still every
distraction in the world that'spulling it, everyone who's
there, and like uh uh well, Igot oh, I'm sorry, I gotta go, I
just got this call about.
But when you go to Marathon tohave your wedding, wedding a
(23:00):
destination there with withthese guys, you're there, and
it's so cool because, in myopinion, I think that as a
family and friends, thatcommunity, that that love, and
that that whole thing would bemuch stronger and more present
because you're all theretogether, and there's nowhere
you're gonna go to get away fromit in a good way.
(23:22):
So I think it'd be a fantasticplace.
It's just fantastic.
SPEAKER_01 (23:27):
It's very, you know, when when people have weddings
here, it it's just a veryclose-knit celebration.
You know, it's their closestfriends, our closest family who
are willing to take the trip outhere and spend the weekend with
them.
And uh it's just fun.
It's and it's it's just fun.
SPEAKER_02 (23:44):
So so tell me this.
We've we've talked about uh allthe uh the facilities that you
guys have for people to stay, uhthe spa.
Tell us a little bit about thespa in just a second.
And we've talked about uh theplace we stayed, how much we
love that, and that the placehas a wonderful energy to it,
the whole town.
Uh so two things.
Tell me about the spa, and thenbecause the wedding guests, I
(24:05):
think, as a destination thing,and any guest would love that.
But then I want to find outabout what do they do for food
because we've talked about howsmall of a town it is, and well,
is there you know, is thereanywhere to eat?
Well, we stayed there.
We know they're wonderful,really cool, fun places to eat,
and even a uh grocery store, uhsort of a general store, if you
(24:26):
will.
But okay, tell us a little bitabout the spa, and then what are
their options if people do gothere for food and stuff?
SPEAKER_01 (24:32):
This spa, the spa is amazing.
So it's not very old.
It's the spa, I would say, isless than 10 years old, so it's
a newer addition to ourfacilities, and they just do
great, great work over there.
They've got massages, facials, Ithink they do waxing services,
they do hand and foot soakrenewals, they've got several
(24:53):
aestheticians, very good massagetherapists.
There's an outdoor hydrotherapypool, which is like a large hot
tub for soaking.
There's a steam room, there's afitness center, which is
attached to the spa, and inthere there's all the equipment.
And then there's an infrared hotsummer.
SPEAKER_04 (25:12):
Oh, nice.
SPEAKER_01 (25:13):
Awesome.
SPEAKER_04 (25:14):
And sorry, I didn't mean to cut you off, but I
wanted to just point out thatthe fitness center is part of
your stay.
Just like if you were gonna stayat the Holiday Inn and go to
their little fitness center,yes, y'all, you know, y'all have
a real one, like a really niceone that is just part of your
room and it's part of what yourI can't believe you said the
(25:34):
name of an of a rival hotel.
SPEAKER_02 (25:37):
Well, of course, not America.
There are no rival hotels.
SPEAKER_04 (25:39):
No, they're not even I wouldn't call them a rival at
all.
SPEAKER_03 (25:43):
Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_01 (25:45):
Yes.
So if, you know, when you staywith us, you do have access to
that fitness center.
People like to go in there andjust have a little workout, use
the infrared hot sauna, book aspa appointment.
It's just a very relaxingexperience over there.
They do the spa is veryimpressive.
(26:05):
You know, it's one of thepremier destination spas in West
Texas.
So it's, you know, and the forthe fact that it's out here in
Marathon is very, veryimpressive.
SPEAKER_02 (26:17):
Yeah, yeah.
So, okay, uh, I love buffalo.
People love, you know, they goplaces just to see buffalo.
I remember being in the Badlandssurrounded by buffalo.
I didn't see any buffalo there,but coming to mind, there's
something about a white buffalo.
Uh you kind of, what's the dealwith the white buffalo?
SPEAKER_01 (26:35):
Yes, something, yes, yeah.
So we um the white buffalo baris our is our bar.
It's our it's in the back of ourrestaurant, and it is a very
well-known bar in Texas, theWhite Buffalo Bar.
They the atmosphere in there isjust unlike any anything else.
It's there's a large whitebuffalo head on on the wall,
(26:58):
which just gives it its name,White Buffalo Bar.
And they make a very goodprickly pear margarita.
That's what we're known for, isprickly pear margarita.
And in West Texas, why not?
So right.
SPEAKER_04 (27:12):
Yeah, as you will be watching on our socials as we
kind of talk about Big Ben andthe area, you're going to see a
lot of prickly pear.
And uh it's very, very commonout there.
So if you don't have a contextyet for what he's talking about,
we sure will.
There's prickly pear everywhere.
(27:33):
And we learned about the purpleprickly pear plants out in the
desert.
I know.
Okay, anyway, back to your bar.
SPEAKER_01 (27:42):
Yes.
So the bar, the yes, pricklypear.
It's like, you know, like theprickly pear cactus.
So that's the context there.
But very good, very, verypopular.
People, people love that.
And it's just a great, greatvibe.
It's not a it's not a largebuilding by any means.
It's a smaller, smaller area,but it's people love there.
People love it.
(28:02):
They come here just to hang outat the bar.
So that's that's the whitebuffalo bar.
And and you know, there's aninteresting story of people ask
us, where did this white buffalocome from?
Is this from here?
Well, where is this from?
And so the story with the whitebuffalo from the bar is our
(28:22):
owner, Mr.
JP Bryan, he's very involved inin history.
He owns a museum in Galveston.
He he loves he loves Texashistory, history in general.
And he was visiting a museum uhyears ago, and he was in there
and he he wanted to purchasethis white buffalo head, is the
(28:43):
story.
He wanted to purchase this whitebuffalo head to to put
somewhere.
He just loved it.
And the owner said, I will notsell you this white buffalo
head.
I you you cannot, it's not forsale.
And so instead, Mr.
Brian just bought the entiremuseum so he could just have the
white buffalo.
Oh, it is for sale.
(29:05):
So everything's negotiable,apparently.
But that's the that's the story,and that's where we gather it
from.
SPEAKER_02 (29:13):
That's pretty great.
Okay, so there's the whitebuffalo bar, you gotta check
that out.
Really cool place.
But there are several foodoptions.
SPEAKER_04 (29:22):
For example, we attach to that is the 12-gauge
restaurant.
SPEAKER_02 (29:25):
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (29:27):
Tell us about the food there.
A little bit like what's theapproach to the chef.
SPEAKER_01 (29:33):
Yeah, so the 12-gauge restaurant is our more
upscale restaurant.
It's like a contemporaryAmerican cuisine um with a West
Texas kind of flair, West Texaschic flair.
Which it should have.
It should, yes.
It's very i it's nice.
I I like it.
It's very West Texas and theyserve great food.
(29:56):
They'll do, you know, steak,chicken fried steak, but then
they also do some.
Great fish, bunch of differentoptions, and it's very, it's
very good.
SPEAKER_02 (30:05):
Yeah, unless less you think lest you think, well,
they're landlocked.
Well, what's the fish thing?
Let me remind you that Texas ison the Gulf of America, so they
are not landlocked.
They can get fresh seafoodanytime they want.
SPEAKER_01 (30:21):
Exactly.
Yes, and we've yes, and we'vegot great chefs here that that
do that prepare that reallywell.
So yeah, the 12-gaugerestaurant, people also people
come here just to eat at ourrestaurant.
You know, they come here for therestaurant and the bar.
And you know, that's just that'sjust a large part of the
experience.
SPEAKER_02 (30:40):
Yeah, having a restaurant of that caliber in
the middle of nowhere, it's Imean, it's shocking, really.
Uh what we uh we ate there, itwas wonderful, but we the first
night ate at Ghost Fire Pizza.
Ghostfire Pizza.
SPEAKER_01 (30:56):
Yes, Ghost Fire Pizza.
So that's that's our newestaddition to our food and
beverage offerings.
And that for context forlisteners, is is just down the
street past the spots attachedto a local distillery, Desert
Ghost Distillery.
And it is a brick oven pizza.
So it's like that thin crustpizza.
(31:18):
They make it there right infront of you.
And it is just it's amazing.
My favorite is the pesto Diablo,it's incredible.
Nice got that pesto and hothoney on it.
Chef's kiss.
It's so good.
SPEAKER_02 (31:34):
That's what I had, man.
That's what I had.
That's a recommendation.
I was like, uh, honey on apizza.
Okay, I'll try it.
SPEAKER_04 (31:41):
And we we actually have an excerpt from some guys
there.
So we're gonna hop to that realquick and let y'all hear a
little bit about our experiencein Ghostfire.
Okay, so we'll insert there.
Um and he talked about the um Ididn't get a good recording of
(32:03):
the sourdough part.
So I might just mention that.
And then we can go into um wedidn't do the brick wall, but we
did the six.
Well, we can talk about it realquick.
Yeah.
So what is it?
Oh hold on.
So um yeah, it was really fun totalk to the chef who had been in
(32:26):
Naples, Italy.
Which, y'all, if you ever heardRoy talk about pizza, he goes on
and on about his experience inNaples and all of that.
SPEAKER_02 (32:34):
As a matter of fact, their oven says Napoli, so it's
an oven, a brick oven fromNaples, Italy.
SPEAKER_04 (32:39):
But he learned about sourdough crusts, and so the
pizza that they make there is asourdough, so that's really,
really fun.
So, um, but tell us about thebrick vault, brewery and
barbecue.
We actually didn't have time togo there.
SPEAKER_01 (32:56):
Yes, the brick vault, barbecue and brewery,
it's fantastic barbecue, andlike you said, they they brew
their own beer there as well.
It's open on the weekends.
So that's something that isinteresting out here is you
know, most of our restaurants,if you if you want to get the
best experience about eating atall of our different
restaurants, the weekends iswhen everything is open.
(33:18):
So the brick vault is openThursday through Sunday.
They do great barbecue.
On Thursdays, they'll do like asmash burger special just to
kind of switch it up.
But they do brisket, turkey.
Turkey is amazing as well, andit's just really good.
And you know, they they justthey work hard.
SPEAKER_04 (33:35):
That's very Texas, you know, y'all, because Texas
is really the longer Rory and Iare living in Texas, we're
learning, you know, people areall about the barbecue.
SPEAKER_02 (33:44):
Barbecue.
We travel to other countries andthey talk about the vegan.
SPEAKER_04 (33:50):
You know, this trip, I think Rory won the KJ versus
vegan.
SPEAKER_02 (33:55):
As I always do.
SPEAKER_04 (34:00):
Right.
SPEAKER_02 (34:01):
When's the last time you walked by a barbecue pit and
said, Oh, it smells like they'rebaking, like they're grilling
broccoli?
SPEAKER_04 (34:07):
Grilled broccoli is yum.
Grilled asparagus is yum.
SPEAKER_02 (34:11):
You walk by a barbecue pit or a restaurant and
you smell the meat.
SPEAKER_04 (34:14):
Whatever.
Okay, so we also now we also gotsome vegetarian breakfast.
I had okay, y'all, the bestbreakfast potatoes I've ever had
were at V6 Coffee.
SPEAKER_02 (34:28):
Yeah, we gotta brag on this place.
Man, it's a big but that'sanother thing.
You're in a tiny town.
You've got this upscalerestaurant, you've got your own
brewery and barbecue, you've gota pizza place, right?
You've got the the uh bar, thewhite buffalo bar, and you've
got a huge, it's big coffee shopright next door is a roastery.
SPEAKER_04 (34:49):
Yeah, and it's not just coffee, like they serve
food.
SPEAKER_02 (34:53):
Yeah, I had their breakfast, two eggs, uh sausage,
see, he's at the breakfastpotatoes.
I was not breakfast, breakfastpotatoes, coffee.
The breakfast potatoes wereamazing.
The whole meal, y'all.
Like the two ladies, okay, theshow.
Yeah, we we'd just finishedordering, and one of the ladies
(35:14):
came out of the kitchen and shesaid, Hey, and I was like, Hey,
and she's being so nice.
And I walked over to talk to herbecause she was being so nice,
and she gave me a hug and shesaid, Um, you're so-and-so, and
I was like, Nope, I'm Rory.
And she said, Oh, you look justlike so-and-so.
And I was like, Yep, nope, notme.
The other lady came out, I said,Well, I'm giving you a hug too.
(35:35):
So I take her.
It was great.
That's one thing that you'llfind about marathon is the the
sense of community.
It is very real there.
Yeah, I love that.
Yeah, really cool.
So, all right, use it's coffee.
SPEAKER_04 (35:48):
Another thing that you can get at V6, you can buy
things for a takeaway lunch sothat you can take it with you
and go on your adventure.
SPEAKER_02 (35:56):
So you can take it away.
SPEAKER_04 (35:59):
Because Marathon is a nice place to stay with you.
Where what is what is marathonis a nice place to stay when
you're gonna go to the park.
So if you have more to say aboutfood, Samuel, go for it.
And or this can be your segueinto the park.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (36:17):
So VC, like you know, V6 is amazing.
I love the V6 coffee bar.
They they, like you said, theydo a great breakfast.
I've heard that from a lot ofpeople that they the breakfast
potatoes are amazing.
And they are.
I agree.
And so, like, yeah, too,exactly.
What you were saying is, youknow, uh, we are a great, you
know, base camp to go into BigBand National Park.
SPEAKER_04 (36:42):
Which you want to go to, just saying.
SPEAKER_01 (36:43):
Yeah.
If you're come all the way outhere, you have gotta check it
out.
It's just it's just incredible.
And a lot of people are here tosee the park.
And so there's not a lot of, youknow, you can't, there's not
any, there's not very many foodoptions in the park.
And so you you really need totake something with you.
And so what the V6 coffee shopwill do is you can order a box
(37:08):
lunch and take it with you.
So you can order it the daybefore or early in the morning,
and then they can get it to youa little bit after that.
And it's usually like a sandwichand chips or something like
that, just like a little picniclunch you can take with you on
your hike or on your you knowyour drive through the park.
And it's just very handy to dothat.
(37:29):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (37:29):
Now, for our British listeners, he means a sandwich
and crisps.
Just saying.
SPEAKER_01 (37:35):
Oh yes.
And we, you know, you mentionedyour British listeners.
We we have people come here fromall over the world, from from
Britain, from uh fromeverywhere.
We we really do.
SPEAKER_02 (37:50):
I'll bet.
I'll bet.
SPEAKER_04 (37:52):
They should come.
It's worth the trip.
SPEAKER_02 (37:53):
So I'm gonna jump on what he said as far as it being
a place to stay, coming in andin and out of the park.
It's it's really awesome.
But I say you need to spend aday there, at least a day there.
In Marathon.
In Marathon.
In Marathon.
It's just I mean, you won'tregret it.
It just to sit in the vibe andthe community of the place is
really cool.
(38:14):
And you can see the garden, uh,you can check out the other the
other parts of their properties,spend a day at the spa.
It's just a really cool place tobe.
SPEAKER_04 (38:24):
One of the things too I wanted to point out, you
were talking Rory was talkingabout how peaceful it is.
Samuel was pointing out like theweddings and the events that you
can have.
And like, if you just need areally like what you're maybe in
a season in your life and youjust need to get away.
SPEAKER_03 (38:41):
Yeah, absolutely.
SPEAKER_04 (38:42):
You need some just quiet you time, maybe to plan
your your next year, or youknow, just you need to grieve
because you've gone through acrazy season and whatever it is,
like this is the place to go.
SPEAKER_03 (38:58):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (38:59):
To just have some you time and meet you and God
time, breathing time, you know,because it's so peaceful, and so
it can be that for you too.
SPEAKER_03 (39:12):
So it can be it can be just your quiet getaway, it
can be your super fun vacationtime, yeah, adventure, it can be
your entrance to the park andall of those adventures and and
explorations.
SPEAKER_04 (39:24):
Like it it I love that it serves all of those
purposes.
So whatever season you're in, orwhatever need that you might
have in your life right now foryour travel needs, this is a
place to check out and considerand go.
SPEAKER_02 (39:38):
Marathon and the gauge resort and spa.
SPEAKER_01 (39:42):
Yes, a hundred percent.
And you know, you're saying, youknow, you and your in God time.
I think this is one of the bestplaces to see God's creation is
out here in the mountains.
I think it's great.
SPEAKER_02 (39:52):
Yeah, and it blows your mind totally unexpected.
If you're not, if you've neverbeen down there and you're from
Texas, what it blows your mind.
This is Texas, holy cow! And ifyou're from Colorado, you think,
yeah, we got all the mountainsor Utah or Idaho.
No, you don't have all themountains.
It's really cool.
SPEAKER_01 (40:13):
Yeah.
Yes, yes, yes, yes.
SPEAKER_04 (40:16):
And Samuel, just confirm real quick.
Remind me, was I right about thethe length of the drive from
Marathon into like the entranceto the park?
SPEAKER_01 (40:27):
Yes, I would say so.
Yeah, I think an hour is that sowe I say it's a 45-minute drive
just to the entrance, and thenit's another, you know, another
20 to 30 minutes to the mainvisitor center, which is Panther
Junction.
And so an hour, hour and 15 justto that center point visitor
(40:47):
center.
And that's about as closest asyou can get as like a nice place
to stay.
Absolutely.
Right.
SPEAKER_04 (40:55):
Because yeah, yeah, I mean, I guess you can camp in
the park if you like you ifyou're doing that, but like for
a hotel or for a lodging option,yeah.
This Big Ben Park is so giantlyhuge that you you're not like an
(41:16):
hour is close.
And and that's that'sreasonable.
And you know, I would you wouldneed to.
SPEAKER_02 (41:22):
I would I would I would frame it like this.
You might hear people say, Yeah,it's the only place to stay.
So, you know, that's where westay.
Those same words.
Yeah, it is the only place tostay.
That's why you go there becauseit is the place you want to go.
It's what Samuel said as far asnice accommodations and
restaurants and and the bar andthe hanging out, the cool
(41:44):
community, that's where you wantto be.
SPEAKER_01 (41:47):
Yes, yeah, and people, you know, people I love,
I tell people that all the time,you know, you really need
multiple days here.
If you want to go into the park,you know, go into the park a
day, hang out at the gauge aday, you know, then see the
surrounding towns a day,something like that.
I you know, it's and a lot ofpeople, like you said, they can
(42:08):
camp in the park.
You can there's campsites,plenty of campsites, a few
lodging options in the park, butyou know, it's not the same as
where we're at.
And so, you know, a lot ofpeople will do that too.
They'll go, they'll stay here anight, they'll go into the park,
and then they'll stay with us onthe way back, you know, to
rejuvenate.
SPEAKER_02 (42:28):
Yes, yes.
SPEAKER_04 (42:32):
You mentioned that some of the surrounding towns.
We are going to be like in ourseries this month, as we're
talking about Bake Bend, we aregoing to share about Terlingua,
which is another kind of uh townthat borders the park.
Yeah, um and it's totallydifferent um experience and vibe
than you're gonna find inMarathon.
(42:53):
So it's um you have some reallycool options, but I think
marathon needs to be like amust-do when you come down.
SPEAKER_01 (43:03):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (43:04):
That's our two cents for you.
SPEAKER_01 (43:06):
I agree.
I agree.
Yeah, cool.
SPEAKER_02 (43:10):
Man, well, thank you for being with us, Sandra.
Is there anything anything youwant to add before we go?
SPEAKER_01 (43:15):
Well, I mean, I just think it, you know, a lot of
people have lived in Texas theirentire some people have lived in
Texas their entire lives, andthey've never never been out
this far west.
And you know, that's it's calledfar west Texas.
And so I just would encourageanyone who has lived in Texas
who has never been this far outto come and just see it because
(43:36):
it's just incredible.
You you know, it's it's hard tobelieve we are in Texas
sometimes, but we are, and it'sit's great.
Yeah, it's very yeah.
SPEAKER_04 (43:43):
What if and if we're flying in, is get is El Paso
going to be kind of the closestum airport for folks, Stockton
or where would they fly into ifthey're coming from other states
or countries?
SPEAKER_01 (43:58):
So actually the closest commercial airport is
Midland, the Midland Odessa.
SPEAKER_04 (44:02):
Okay, Midland Odessa.
SPEAKER_01 (44:04):
And that's about a two and a half hour drive from
us.
Okay, and then El Paso.
Um, and then of course, ifyou're if you can fly private,
if you've got your own plane,there's a private airport in I
think Fort Stockton and also inAlpine, which is Alpine's only
30 minutes.
SPEAKER_02 (44:19):
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
I would say this uh Texans havea very strong sense of pride.
Growing up next door inLouisiana, we always knew it.
My dad's from Texas, we alwaysfelt it.
But what struck me, honestly, Ihad these thoughts going through
my head after visiting downthere, the level of pride, like
it just went up.
I mean, seriously, because ifyou've never been there, you
(44:41):
need to go and it willabsolutely blow your mind.
Really, really beautiful,wonderful, and you'll think,
wow, yeah, this is this is mytaxes.
Exactly, yes, it does get moretaxes than this.
SPEAKER_04 (44:53):
Love it.
SPEAKER_01 (44:54):
Yep.
Hey, how do people find youguys?
People can find us on we're onInstagram at GageResort.
We've got our website, which isstill, I believe, gagehotel.com.
So, gagehotel.com.
We're on all the socials, we'renot on any third-party booking
platforms.
You can book your stay directlythrough our website or giving us
(45:16):
a call.
SPEAKER_04 (45:18):
Okay, great.
Well, we will put thatinformation in our show notes so
you guys can reference that.
Just call them direct and gofrom there.
Love it.
SPEAKER_02 (45:26):
Yeah.
Man, thanks for joining us,Daniel.
Spa, y'all gotta check it out.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (45:32):
Thank y'all so much for having me this episode.
SPEAKER_04 (45:37):
Thank y'all so much for joining us on this episode.
We look forward to sharing moreadventures with you surrounding
our adventures in the nationalpark.
We hope we've inspired you thisepisode.
Please subscribe to Ray andShare a podcast.
(45:58):
And please like and follow us onInstagram, YouTube, and
Facebook.
And our main hub is our websiteat www.roomies.com.com.
(46:21):
We'll be there until next time.
Thanks for listening.
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