Sun City

Currently In: El Paso, Texas
Next Up: Alpine, Texas


El Paso is known as Sun City.  They do have a lot of sunshine here!  But we found getting around to be kind of a struggle.
We stopped by the Visitor Center first - inside the Railroad and Transportation Museum and not well marked.  They didn't have any maps of walking tours left, so we downloaded the app at the host's suggestion and took off (after Johnny walked through another railroad museum)!

We saw this mural before the start of the tour.  It's painted right on the sidewalk and goes all the way over the bridge.

The app for the mural did not work as well as it should have, so we spent a good amount of time criss crossing the Segundo Barrio checking out the suggested murals. And we never found some of them!  The mural below was painted in 1975 and is a proud symbol of the barrio which was under threat of gentrification.

Another favorite is painted on the side of Mata's Grocery.  It's in the busy market section of the barrio and is so big I could only capture part of it in my photo.  The detail and colors in this one are brilliant.

The next mural is titled Sacred Heart Mural and is one of the most famous in Texas.  It tells the story of important people in the Segundo Barrio's history.  It includes teachers, authors, priests and inventors.

A tribute to the Aztec heritage is found in the mural about the myth of two gods who fell in love.

This beautiful mural represents protection over the entire El Paso community.

A central figure in the Chicano culture, this mural of Our Lady of Guadalupe was originally painted in 1981 and restored 1991.

This one made me laugh.  It shows that Texas is just not cowboys, and El Paso feels it is particularly a unique blend of cultures.

I loved this last one.  Its message is that the people of Segundo Barrio have stood strong and overcome their hardships despite its difficult history.  I love the colors!

Once we were finished checking out the Segundo Barrio, we drove to the Keystone Heritage Park.  Luckily, we found it without too much trouble!  But the clouds had set in.

There is a wetlands here, so we walked over to take a look at that first.  Not too much happening in the winter.

The botanical garden is a combination of desert flora, art and history of the El Paso region.  It was very well done.  We've seen most of the plants and trees during out time in the desert.

A really nice fountain was central to the garden.

There is a statue to one of the founding mothers of El Paso, Susan Shelby Magoffin.  Her husband was a trader, and she wrote a diary about life on the Santa Fe Trail in the 1840's.

The gardens had some beautiful mosaics of desert plants.

So that was our day in downtown El Paso.  This sure is an interesting city.