TEXAS, EL PASO: L & J CAFE, A PANORAMIC VISTA, AND THE AIRPORT

July 3, 2021

It was mid-afternoon and we hadn't eaten. We were hungry. We saw this billboard on our way to our restaurant of choice. Ah, Texas, gotta love ya.

We had hoped to eat at Kiki's, a restaurant we had gone to on a previous trip, but it was randomly closed for the weekend. We did some online research and settled on L & J Cafe, which turned out to be a great find. 

It was established in 1927 across the street from the old city cemetery.

This has to be the most barren cemetery I've ever seen.

A very popular place, L & J Cafe appears to have absorbed adjacent buildings and even has a separate building for a gift shop (which was closed). How many restaurants have you been to that have their own gift shop?

We got there at about 3:15 and at least ten people were lined up outside with more inside waiting for tables. We were told the wait would be 30-40 minutes, but it ended up being about 20 minutes. If it is this crowded at 3:15, I wonder what it is like at 6:00 PM?

Framed certificates proclaiming L & J Cafe "The Best  ________" (Restaurant in El Paso, Tex-Mex Food, of the Best, etc.) and dozens of magazine and newspaper reviews attest to its sustained popularity.

Not to mention the place was packed and there was also a table full of called-in orders waiting to be picked up.

And look who showed up the afternoon we were there--Frida!

We started with a bowl of guacamole and a shallow dish of white queso and chile dip, both the best we've had, especially the queso.

To be honest, we were pretty full by the end of the dips, but this was the last meal of our trip, so we both had another dish. Bob had chile rellenos, which he gave an A (which is saying a lot because he ate about twenty chile rellenos or chile relleno burritos on this trip). . . 

. . . and I had the combo plate that included a below average beef taco . . .

. . . and a shredded beef taquito, a chile relleno, a cheese enchilada, a bowl of chile colorado, a blob of guacamole, and the ubiquitous sides of rice and beans. The relleno and enchilada both get an A, and the rest a only a B+. It had been a while since I had eaten beef and it just wasn't hitting the spot.

While we were waiting for our table, Bob struck up a conversation with some people sitting next to us who were from El Paso. They suggested a scenic drive that goes up a mountain and gives a panoramic view of the city, so that's what we did as our final activity of the trip.

At the top of the drive there is a viewing deck from which we could see the entire expanse of El Paso. An unusually well-written narrative describes the valley below.

The arrow indicates the scenic overlook where we were standing. Note the location of the Juarez Mountains (located in Mexico), top right corner.

The mountains in the distance in the photo below are those mountains. 

We were surprised by how huge the combined cities of El Paso and Ciudad Juárez are. 

We could see the Rio Grande, the infamous border wall, and the other side of the wall that is Colonia Juárez, Mexico.

From there we checked into our hotel, still in a relative overindulged-Mexican-food-stupor. We fell asleep by 9:00 PM, had a good sleep, and headed for the airport around 6:00 AM.  By the time we turned in our rental car, we had added 1916 miles to the odometer. Not bad.

The El Paso Airport isn't huge--it has only three runways and fifteen gates on two concourses--but it handled 1.5 million passengers in 2020 (which was a plague year, no less).  By way of comparison, the airport nearest our home, Ontario International Airport, handled 2.5 million passengers in 2020, and LAX, the biggest airport on the West Coast, handled 28.8 million.

I love this paper chandelier, which I hadn't noticed on previous visits.

All in all, we had a terrific trip that encompassed an amazingly wide range of activities. Who knew that New Mexico has so much to offer? I sure didn't!  I enjoyed our trip so much that went back for a "Girls' Weekend" with my daughter last weekend!