Starlight Theatre

There’s nowhere to hide in the desert. There you are laid bare before nature. Everything that exists has evolved to poke you, sting you, or bite you. Nothing will give you quarter. You are just footprints in the sea of sand, destined to blow away.

But in the desert there is also life, and it's where you'll find the famous Starlight Theatre. It's located in Terlingua Ghost Town, the ominously nicknamed town of 110 residents where a booming mercury mine was established in the 1880s. With money to be made came people, and by 1903 about 3,000 lived in the area. In 1931, the Chisos Movie Theater opened, screening movies and providing entertainment for the locals. But as many mines do, Terlingua's dried up by 1939. The town, and the theatre, fell into disrepair and abandonment.

This didn't stop people from coming, however. Even when the roof on the simple adobe-walled theater had fallen in, people showed up to light a fire, play music, dance, share stories, and enjoy 93 million miles of headroom. In 1991, the building got a facelift (and some implants, to be honest) and reopened as the Stalight Theatre, complete with a new roof.

On my visit, I drove past abandoned structures and a desert cemetery. An old jail stood just outside. Walking in, I half expected for the doors to shut behind me and a bloodsucking vampire to jump out like it was 'From Dusk Till Dawn'. I would meet my demise with hot blood spilled on the cold floor. Fortunately, I was received with hot chili and a cold margarita instead. Both were fantastic.

This place is truly unique. It's difficult to put into words just how out-there the Starlight Theatre is. Unless you drive the hundreds of miles and stand out on the front patio sucking in the desert air and gaze out into Mexico yourself, you won't understand. But if you do make the trek, you'll be rewarded with fantastic views, great food, and the chance to meet people who are even crazier than you are. And they may even invite you into a shack to shoot tequila and smoke something funny-smelling. Naturally, you'll have to agree. You can’t get a bad rep out here. After all, there’s nowhere to hide in the desert.