Paul is Here

There are two special people in Marfa this weekend: mega-millionaire, pop star Beyonce, and Paul. I have not seen Beyonce yet myself, primarily because she has not been to Padre's and I haven't been anywhere else. I had heard that she was spotted at both of the two very nice restaurants in town, so I had Paul take me to Maiya's the evening he arrived. Maiya's has been closed every time I've been to Marfa in the past, and it was great to finally experience it. I had an amazing vegetable plate that balanced out the cheeseburgers and tuna melts of recent days. We later learned that Beyonce opted for Marfa's gourmet grilled cheese parlor Friday night which is right next door to our casita. 

I'm sure Beyonce would have had a good time if she had crossed the street over to Padres after her grilled cheese. In order to test out the sound system, Paul hooked up my turntable and we pulled out some great albums to share. Some people came up to flip through records and were excited to see particular ones that had special meaning to them. We are encouraged about having some sort of record party be a regular weekly event as an alternative to the jukebox on band-less nights. 

Saturday night we had our first big show: Grupo Exito, a local Tejano band was requested for Marfa High School's 20 year class reunion. Of course, the graduating class of '92 consisted of less than 30 people (and they couldn't all make it) so this show was open to the public and drew a decent crowd. I felt a little sheepish for proclaiming to the reunion organizers that Paul would make the band sound great  - no one could make this band sound great - but, they were fun and everyone had a good time. There was a steady flow at the bar, lots of dancing, and only one guy had to be kicked out. I was grateful to have Junie behind the bar tonight: it was only his second shift and he was a natural. Yvonne and I were convinced that the lack of 'trouble' from the crowd was due in large part to his large presence behind the bar. With Junie training, there was no room for me to learn behind the bar tonight, but I did bar back when needed and I made my first drink for a customer: a vodka tonic. Paul and I were beaming all night; this is definitely a dream come true for us and we couldn't think of anywhere else we would rather have been. 

Padre's is closed for the next 3 days according to the old schedule, and we will get down to some serious business during this off-time, as well as have some time to expand our fun beyond this one block of Marfa. Maybe we'll catch Beyonce at the taco stand on her way out of town today.