howdy and welcome to the Texas bucket
list this show dedicated to the
incredible people wonderful places and
extreme adventures you can have right
here in the Lone Star State
my name is Shane McCall for this week we
head out to the Texas mountain trail
region to find a hotel in a very
desolate place and as luck would have it
we found one with one
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there is nothing like the beauty and
majesty of West Texas expansive
landscapes more stars than most see in a
lifetime and the stories of the Old West
make traveling to this part of our state
a must stop on any bucket list one town
in the trans-pecos has been sitting out
in the heart of the Chihuahuan Desert
and in the shadows of the glass
mountains since 1882 a place locals call
their
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it's just something I think that became
sort of local colloquialism and people
repeated and you immediately know if
you're somebody marathan you know that
he have lived here all their lives where
somebody says marathon you sort of
established yourself as a bit of an
outsider
JP bra prefers to call it marathon but
an outsider he is not since 1978 mr.
Brian has played a big role in the
revival of this little town thanks to
his love of Texas history we have the
greatest history of any state in the
Union and that's just not some Texas
brag you see it was all those years ago
driving between Houston and his ranch
near Big Ben that JP noticed the for
sale sign in the window of the town's
old hotel he decided to inquire and that
started a life-changing conversation
yeah I answered the phone we went
through the normal introductions and I
said well look I just want to ask you is
that is that building that hotel still
for sale dead still for sale and you're
the first guy to call what do you want
for it long pause finally says thirty
thousand dollars I said thirty thousand
dollars
well I could go down a little
the gage hotel had seen better days
built in 1927 the hotel was in rough
shape when mr. Brian acquired the old
Inn and that didn't sink in until after
his big purchase Oh horrified was
terrible I just started perspiring I
thought my gosh this is the biggest
mistake I've ever made my life
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built by famed architect Henry Trost who
also constructed Hotel Paisano down the
road Marfa there wasn't a doubt what
needed to be done after years of
research and restoration the hotel
reopened in 1981 - not much family you
know I say you build it and they'll come
or in this case you restore it and
they'll come kind of like what he did
nobody came just like living in this
desolate location perseverance has paid
off it may have taken about a decade but
the gates hotel finally started to get
the notoriety needed to attract out of
times that's been good for the old hotel
but it's been a godsend to the small
town of America it's been enormous ly
gratifying to see what's happened here
because we if you look at it now we just
didn't save this building we saved the
whole community wanting to make marathan
more than just an overnight stay JP and
his wife started to restore and renovate
businesses and buildings all over town
he definitely own sits still
continuously thinking about how to make
this town better huh
I dislike restoring things Bob pleasure
out of it seeing something that you know
is fundamentally could be wonderful if
somebody just would give it some time
and attention I don't know if I've been
as good about restoring people's I have
buildings but it's the same endeavor
whether it's a human or if it's just a
structure just caring for it and trying
to find the best parts to preserve or
enhance adding a store a dog-friendly 26
acre garden and several other businesses
is part of the process of making
marathon marvelous again they're not
many supporters of this sort of
community and maybe we can make a
difference and it'll miss small town
our way to kind of give back always read
the stories about the gage hotel and
it's beautiful but I had no idea it was
all of this well I think you know in it
I really believe that that's what that's
what changed the dynamics it's when
people came here and realized that this
is just not a little hotel there's
several appendages or parts of it they
suggest a bigger events going on here so
people start staying longer here it's
more than a place to stay it's a place
to explore a chance to soak in a Texas
lifestyle and a Southwest sort of way
that includes fancy drinks fine meals
and far-reaching views gives you
incredible displays at night the
beautiful vistas during the day
fabulous sunsets and so it really should
inspires while rest and relaxation are
the main reasons weary travelers make
their way to marathon sometimes
something extra is gained sort of like
soul searching without realizing here
even looking in the first place people
come here with all these ideas
frequently about how they're gonna
change the country how they're gonna do
things out here differently and what
they end up finding out is a country
change down
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