In a time of daily commutes and increasing congestion, it may be counterintuitive to think of driving as a relaxing activity. But for many decades in the last century, peaking in the 1950s, an unhurried Sunday drive was a common family diversion. To help you reconnect with this declining American pastime, we asked five writers to share their favorite leisurely detours across the state.
For Senior Writer Joe Nick Patoski, the allure of the road was cemented at a young age. When he was 7 years old, his dad bought a brand-new 1959 Studebaker Silver Hawk and took the family on a post-Christmas ramble. They drove to San Antonio to see the Alamo and then headed west on US 90 to Marathon, where they spent the night. The trip culminated in Patoski’s first visit to Big Bend National Park. “I saw the real Texas. The wide-open spaces validated all my kid fantasies,” he recalls. “I was smitten with the cowboy myth, Pecos Bill, and West Texas.” After eating at the Chisos Mountain Lodge dining room, Patoski climbed up a nearby “mountain,” which he realized on subsequent trips was nothing more than a 50-foot pile of rocks. But no matter; the view sparked a lifetime of returns to explore the vast landscapes of the park.
In this month’s cover story, Patoski writes about US 83, a route that reminds him of the Texas he grew up in. “Once you leave the interstate, it’s a pleasure to drive,” he says. “It makes me fall in love again with getting behind the wheel and just going.” His advice for those who live in the parts of the state where it’s all hustle and bustle is to go west and reconnect with the idea of motoring, slowing down and pulling over when you see something interesting. “With all our vast and varied road networks, we do it better than anyone,” Patoski says.
