Exploring Downtown El Paso and UTEP

Friday, June 29, 2012--El Paso, TX

I got an early start today knowing that I would be spending a lot of time walking and exploring outdoors.  My goal was to see everything worth seeing in the downtown area if possible.

I headed first to the University of Texas at El Paso campus.  It is set in the foothills of the Franklin Mountains on the northern edge of downtown.  What makes it especially unique is that the major buildings are all built in Bhutanese style.  The original architect must have thought that the rust-colored mountain setting would be much like being in exotic Bhutan.  It works.  The buildings actually look quite nice.  And it definitely makes the campus unique in comparison to others.  While there, I visited the campus museum which houses a combination of scientific and historical exhibits.

I parked on the first street away from downtown that did not have a 2-hour limit.  I walked to the civic center area first where I picked up tourist information.  I visited the El Paso Museum of History and the nearby El Paso Museum of Art--both free and quite interesting.  Then I began exploring downtown by foot using a walking trail map I had gotten.

The old center of El Paso is undergoing a restoration.  The Plaza Theater redo was the impetus for it all, I think.  Several old office buildings have been restored near it.  The Plaza Hotel (which was the first high-rise Hilton Hotel is currently undergoing restoration.  The old Hotel Paso del Norte was restored AND had a huge addition built onto it to become the Camino Real Hotel.  Fortunately, the old lobby with its stained glass dome was retained as a bar.

Downtown is no longer a traditional shopping district.  All the old department stores have closed.  But the shopping district is alive as a place for Mexicans and poorer El Paso citizens to shop.  There are blocks and blocks of individually-owned shops serving clientele who walk across the bridge from Juarez every day.  The merchandise is typically cheap in price and quality and would not appeal to anyone except those living on a very limited budget.  And the shops are not attractive to see, since their profit margins are so narrow that they cannot maintain the buildings well.

Together, the downtown that is undergoing restoration as a tourist and convention area and the shopping district make for a lively center when compared to other cities.  But the feel in general is that of any border town in Texas (except bigger, since El Paso and Juarez combined have about 2.2 million people--the same as the San Antonio metropolitan area).

I returned to the car after 5 hours of exploring.  I was hot and thirsty and tired.  The outside temperature was 109 degrees F (43 degrees C)!  I headed to the cinema thinking I would see a film.  However, it was two hours before the next feature.  I went next door to Sam's Club and bought a large soda which I refilled twice!!!  Now I am back at the room and will go out to the movie later.  I need to read to determine whether I will see the German film Lola Versus (37% approval rating) or the American film Moonrise Kingdom (94% approval rating).  Oops.  I guess that looking up the Rotten Tomatoes approval ratings has told me which I should see.

Steps Taken:  19,427