The town of Fort Davis is full of historic buildings and is lovely to walk through. There are several shops, a library with free internet, and an old fashioned drug store with a soda fountain where they dip ice cream and make shakes. There is also a small grocery store if you need to pick up food stuffs. I think that this is an excellent example of a historic Texas town.

McDonald Observatory was a fun tour even though the sky was overcast and sprinkling rain during our visit. We chose to go to the daytime program on the sun and guided tour of some of the facilities. At the visitors’ center there is a gift shop, small cafeteria and an exhibit area. We learned a lot about the sun and its effect on earth even though the rainy, foggy weather kept us from actually using the telescopes. Our tour included a visit to the Harlan J. Smith telescope. At night this big telescope is in use, but during the day tour groups are given an up close look at it. We also saw the even bigger Otto Struve telescope. It has an “open design” and doesn’t look like a telescope at all! I am amazed at the technology involved and how deep into space these world class telescopes can see.

We also enjoyed a drive up the Davis Mountains State Park’s Skyline Drive. The view from the scenic overlook is wonderful and well worth the drive.