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White Brush Suite @ Casa Blanca: Alpine, TX + Weekend Ideas

For a small town (population just over 6,000), Alpine continually surprises me.

This must be our 5th time visiting, and we still were able to find new things to do, see and eat.


On this visit, we opted for a cute and very clean Airbnb close to downtown, called The White Brush Suite, which is part of a grouping of accommodations under Casa Blanca.

Casa Blanca - The White Brush Suite (on the right) in Alpine, TX


This unit was perfect for us as a family of three, and the layout felt very spacious. The living room had a nice seating area with oversized chairs and a futon, which came in handy for additional sleeping space. I loved that our host provided a stack of local pamphlets and Texas travel guides - this is where we discovered a winery existed in the Davis Mountains! (I'll talk about this more later).

Living room area and main entrance to The White Brush Suite: Alpine, TX, reading the Texas Travel guide


Off the living room to the left was the bedroom with a queen size bed; the room was not overly big, but I appreciated the large closet. I'm the kind of traveler who likes to unpack and hang clothes up, so I definitely made use of the space to get organized. Extra linens (lots of towels!) and an iron/ironing board could also be found in here.

Bedroom + spacious closet at The White Brush Suite: Alpine, TX


Further toward the back, the unit branched off in two directions. To the left was the bathroom (with full tub) and nicely tiled shower. (I'm always happy to have a tub as it really comes in handy when traveling with a toddler.) To the right, was the kitchen. Although we did not cook while there, we found it to be well stocked with what we needed: wine glasses, a corkscrew, silverware, and of course - fresh coffee from Big Bend Coffee Roasters to get us through the morning.

Bathroom + kitchen located at the back of the unit at The White Brush Suite: Alpine, TX


Overall, we had such a great stay here. The location was convenient being so close to downtown. I also took the opportunity to go for a run in the morning for some fresh mountain air. Just a few blocks from the rental sits Sul Ross Campus and Hancock Hill. The hill has several different trails you can explore to get great views of the area. I had seen "The Desk" before, so I headed left from the parking lot on the blue loop. I would say this trail was moderate in difficulty - mostly because of the uneven footing along the way.

Heading up + the view at the top of Hancock Hill in Alpine, TX

After my adventure, I was ready for brunch; we went to Cedar Coffee & Supply around 11. We were disappointed to find that all food was sold out at that time, but I did order a matcha latte that was excellent.

Inside Cedar Coffee & Supply + their cute to-go cups in downtown Alpine, TX


After visiting Cedar Coffee, we went a block down to Judy's Bread and Breakfast. They had a great selection of breakfast and lunch items - all really good homestyle eats. We were intrigued to learn, upon paying, that we were part of a pay it forward chain. Someone had paid for our breakfast, so we kept it going buying the next group's (which of course was twice as expensive as ours haha) - I thought it was an inspiring idea.

One + two egg plates, and the BLTA (BLT with Avocado) from Judy's Bread and Breakfast: Alpine, TX


After filling our stomachs, we headed 15 minutes out of town to visit the Wassermann Wranch. Most often on these trips, we make adult plans - so I was happy to find something just for our little one. Unfortunately, it was extremely windy when we visited, so the animals were not as social as normal. The kangaroos just laid around - I had grand visions of them hopping all over before we arrived haha. The one kangaroo could barely keep its eyes open to eat a carrot...see below.


In addition to the red kangaroos, they also had alpaca, donkeys and a miniature horse. I was most intrigued by the mammoth donkeys they had on site - such beautiful creatures.



Some of the friends we made at Wassermann Wranch, Alpine, TX


So back to the stack of tourism booklets at the White Brush Suite - amongst the stack was a pamphlet for Chateau Wright just outside of Fort Davis. We finished at the ranch around 2:30, which is typically naptime, so we decided to make the drive from the ranch to the winery to let A sleep.


I'm so glad we went. The winery is very new - many of the vines still developing, but it's situated in the most beautiful setting. Nestled in the Davis Mountains, Chateau Wright has a simple tasting area outside, offering 6 different wines. The Heraldic Red (made of Tempranillo, Grenache and Mourvèdre) was our favorite - so we bought a bottle to share while we were there. (Bonus: the tasting fee is waived with the purchase of a bottle.) We also enjoyed the snacks from the food truck - especially the homemade hummus.

Looking down toward the vineyard at Chateau Wright + the lineup of wines offered for the tasting


After spending a relaxing afternoon sipping wine, we finished off our Saturday with an amazing meal at the Reata Restaurant in Alpine. The Reata was opened in 1995 "when a hungry West Texas rancher had a hankerin’ for some really great food", accounts the website. It was so successful that another Reata location was opened in Fort Worth in 2002.


The menu here was not huge, but it had a great selection of food. We ordered the mac and cheese, calamari, chicken salad and the rib eye dinner. We ended up returning home with 3 to-go boxes...the portions are very generous here! I also loved the house wine - the CF Ranch Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon which is produced by Texas vineyard, Fall Creek in Tow, TX.

Outside the restaurant + the house Cabernet Sauvignon at Reata Restaurant in Alpine, TX





We also realized that despite our previous visits to Alpine, we had yet to see all the murals in town! We stopped by the mural in Kokernot Park on our way home - which is really colorful and fun! If you're into murals like I am, you can see 44 of them using this great map.

Sul Ross Art Club produced a pop-inspired design by local artist Amanda Calhoun at Kokernot Park in Alpine, TX


For more ideas, you can always check out the Visit Alpine website. I also have a previous post on the Alpine region listed below.



Special thanks to Kiowa at Casa Blanca for hosting us this weekend! We will be back again soon!

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