Seven Wonders of West Texas - Results
Category: Local...
Posted Sunday, August 05, 2007 at 06:03 PM [GMT-6]

I've been flooded with inquiries as to the voting results for the recent "Seven Wonders of West Texas" poll ("flooded" being a precise qualitative term found midway on the continuum bounded by "zero" and "two"). Most of the nominations were taken via comments to this post, and they were then turned over to MyWestTexas.com for the actual voting.

Although the deal was that I was to have access to the final results in order to post simultaneously with their appearance in the newspaper, that didn't happen, for whatever reason. But since not all my visitors have access to the local treeware version, and since the online story is a bit buried, here are the final results:

Man-Made "Wonders"

  • Balmorhea State Park (Toyahvale)
  • Our Lady of Guadalupe Shrine (Midland)
  • McDonald Observatory (David Mountains)
  • Indian Lodge (Davis Mountains)
  • Summer Mummers (Midland)
  • Southern Pacific Railroad Bridge, Pecos River Canyon (Val Verde)
  • Paisano Pete, world's largest railroad [sic] (Ed. – Should be "roadrunner") statue (Fort Stockton)

Natural "Wonders"

  • Chisos Mountains (Big Bend National Park)
  • Santa Elena Canyon (Big Bend National Park)
  • Marfa Lights
  • Guadalupe Peak/El Capitan (Guadalupe National Park)
  • McKittrick Canyon (Guadalupe National Park)
  • Caverns of Sonora
  • Monahans Sandhills

Thanks to everyone who nominated their favorite places in West Texas. Of the final fourteen, all but one (the Shrine, which I've never visited) came via your nominations on the Gazette.

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Comments

I can't remember what I voted for, now, but I was secretly rooting for the Pecos Cantaloupe as one of the Natural Wonders. Oh well.

"Although the deal was that I was to have access to the final results in order to post simultaneously with their appearance in the newspaper, that didn't happen, for whatever reason."

They're just jealous of your blogging super-powers. :)

Posted by: Denise at August 5, 2007 07:49 PM

Denise, I wonder if the cantaloupe was confusing: is it a natural wonder, or a man-made wonder? Perhaps we needed a category of "Best Collaboration Between Nature and Man." But I agree with you; whatever their category, Pecos cantaloupe are a wonderful creation.

They're just jealous of your blogging super-powers.

That's sweet. Where do I send the five bucks? ;-)

Posted by: Eric at August 5, 2007 08:21 PM

Yeehaw! Of my two nominations, one made the man-made top seven (Summer Mummers), and the other (Pecos cantaloupes) got what I guess we could call an honorable mention from Denise! Perhaps I should throw some money her way, too!

I credit my exile in Michigan...it has given me the perspective I need to really appreciate all of the things in West Texas that could otherwise be easily overlooked or taken for granted.

The only problem is now I'm even more homesick...sigh...

Thanks, Eric, for spearheading such a fun, interesting, and informative poll!

Posted by: Tricia at August 5, 2007 09:40 PM

Yeah, Tricia, you done good...real good. ;-)

It was pretty cool to get some winning suggestions from 1,200 miles away.

OK, that's sounds like a long way -- and it is -- but when you consider that it's almost 850 miles from Dalhart to Brownsville...and you never leave Texas...then it's not quite the big jump it seems.

Posted by: Eric at August 5, 2007 09:51 PM

The world's largest "railroad" statue ..... having sat once or twice on Pete's back, I've got to wonder about that designation.

Posted by: Jeff at August 6, 2007 08:04 AM

Oops. I corrected other typos in the MRT's story but failed to catch that one. I've fixed it.

Posted by: Eric at August 6, 2007 08:11 AM

I don't know anything about the typos since I didn't write the story but I'm afraid I dropped the ball on letting you know about the Sunday page. My apologies.

Posted by: Jimmy at August 6, 2007 09:34 AM

Well, I wanted to blame a vast left-wing conspiracy, but you've ruined that theory. ;-)

Apology accepted. You had a lot on your plate at the time.

Posted by: Eric at August 6, 2007 09:42 AM

I've been called worse. Still, I didn't keep you in the loop as I should have. You had a great idea and we were only happy to participate somehow in spreading the nominees to an even larger audience, although I know the Gazette goes into homes that the MRT only dreams of.

Posted by: jimmy at August 6, 2007 10:33 AM

I didn't get to read the hard copy of the story, but what's "Summer Mummers" about? ..... did they mean the show? ..... or did they mean the building/theater that currently houses the show?

I would cast my vote for the latter. I was one of MANY volunteers that helped restore the theater space, and it is a genuine wonder, as is the building as a whole.

Posted by: Jeff at August 6, 2007 12:06 PM

Jeff, I think the nomination was for the show itself, although the Yucca Theater certainly could have qualified on its own.

Posted by: Eric at August 6, 2007 12:09 PM
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