Entering Monahans Sandhills State Park is like flipping through the pages of a child’s history book, briefly catching glimpses into different time periods as the images shift. From the mid-century modern styling of the welcome sign to the replicated pioneer shacks and windmills plucked from the late 1800s, the park creates the illusion of being lost in time. Looking over the vast ocean of sand surrounding the park, an observer would never know the area was once home to an ancient sea. Monahans is located at the center of an area known as the Permian Basin, formed at the end of the Paleozoic Era and formerly home to abundant sea life. The prehistoric waters have since receded, leaving waves of sand in place of oceanic swells.

Early settlers learned to find water by digging in the sand. Dig deep enough and a shallow hole would quickly fill with water. Enterprising pioneers eventually built windmills to pump water up from the water table hidden below the shifting dunes, allowing a fleeting window for civilization to germinate in an otherwise barren area. The land was once home to the Comanche, Mescalero, and Lipan Apache, slowly forced out by encroaching western expansion and violent conflict. The Texas and Pacific Railway brought civilization in the late 1880s, as well as the introduction of the water well which gave Monahans the means to thrive. By 1926, oil was discovered in the area which forever changed the local economy from agricultural to industrial. Oil wells and refinery operations are currently scattered over acres and acres of open land, easily viewable from the roadway.

About 200 miles east of Monahans lies the tiny community of Eola, Texas – population of 218 officially recorded 28 years ago in 1990. The windblown, sunbaked town could easily be missed as you drive through the intersection of country roads 381 and 765. Like Monahans, this is another pocket of Texas were time seemingly stands still.

We were drawn to Eola to visit the Eola School Restaurant and Brewery. The two-story schoolhouse was built in 1906 and by 1940 the school held nine teachers instructing elementary and high school classes. Fire decimated the building in 1946 and the school sat in ruins through the following decades, eventually receiving the designation as a national landmark.

Mark Cannon purchased the building in 2004 and has been toiling away ever since, renovating the dilapidated structure while opening a restaurant and brewery in the schoolhouse. He’s the sole reason the building remains standing, performing the renovations by himself while running both the restaurant and brewery single-handedly. Quite literally, he’s the only person taking food orders, grilling up burgers, unloading ingredients, brewing batches of beer, and squeezing in renovation projects as time allows.

It’s easy to see why this 14-year project is still a work in progress. Visitors witness exactly that after they figure out which door leads into the building. You won’t find bright lights and stainless steel accents leading you into the restaurant. You’ll pass old school rooms filled with half-finished projects, discarded desks, and construction supplies. The restaurant itself features a few long tables flanked by chairs, a bar covered in papers, walls filled with memorabilia and newspaper clippings, and two individual beer taps pouring the ever-present Farm Ale along with a rotating selection.

As we arrived, Mark was elbow-deep in one of his endless projects but quickly and enthusiastically greeted us and immediately asked if we wanted a couple of beers. We agreed and he lead us into the taproom, poured a few beers into styrofoam cups, and ushered us outside while giving us the history of the building and his life. After a career in sales in the Pacific northwest, he wanted to return to Texas to be closer to family. He never imagined buying the abandoned school, let alone undertaking the monumental renovation of the building and opening the restaurant and brewery. We could obviously see he was busy and attempted to let him know that we’d be fine on our own, but he didn’t seem to mind the interruption and happily continued the rapid-fire conversation.

As the evening progressed, a couple of customers wandered in for food and Mark hopped into the kitchen to whip up burgers and fries (which we also enjoyed earlier that afternoon). After a bit of conversation, I learned that one of the men enjoyed kayak fishing and he happily shared his tips for catching fish in the area – even offering me one of his crappie rigs, which I declined. After the two customers had gone for the night, I eagerly helped Mark with a couple of projects while he offered me samples of beers waiting in the cold storage room. We riveted the frame around a menu board, hung a sign from the ceiling in the entryway, and even hoisted an industrial size bag of grain onto a pulley-operated lift in preparation for the next brew day.

Like the early pioneers pulling water from the sandhills outside of Monahans, Mark ceaselessly strives to create an oasis in the middle of a town that time forgot. If you’re traveling through central Texas and want a true taste of hardworking, down-home, entrepreneurial spirit, visit Mark at the Eola Schoolhouse. You won’t find fine dining or highly experimental brews, or a polished dining area and gleaming brew kettles behind a viewing window. But you will find beers crafted by a passionate brewer, along with engaging conversation from a man with a vision. Eola Schoolhouse is a rough jewel in a largely abandoned Texas town, eagerly waiting for the next thirsty visitor to pull open the door.

Two hundred miles away in western Texas, the sand dunes at Monahans stretch endlessly to the horizon creating a desolate setting far different than a sprawling beach. The winds blowing across the sandy peaks constantly polish and shift the grains into new configurations. A wanderer can climb the dunes, walk out past the heavily trafficked areas and essentially sit in solitude while remaining within close proximity to the campground. Doing the same thing the very next day could bring a completely different experience based on the strength of the wind the previous night. Families ride plastic discs down the steeply sloped dunes, exchanging frigid snow for sun-drenched sand. While you might not want to spend weeks beside the dunes while winds whip your RV, getting lost among the hills for a few days provides a welcome escape from daily life. Monahans is a rough jewel in the middle of the Texas desert, patiently waiting for the next adventurer to discover its profound beauty.