Greetings from Lubbock, TX!

vraiblonde

Board Mommy
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In case you don't know, that is Buddy Holly and he is Lubbock's hometown hero. Streets are named after him and there's a big museum dedicated to his life. I'm a big fan of Buddy Holly so I'm pretty excited about this. Fun fact: Elton John's big glasses that were a part of his performing costume are a nod to Holly. Another fun fact: the Stones classic "Not Fade Away" is a cover; the song was written and originally recorded by Buddy Holly (but you probably knew that because every musician in the world has covered it).

Lubbock has produced a number of famous musicians, including Mac Davis, Natalie Maines, Delbert McClinton, and Jimmie Dale Gilmore.

Our RV park is nice. The entrance and office area are a bit ramshackle and cottagy, not commercial in any way, but our site is large with a cement pad and the grounds are well kept. The bath houses are large singles with toilet, sink, and shower, tiled and fixed up to look like a bathroom in someone's home.

One of my north TX discoveries is a grocery store called "Amigo's". It focuses on Mexican cuisine and has a hot bar, the star of which is grilled chicken halves with peppers and onions. I could eat that chicken every day. They also make tortillas onsite, and by now you know I can't get enough of them. Commercial tortillas are dog butts compared to the real deal.

Today we're going downtown to the farmers market, and then to the Buddy Holly museum. There's a drive-in theater here (!) so we'll try to hit that tonight or tomorrow night.
 

vraiblonde

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Yesterday we went to the farmers market downtown - it wasn't so much farmers as it was bakers and crafters. Took us maybe 15 minutes to get through the whole thing.

The downtown area is called the Depot District and it is dedicated to (you guessed it) Buddy Holly. Tons of bars and restaurants, and they have live music at night where people dance and party in the streets.

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The Buddy Holly Center is fairly small - not unusual considering his 18 month career and death at age 22. But he influenced any number of prominent entertainers - the Beatles not only channeled him, they named themselves in honor of Buddy's band, the Crickets. The Hollies are also named for Buddy Holly. In fact, pretty much every British artist that came to make their fortune in the Colonies was inspired by Buddy Holly. So he's a bigger deal than you thought he was.

One section of the museum was an art exhibit dedicated to Dia de los Muertes. Lubbock isn't an artsy town like Taos or Santa Fe, but they do have a prolific artist community. There are little cool things on the walls of downtown buildings and the bricks in the walkways are decorated.

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After that we went on a windshield tour of Texas Tech. They have a gorgeous campus with a large commercial area geared toward the students - bars, food, services, etc.

Lubbock is surprisingly easy to get around, considering it's size. Traffic is low and the streets are wide, and the grid-style street layout makes sense. There is a TON of industry. If you're having trouble making things work in Maryland, move to Lubbock - the cost of living is low and the good jobs are plentiful. Their economy is on fire here.

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Today we're going to The Range, which is a combination bar/restaurant/driving range/entertainment venue. There's a place like it in Bastrop, TX called The Back Nine and it's our hangout of choice when we're there, so I hope we like The Range just as much.
 

Monello

Smarter than the average bear
PREMO Member
Today we're going to The Range, which is a combination bar/restaurant/driving range/entertainment venue. There's a place like it in Bastrop, TX called The Back Nine and it's our hangout of choice when we're there, so I hope we like The Range just as much.

I think we are going to feel right at home.................................. on The Range.
 

vraiblonde

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The Range is a bit more upscale than Back Nine. It's a driving range with a western bar and pizza, as opposed to Back Nine which is a bar and entertainment venue with the driving range as an afterthought.

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We each hit a medium bucket and then sat around drinking beer, which of course made us order a pizza.

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We talked to a couple who pointed us in a few food directions when we get to Abilene that we probably won't go to. When we first started traveling we ate everything in sight. Now we're bored with food (except that tasty grilled chicken at the Mexican grocery store).
 
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