Texas Travel – Getting Reacquainted With Home Part VII

Last but not least in our tour is another area of Texas that people do not mention or visit as often as other regions in Texas but it still has unique sites and culture. Some of our best trips have been to places people might question why we chose to visit there. I have only visited the Texas Panhandle and Texas High plains twice so far in my life. I visited Amarillo once when I was in high school and we recently visited Lubbock in May of 2021 for the first time. People asked “Why are you going to Lubbock, there is nothing there?”. Well while the high plains and panhandle are known for being a rural ranching and agricultural region or known for Texas Tech University there is a lot to around Lubbock and in Amarillo. Its once again a different region from the rest in Texas and one that has a lot of history in the area of Native Americans and the Texas cowboy.

Lubbock, TX

When our plane was landing I could see miles of crops and ranching in the surrounding region. Once we landed and got off the plane we could tell the wind was howling on the high plains. The airport is small in this city of around 250,000 and the people at the rental car center were shocked we were there to tour and not to visit family or go to a wedding. Lubbock has been an area inhabited for thousands of years after a Native American Hunting ground was found near by. The city now days is mainly known for Texas Tech University and the agriculture in the area. As we immediately started touring after leaving the very small rental car center that also was one of the few off airport parking we saw we learned that Lubbock has far more history in regards to WWII, music and so much more.

Silent Wings Museum

Located just on the other side of the airport is the first stop we made while visiting Lubbock. The Silent Wings Museum is located on the remains of the South Plains Army Airfield that was one of the main glider training grounds during WWII. Most people know about the gliders that where used during the D-Day invasion of Normandy but the glider was used in multiple European campaigns and was used in the Pacific. They were used to deliver much needed supplies to surrounded troops during the Battle of the Bulge and to start out invasions in Italy. The museum shows you how the glider program was started, what training was needed, and the battles they were used in during WWII. They have a restored US glider you can take a peek inside of and multiple replicas where you can see the cargo they could take into battle. They talked about the unique people that flew aircraft that had no choice but to land in a warzone after they were released from their tow plane. There were interactive exhibits and I learned a lot about a branch of WWII service that is lesser known. As mentioned before Lubbock played a huge role in training these pilots so its once again a strong link Texas has to influencing not only domestic but world events as well.

The Buddy Holly Center

A quick drive to near downtown (it would only take us around 15 minutes to drive across the city which is nice compared to Houston driving) and we made it to another person who influenced Rock Music forever. Legendary Rock and Roll Star Buddy Holly was born and raised in Lubbock and his band “The Crickets” were formed in Lubbock. Buddy Holly had a very short career that was tragically cut short in a plane crash in Iowa know as “The Day the Music Died”. His hit songs like “Peggy Sue” and “That’ll Be the Day” and known by millions and influenced future rockers such as “The Beatles” and “Rolling Stones”. He was sadly only 22 when he died but while he was young he made a huge impact on the world. The museum has many priceless artifacts from Buddy Holly’s early years to the last days of his career. You can see guitars he played on, records he made and his famous glasses that were actually pulled from the wreckage of the plane crash. It is a great tribute to this Lubbock native. At the museum there was a nice temporary art exhibit and furniture from Buddy Holly’s childhood home. The museum building is a former railroad depot so it has an interesting look to it. Next door to the museum is a statue to Buddy Holly and the West Texas Walk of Fame.

Lubbock Lake National Landmark

On the North side of Lubbock is a landmark that preserves active archeological digs of Native American sites that date back as far at 12,000 years ago. When we visited it was a Saturday morning and the museum itself was not busy but a lot of people were using the parks soccer fields to play little league. The use of that area as a gathering point continues to this day. There is a great free museum that goes over all the history of Lubbock lake and has recreations of Buffalo Hunts and the many different Native peoples that have been found to use the lake. There are many artifacts that they have found around the park. I had no idea that this park had been such a focus for Native American life. Outside of the museum they have multiple raised wooden walkways where you can take a nature walk and we saw plenty of rabbits and birds around the plains. There is also an archeology trail around the small water portion of the lake where you can see where digs are occurring. We enjoyed learning more about the areas ancient past and getting outside for a little while and seeing things like desert melons growing along the walkway.

National Ranching Heritage Center

Our next stop was fast forwarding in time to the 1700s to the 1800s along the plains. The National Ranching Heritage Center is located on Texas Tech University and it explores ranching in the area from the early Spanish in the 1700s to even the King Ranch in more recent times. The unique part of this museum is the fact that its located on a huge multi-acre facility where they have brought ranch homes and equipment from around Texas to this museum. You walk outside and can go inside these original buildings. From small dogtrot cabins to a single family home built as a fortress to defend against Native Americans to 1900s wrap around porch home they have an example of it. They have signs explaining where the home came from and what its history is. They also have a train depot with an old steam train, barns some interesting cabins built from materials such as agave/yucca stems. The homes where either moved intact on a truck or were taken apart and put back together. Inside the visitors center you can see ranching equipment, stories about ranchers and videos. We really enjoyed this museum and were able to see how difficult early ranchers had it and how things progressed as you went further forward in time. It was a great and unexpected place to visit.

American Windmill Museum

We had no idea what to expect when we wanted to visit the American Windmill Museum. When you think of windmills you think of farms and of now wind power for mass electrical generation. Being on the High Plains of Texas the wind can be very high and is perfect for wind power. You might think a museum of windmills would be boring but we found it a really interesting place. We were greeted with free water bottles from the museum and many different types of windmills from the past and the present. The museum has a wonderful and huge model railroad that goes along the ceiling and on the first floor. There are model homes and scenes from the High plains of Texas that include of course ranches and farms. They have a camera on one of the trains so you can watch it going along the track. Just outside the museum they have a large wind turbine that you know well from current wind power across the state. The museum is powered by the large wind turbine you can walk up to. They also have a reproduction of a Dutch windmill and many other windmills outside. Outside of a history of Wind Power they have an exhibit on grind stones that were used to mill things and a beautiful huge mural that you can do a scavenger hunt trying to find things like cats and other items. We really enjoyed this museum and learned about how windmills have effected life on the plains and how they are transforming electric generation in Texas.

Fibermax Center for Discovery

Agriculture as I have mentioned is very important to the economy of the High Plains and Panhandle of Texas. As would be expected Lubbock has a museum that shows the current innovations in agriculture and a very well done exhibit that shows the history of farm equipment and the trade. This was a bonus museum we decided to visit since we had a little extra time. There are a lot of interactive exhibits that discussed the challenges and how we farm all of the food we enjoy today. For example we rode on “The Stripper” simulator. Its a large piece of farm equipment that strips things like cotton for harvest. We saw how farm equipment has improved over the many years and learned about the different grades of crop and meat. They have animatronic and holographic people that explain things like blacksmithing in their day and age. One display I found really interesting is one about how different crops are harvested and new technology that is making it easier and quicker. A farmer who was volunteering explained some of the items to us. It was a great opportunity to learn about a field that I do not know a lot about and step briefly into the shoes of fellow Texans who work hard to bring us food and products.

Makenzie Park and Prairie Dog Town

Near the Agriculture and Windmill Museums is a very large green park. The park has plenty of area to roam and enjoy the outdoors. They have a small amusement park there and there is a historical marker to the Battle of Yellow House Canyon which was a battle between Apaches and white buffalo hunters. While its a great park the main thing we came to the park to visit was Prairie Dog Town. In the plains and while driving around Lubbock we saw various Prairie Dogs colonies but the one is Makenzie Park is designed to help preserve wild Prairie Dogs during a time when many were being killed in the area. They decided to dedicate some land for them to live and thrive in. Today they are very tame as many people visit to feed the Prairie Dogs. I do find it unfortunate all the junk food some were feeding them like chicken nuggets and bread but we had a few come up to me looking for some food. They have signs that tell the history of Prairie Dog town and the species that you find there. We enjoyed the quiet and the gentle chirping of the Prairie dogs as they scurried around. It was another unique experience that you can’t really have in the other regions of Texas.

Museum of Texas Tech University

The last place we visited in Lubbock on the Sunday we flew out was the Museum of Texas Tech located as expected on the campus of Texas Tech. It right next door to the very well done National Ranching Heritage Center. The museum is free and has exhibits about the wildlife on the plains, ancient dinosaur and mammoth bones, Western Art, Asian Art, and modern art. Upstairs there was a great exhibit on Islamic Art. The museum did a great job covering the natural and other history of the High Plains area. The museum also has a planetarium but that was closed when we went there due to covid. The museum has some great rotating exhibits as well. It was a great was to end our time in the High Plains/Panhandle region.

Amarillo, Texas

It was back in high school when I last went to Amarillo so I will give a few recollections of what it was like when I visited a long time ago but its well worth visiting and a place on our list of cities to visit. Amarillo is another relatively small city with a population around 200,000. It has a small commercial airport but on our trip we drove from Houston up to Amarillo. While we were there for our short visit we drove to the old Route 66 that used to go through the Panhandle of Texas. A few years back there were a lot of nice antique stores along the Historic Route 66 area. We stayed near the Big Texan Steak Ranch that is home to the 72oz steak. In the distance I could see the very Western style Steak House. Our main reason for stopping in Amarillo was to visit Palo Duro Canyon State Park. When you drive in the panhandle you see miles and miles or pristine farmland and ranches. Out the flat plains suddenly comes a huge canyon that looks more like something your would expect further West like in Arizona. Palo Duro Canyon is the second largest canyon in the United States behind as you might expect the Grand Canyon. There are plenty of walking trails as in this canyon you can drive to the floor of the canyon. Within this Canyon there is a theater where part of the stage is the canyon walls. This is were the great musical Texas is preformed. It tells the story of Texas and its people over time. It includes horse riders and fireworks from the top of the canyon. We got a good Texas BBQ dinner at the theater before the show. There are other great places to visit that I have not been able to see in Amarillo. One is the American Quarter Horse Hall of Fame and is you want something more artsy you could go out to the Cadillac Ranch where you can add some point to cars half buried in the plains. Its another great place to visit in Texas.

My Take on the High Plains and Panhandle of Texas

The Good

The region is once again unique from other areas of Texas and is home to many hard working farmers and ranchers. This is a region that if you leave the larger cities of Lubbock or Amarillo you can once again get out by yourself as the region is very rural and full of farm and ranch lands. There are a lot of great places to visit in Lubbock that truly exemplify the region and what makes it tick like the National Ranching Heritage Center, American Windmill Museum and the Fibermax Center for Discovery. There are other museums that display how the region and its people have effected Texas and the world such as the The Silent Wings Museum and The Buddy Holly Center. The region is full of thousands of years of history like that is found at Lubbock Lake and in the Texas Tech Museum. This region I found is cleaner than most of the other regions in Texas. From this region compared to most there are several other states (New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado) are only a few hours drive away compared to long drives from most other regions. If you like winter weather like I do this region will get it more often due to being further North. Texas Tech is a great University and has a great museum on campus.

The Bad

I have heard many different people say “There is nothing to do up there so why go” and talk about how boring it can be. Even people who live there were shocked we came up to the area to tour. I found in Lubbock and Amarillo there are some great things to do but people might discourage you from visiting. While there are a lot of things to do in the larger cities in the area if you venture out into the countryside you will find it heavily rural and not as many tourist attractions. The area farms a lot of food and is very important but might not have a lot of attractions. Like every other region in Texas the weather can be wild at times and the wind can be especially high on the plains. If you are looking for big city entertainment and attractions like theme parks and clubs this is not the region for you as you can find that elsewhere in Texas.

In Conclusion

The High Plains and Panhandle are very unique and has a lot of history associated with it. From Early Rock Stars to WWII heroes and Native American history you can find it in this region. Outside of the larger cities like Lubbock and Amarillo the area is heavily rural and mostly farming and ranching. People give the area a bad wrap when it comes to things to see but in all reality you can find some neat things to do in Lubbock and Amarillo. The people are friendly and hard working in this area of Texas. Go visit the Panhandle and High plains and see a different part of Texas not as many people go visit!