I've got a new territory and about 30% of my accounts are in the panhandle and I'll be out there for the first time next week. I'm a manufacturers rep for the oil/gas/construction/road industry.

Anything fun to do up there? I might check out the canyons, but I'm sure it'll be too hot!

Will try to respond more when I'm back to a desktop. But are you wanting bars, outdoor, museum??? And literally LBB and AMA, or Midland, Pampa???

It is bloody hot right now, I was told that PD Canyon hit 114 today.. Maybe see if you can hit northern NM for the weekend.

No bars, but just about anything else. I'll be out there about once a quarter. Specifically in Lubbock and Amarillo.

Amarillo food: Coyote Bluff, Tacos Garcia, Tylers BBQ (get there early), Hoffbrau Steak House. 571 Pizza is supposed to be great, we thought it good, but didn't see "great".

Canyon, Sayakomarns, Pepitos, lesser favored Feldmans, Fat Boys BBQ. Palace Coffee on the square is supposed to be excellent, I'm not a coffee guy, but everyone who is, loves it.

In Tulia, El Camino restaurant, we love their Chilie Rellenios. Plainview has Field House Sandwich Shop.

I've been away from Lubbock long enough that all my old favorites closed.

Palo Duro is a must see. If your spouse girlfriend family come with you, the "Texas" musical drama is compulsory.

More later

On the museum side, Panhandle Plains Historical in Canyon is about as good as it gets. The old homes and ranch buildings at TTech's Ranching Heritage Center are fascinating. Other good ones are Square House in Panhandle, Windmill Museum in LBB (haven't seen their farm museum yet) Llano Estacdo, Plainview, Hale County Farm and Ranch, Hale Center.

Mentioned PDSP, Caprock Canyons is another favorite. Alibates Flint Quarry National Monument is a unique place. If you have a boat, Lake Meredith or MacKenzie. Lake Alan Henry is supposed to be a great fishing lake.

Thanks for the recommendations!

How long you been up there?

Grew up in Hale County, in Canyon since 1994.

If you want to walk after dinner, the area around the medical complex in Amarillo is good. There is a good aerboretum there, too.

If you are like us, we extend business trips. So when the wife has a business trip to Alnuquerque, we might extend on to Southern Co or Northern NM.

So in a similar vein, were I you, I might plan to do business in Amarillo or Lubbock ending Thursday. Then I'd drive on over to Red River or Ruiodoso for the weekend.

Couple other random thoughts: some aviation museums in the area, none of them world class, but some interesting stuff.

Lubbock: WWII Glider Museum. In the old air terminal, covers a unique part of WWII aviation

Slaton: Texas Air Museum has a surprising number of static display aircraft. FM400 just north of the museum has a rather spectacular drive through the canyon.

Amarillo: Amarillo's museum is just getting started. Probably the most interesting thing it has now is an old Gulfstream bizjet (G-II) that NASA used as a trainer for shuttle pilots. The right seat is normal, but the left seat has a stick like the shuttle, and the back is full of computers that helped simulate the shuttle flight characteristics.

Also forgot the Lubbock Lake Site. Small museum and tours of the old archeology areas. Unique as its the only archeology in the United States with continuous occupation from paleo-history to 1800s European settlers.

And if you have time driving between the two towns, kick over to highway 207 between US86 and US287. Some spectacular canyon scenery there.

Lubbock food: Abuelo's Mexican, Orlando's - Italian, Caprock Cafe - burgers and beer, Blue Sky - burgers, Las Brisas - high end, Triple J - craft brews, Capital Pizza.

Also, check out the Llano Estacado, Caprock, and McPherson Cellars wineries, and a great little wine boutique called the Wine Nest.

Burgers at Blue Sky in Amarillo are really good.

Food places:


Blue Sky for burgers - Lubbock or Amarillo (or Abilene)

Jazz (cajun food) - Lubbock

Pizza in Lubbock: Stella's, Capital Pizza, Orlando's

Mexican Food in Lubbock - Garcia's, Montelongo's, Abuelo's

Steaks in Lubbock - Las Brisas, Double Nickle

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Mexican Food in Lubbock - Garcia's, Montelongo's, Abuelo'

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Durango's on 50th and Frankford has some really good hot sauce and queso

If you want to get out of town a bit, head north to Dumas, TX. Window on the Plains museum. It won't take too long to go through it, but most of the machinery belongs to my family. That's probably why I enjoy it so much.

Blue Sky is good, but Coyote Bluff is a step above.

Took the scenic route on 207 and thanks for that recommendation because it was beautiful out there!

Sitting at Hoffbrau's right now and just ordered a ribeye. My hotel is in the medical district, so I may go check that out a little later when it cools down.

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I may go check that out a little later when it cools down.

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So.....tomorrow morning around sunrise?



It's been pretty brutal here lately. High altitude + dry air = cools down at night. And sunset tonight won't be until after 9pm, so "night" is a ways off.

Yeah I lasted about 15 minutes at a park with my dog and neither one of us could handle it. I guess I'll save the outdoor days for a much cooler time of year!

Question, is the Cadillac ranch worth checking out? It seems kind of overhyped to me, but wanted to know what you thought.

Cadillac Ranch is defiantly overrated. I drive past it several times per day and I'm floored at the number of folks there. I went for the first time in 13 years last winter because we had a visitor who was adamant that she see it. Don't waste your time.

Overhyped" is the best description. It's like your grandpa's favorite joke that he's told 50 times in the last year alone. I don't have big objections to it, I just think it's ridiculous that it's treated like the biggest and best tourist attraction in Amarillo, when it's a junkyard in a wheat field.

I don't mind someone going out there, just to say they've been there, but it's a bunch of rusted out junkers in afield. Big whoop. Add on to it, the fact that the guy who funded it turned out to be a preverse old fart who would pay young teenage boys to be around him.

It's Amarillo's celebrity. Famous for.......being famous.

The Big Texan Steak Ranch is somewhat the same. We've only been there when out-of-town guests insisted on going.

I will say that the folks that run the Big Texan are good people, and darn smart. They know they're running a show, not a restaurant, and they have done a great job of promoting it nationwide. And they are big boosters of Amarillo, and have been very good for the economy over decades.

That being said, my experience is they serve medium quality steaks for premium prices.

Bottom line, I really don't make fun of people who go to the Big Texan, in order to say they've been to the Big Texan. It's fun as long as you just sit back and embrace the silliness.

The Cadillac Ranch, I will mock you all day long and twice on Sunday.

One more restaurant: Green Chile Willies, on the east side of I-27, south of McCormick Road, between Amarillo and Canyon. One of our favorites, can't believe I forgot them. Specialty is chicken fried steak, and you can get it with green chile gravy.

I have eaten recently at the Hoffbrau. I was not that impressed. I hope your steak was better.

If not, then try Outlaws next time you are in town. They are only open on Fri and Sat.

And to get a little flavor of the Panhandle, all of the old drive ins or drug stores in most small towns made a cherry lime or a sour lime drink. There are very few places still doing it. But there is on near where you are staying which has great ones. And also dang good hamburgers. The name of the place is Hud's. I love their sour limes.

Also, go out to the Cadillac Ranch if you have time. I do not disagree with CanyonAg often or many have not disagreed ever. But after 38 years in the Panhandle I took someone out there to pass time. She had spent 40 years in Amarillo and never been. Me either. We liked seeing it up close. Both of us had made fun of it all our lives. But it was kinda neat when you walked out there. It is close to you and does not cost anything.

Disagreements don't bother me at all. I know I have different tastes than many. Speaking of, how do Hud's cherry limeaids taste compared to Sonic?

Lubbock.
The shack bbq
Chirstatkis burgers
West coast pizza

OP, you could drive up to Borger to behold the beauty of the



carbon black plant.

Headed to Blue Sky for dinner in a bit. Had christakis for lunch on Monday. Not too bad. More than likely leaving town in the morning headed back to Fort Worth. I'll be back up this way probably in November.

My office was around the corner from christakis when I lived down there. It was responsible for some significant weight gain.

If you're a fan of Lonesome Dove, as you head back down 287, stop in Goodnight and visit the Charles Goodnight home and museum. His grave is nearby, too. Goodnight was the real life "Woodrow Call". McMurtry borrowed heavily from the lives of Goodnight and Oliver Loving for his books.

Check out West Table in downtown Lubbock... Tried it last time I was in and it was excellent.

Evie Mae's BBQ in Wolfforth is damn good. They just opened their store front and aren't selling out as quick which is nice.

Here are some other places in Lubbock that I really enjoy that I haven't seen listed. These aren't chains and may or may not be in a nice building so fair warning.

Choo Chai - Khao soi with rice. I would suggest getting the mild. He makes his dishes really spicy so anything above mild is very spicy. And don't judge the book by its cover.

Thai Thai - I don't remember the names of the soups but I remember the numbers of 36 and 37. One soup has more vegetables and the other has chicken, potatoes and onion. Fyi, don't ask for substitutions. There's a reason we call him the Thai nazi.

Another dish there that is very good is the genghis khan beef.

Thai Pepper - I really like their pad thai with a medium spice. I think its the best in Lubbock. I also really like their panang curry.

Saigon - this is a Korean place that I really like. If you like spicy then try the spicy pork it's great. They have a barbecue pork that is more sweet and it good as well.

Taqueria Autlan - I have only eaten at this Mexican place once and I really enjoyed it. I have been meaning on going back to try different dishes.

If you are in need of a breakfast burrito then you need to go to either Picantes which are big breakfast burritos or Burrito Tower. At burrito tower, I love their migas rancheras burrito.

Finally I have to suggest going to Hawaiian BBQ. I would recommend the beef plate. I would suggest getting the regular plate because it is a lot of food and also get the pot stickers.

Ill add more places as I think of them.

CanyonAg,




Hud's and Sonic are not the same mixture. Sonic uses Sprite or something, while Hud's is still the old standard of Soda Water. And they are incredibly good.

I almost forgot, try One Guy from Italy for pizza/calzone. It's not a chain, but we enjoyed it when we lived down there.

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Evie Mae's BBQ in Wolfforth is damn good. They just opened their store front and aren't selling out as quick which is nice.

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I'll second this. Damn good BBQ!

Try this while in Lubbock area:

Ranch House for breakfast (downtown on Buddy Holly)

Blue Sky for lunch (98th & Quaker or 4th & Indiana)

Evie Mae's BBQ for dinner (Hwy 179 & Brownfield Hwy in Wolfforth)


That's a guaranteed winner!

So the Cadillacs are something of a junkyard......what I dislike is the trash....WM bags and spray paint cans all over the field. Interesting fact: the Cads are planted at the exact angle of the Pyramids.. The blueprints for the Cadillac Ranch used to hang at the Amarillo airport.

We have a friend in the Amarillo Convention and Visitor's bureau. According to him, Stanley Marsh copyrighted the image of the Cadillac Ranch with that "precise angle", which, by the way, may or may not be more of Marsh's bull***t.

So even the Amarillo Visitor's Bureau cannot use the straight on side image of the CR, without paying royalities to Marsh's estate.