The Buddy Holly Center, Lubbock, Texas
On the way to New Mexico from Dallas, we paused to spend some time in the Texas town of Lubbock. The first stop was the
Buddy Holly Center, showcasing the singer who was born in Lubbock in 1936. It’s housed in a rail depot once used by the Fort Worth and Denver South Plains Railway Company and converted into the Buddy Holly Center in 1997.
The center features a pretty good selection of artifacts on Charles Hardin Holley (the original spelling), whose family nicknamed him Buddy. Many of Holly’s personal items fill the guitar-shaped gallery like his Fender Stratocaster guitar, tour itineraries, contracts, homework, report cards, outfits, photographs, handwritten lyrics and even his class ring. Other items from fans like Paul McCartney and Elton John are also on display.
The most interesting artifact is the horn rimmed glasses that
Holly was wearing when he died in a plane crash on February 3, 1959 in Iowa. The crash also took the life of 'Donna' singer Ritchie Valens and the DJ known as The Big Bopper and was the inspiration for the Don McLean song “American Pie”. A giant replica of Holly’s glasses in front of the center make for a fun picture spot. Besides the Buddy Holly Center, the depot is also home to the Texas Musicians Hall of Fame.
We also went to
MacKenzie Park -- Lubbock’s largest public park, with outdoor activities like golf and horseback riding and a seasonal amusement park. But its biggest claim to fame is
Prairie Dog Town. Established in the early 1930s by Kennedy N. Clapp, the colony was started with just a few prairie dogs and is huge now.
We had a picnic at the park and ended up throwing a lot of food to the prairie dogs and watched them pop in and out of their tunnels. They are hard to photograph as they move pretty quickly. According to my research, they are curious and sociable and they communicate using chirps and barks. I
f it is a quiet day at the park, and you are patient, you can hear and see these creatures function like people in their own little town.
Click on the map to see AAA Approved lodgings and restaurants in Lubbock
