Named after a Texas Ranger, the City of Lubbock bills itself as ‘the Texas you’ve always dreamed of’. Situated in northwestern Texas on the Western High Plains, this friendly and welcoming city of Lubbock, where hospitality is a way of life, was founded in 1890. Today it is home to three universities and is perhaps best known as the birthplace of the legendary Buddy Holly. This makes it essential that no time spent in Lubbock can be complete without a visit to the Buddy Holly Center. This historical site is dedicated to preserving, collecting and promoting the legacy of the late rock star, and boasts a superb collection of artefacts. Other performing artists and musicians of West Texas are celebrated here, too. The Lubbock American Wind Power Center is a museum and resource centre dedicated to the American style water pumping windmill and other related exhibits dealing with wind generated electricity. Another fascinating location is the Silent Wings Museum. This unique place tells the story of the U.S. Army Air Force’s Glider Programme via some 10,000 artefacts and documents, and houses one of only three WACO CG-4A gliders still extant. Science exhibits, a planetarium and exhibits devoted to natural history are on offer at the Museum of Texas Tech. The Art Deco style Cactus Theater, built in the late 30s, is a great venue for live music, musical theatre and plays. Across the street is an open air concert area. For a great night out there’s the Depot Entertainment District, offering a variety of nightclubs and an interesting selection of restaurants, along with historical sites and wineries. Finally, don’t miss the charming Prairie Dog Town at Lubbock’s Mackenzie Park.
Lubbock is a very spread out city. Public transportation around Lubbock is provided by the Lubbock Citibus bus transit system, which has routes throughout the city. The transit centre hub is in the central area and the six diesel-electric hybrid buses run from Monday through Saturday every week. There is also a NiteRide service provided. Lubbock offers a number of taxi companies.
The nearest airport to Lubbock is the city-owned Lubbock Preston Smith International Airport (LBB), about 11 miles (18 km) from the centre of Lubbock. Daily flights to and from Austin, Dallas, Houston, Memphis, Las Vegas, Albuquerque and El Paso are offered. There is no regularly scheduled public bus route from Lubbock to the airport, but plenty of taxi options are available. These have fixed fares. The airport shuttles offer an affordable door to door service to anywhere in the Lubbock area.