LUBBOCK…..SO MUCH TO DO AND SEE

Wednesday, May 4 – We're on the move again this morning. Boy did the terrain change. Sooooo flat.

This time, we are heading North to the city of Lubbock, TX. We will be staying at the Lubbock Elks Club. These West Texas towns keep amazing Paul. They are much bigger than we expected. Lubbock has a population of over 200,000. Paul was expecting 60-70,000.....WOW!

The Lubbock Elks Lodge is VERY nice and an excellent campground and awesome location. Very easy to find, great RV access, and close to all the tourist areas and shopping and nice level sites with full-hookups.

We met up with old friends Delcie & Freddie Prather staying here at the Elks. They extended their stay here to visit with us.....Thanks Friends!! We really enjoyed dinner and drinks afterword.

L-R—Paul, Marsha, Delcie, Freddie

It was especially nice to catch up on each others' travels. They are on their way to a work camping position in Colorado, pulling out tomorrow. Safe travels good friends.....we'll see you on down the road!

Thursday, May 5 – So long Delcie & Freddie....it was great seeing you guys again. Have a safe trip! After good-bye hugs, we headed to the Silent Wings Museum, which is located next to the runway at Lubbock International Airport.....neat setting!

The museum is the only museum in the world dedicated to telling the story of the military glider program.  Interestingly, during the WWII years, the majority of American glider pilots were trained at South Plains Army Airfield which is now the site of Lubbock International Airport.

Glider pilots displayed a "Blood Chit" sewn onto the lining of the back of the jack. A Blood Chit is a written notice, in several languages, carried by airmen in combat. If their aircraft is shot down, the blood chit identifies the Americans and encourages the local population to assist them by offering a reward for their assistants.

The museum features one of the few fully restored WWII gliders in existence and includes three galleries full of historical items from the war. It does a great job explaining the glider fleet and how they operated.

In 1941, the Waco Aircraft Company of Troy, Ohio was awarded the contract to design and develop a cargo assault glider. These gliders successfully delivered infantry, heavy weapons, ammunition, construction equipment, fuel and medical supplies to the point of attack.

This glider features a tubular metal fuselage frame with a WOODEN support structure covered by a fabric skin. The wing structure was constructed entirely of wood and fabric.

Looking inside back to the tail.

Looking inside to the front.

Underneath

This drawing shows how the a Doulas C-47 towing two gliders. Some C-47s towed three.

 

Recovery and re-use of the gliders occurred when possible. Retrieval techniques were either by truck and by the dramatic aerial fly-by snatch pick-up. Heavily damaged gliders were abandoned.

Neither of us knew much about the gliders. We left with a much better understanding of their use and importance during WWII. If you are in this area, we highly recommend a visit. We paid $3/each, which to our surprise, got us in free to our next stop.

Next stop was the Buddy Holly Center in downtown Lubbock.

It features a permanent exhibit on the life and music of the West Texas icon, Charles Hardin Holley AKA Buddy Holly. It follows his life from Lubbock to his last concert in Clear Lake, Iowa. Included in this exhibit are Buddy's Fender Stratocaster guitar, and his famed horn-rimmed black glasses, along with artifacts from his youth and early career. During our visit to the museum, a crew was setting-up the new statue and Hall of Fame Walk in the courtyard. The unveiling will be Monday May 9.

The life of Buddy Holly is an amazing story. Born in Lubbock, TX in 1936, Buddy developed an interest in music at an early age. His interests ranged from country and gospel to blue grass and rhythm and blues. And, of course, his huge influence on rock'n roll, encompassed 25 hit records before his tragic death in a plane crash at the age of twenty-two. He will be rewarded with his Hollywood Star on his 75th birthday, September 7.

Mural of Buddy.

As you probably figured out by now…NO pictures were permitted in the museum. If you enjoy music history, this is the museum for you.

Next door to the Buddy Holly Center is the Depot Entertainment District. We wanted to check this area out during the day to see if it's something worth coming back to see on a Friday or Saturday night. It's a collection of bars, restaurants, and music venues with outdoor stages and seating. We can see how music would fill the air as you walk along the brick streets checking out the bars and neon lighting. We'll consider this destination on Friday night.

Thanks for stopping by. Hope to see ya'll back real soon. Have a great day!