Buddy Love

 

When it comes to favorite sons of Lubbock, TX, the list begins with rock star Buddy Holly.  Before his rock & roll dreams came true, he grew up in the panhandle town and there are plenty of tributes to the musician along the streets of his hometown, including a historical marker:

The marker reads:

     "Charles Hardin "Buddy" Holley was born in Lubbock on September 7, 1936, to Ella Pauline (Drake) and Lawrence Odell "L.O." Holley. The youngest of four children, Buddy grew up in a musical household, with his mother and siblings singing and playing instruments. Buddy showed musical aptitude, taking violin, piano and steel guitar lessons. He took up the acoustic guitar after his brother, Travis, bought a $15 Harmony model.
     Buddy, with other young Lubbock "pickers," formed several country groups. In 1955, he saw Elvis Presley in concert and was very impressed by Presley's rhythm and performance style. Buddy and his friends were opening for big country acts at the Fair Park Coliseum when Eddie Crandall, an agent and manager, saw a performance and helped Buddy broker a Decca recording contract. Buddy's last name was misspelled on the contract: "Holley" became "Holly." Buddy's relationship with Decca was short-lived as his early recording sessions failed to produce a hit.
     In 1957, Buddy and his new band, The Crickets, began working with producer Norman Petty in Clovis, New Mexico. On February 15, 1957, they recorded "That'll Be The Day," the first of several hits on the Brunswick label. Their success led the band to tour widely in the United States and Canada.
     In 1958, Buddy Holly and The Crickets toured England. The group had a profound influence on Rock and Roll in England - from their sound to Buddy's distinct look. On February 3, 1959, during a three-week tour of the Midwestern United States, Buddy's chartered plane crashed after takeoff due to bad weather. There were no survivors. Buddy Holly was 22 years old."

 The marker stands in front of the Buddy Holly Center, a museum that chronicles Holly's career as well as other cultural topics of the area.  And outside stands a pair of black glasses, a part of Holly's look throughout his short career.  Visitors are encouraged to take pictures with rock star's spectacles.

 
Across the street is a statue honoring the rock & roll sensation.  He's playing his guitar surrounded by the West Texas Hall of Fame honoring other influential artists of the area.  His fellow Texas musicians are forever serenaded by Charles Hardin Holley, a.k.a. Buddy Holly, as he welcomes visitors to his humble hometown. 

Top 5 Things for Sale at the Best Maid Pickle Emporium

 Previously:

80s Corpus Christie  - -  Sam Houston Gift Shop

Texas Treasures Store  - -  Alamo Gift Shop

 Sandwiched firmly in the Great Hall of famous Texas foodstuffs, you'll find jars and jars of Best Maid Pickled products.  With their trademark "Little Girl Sticking Her Tongue Out" (that's her name, right?) emblazoned on each jar, they've made their way into backyard cookouts, concession stands and bbq pits across the Lone Star State and beyond.

 

Now Best Maid buffs can get their pickle fix in Fort Worth at the Best Maid Pickle Emporium.  It's part museum, part store and the perfect way to add some crunch to the sandwich of life.  I visited recently and, as I do, thought I'd pick the top five things for sale there.

 5. Pickle Mints

 

Depending on your pants, you probably can't carry a jar of pickles in your pocket.  But that doesn't stop some pickle enthusiasts from keeping pickle flavor close to the vest.  If you want that fresh, pickley breath smell all day long, your solution is here.

4.  Pickle Dog Chew Toys

 In my experience, pickles are low on most dogs' list of favorite things but chewing stuff tends to rank high.  Sure, your best friend might not be aware of the significance of his or her new toy but it squeaks and it's shaped like Texas so we call that a "win/win."

3. Pickle Air Freshener

New car smell?  Nah, man, pickle smell!  Freshen up your road trip with the crisp scent of dill and enjoy the ride.  I'm sure there are several advantages to having your car smell like pickles, I just can't think of any right now.  But if and when the need arises, you can be ready.

2.  Pickle Flask

Keep this one close to your heart.  When you need a pickle-based cocktail, you never want it to be too far.  These come with a recipe for "Pickle Back" which is essentially a shot of whiskey followed by a shot of pickle brine.  I don't drink either one of those so I couldn't tell you if the combination is any good.  But if it's printed on a flask, it's gotta be pretty nice, right?

1.  Best Maid Pickle Tie

 So here we have what the well dressed pickle enthusiast is wearing.  If I ever have another job interview, I plan to wear this.  There are power ties and there are power ties and this is the ultimate power move.  Show them what you're about with this Best Maid logo-covered accent.  

So there you have it.  If you can't find something for the pickle lover on your holiday shopping list, then I don't know what to tell you.

Salt Seeing

The Morton Salt Girl has never been one of the more flashy product mascots but she's a bit of a workhorse.  She's been holding her umbrella and spilling her salt for over a century.  Sure, she may be frequently overlooked by flashier guys like Mr. Peanut or the Green Giant but I found a palace where she reigns as queen.

The Grand Salt Palace is just that...a building dedicated to, and made of, salt!  Found in Grand Saline in east Texas, the museum and visitors center celebrates America's favorite spice.  That's because there's a huge salt deposit in the area and Morton mines it for potato chip lovers everywhere.  It's what you call a "Salt Town."  (I don't know if anybody calls it that but I do.)

So proud of their natural resource, the town built its Welcome Center out of it.   You can build buildings out of rock, and salt is a rock so naturally synergy won the day.  Visitors are even encouraged to taste the salty structure...so we did...

Guess what it tastes like?  If you guessed salt, you're right!  I can't make any claims about how hygienic it is but pretty much every visitor seems to give it a lick.  My advice to new visitors is to try and find an unappealing corner somewhere that has had a minimum of licking.  Good luck!

Inside you'll find the type of pamphlets and local history displays that populate many small town museums.  What makes this one stand out is the free rock salt samples (Spoiler: they taste like salt) and, of course, Morton Salt Girl Memorabilia in its various forms.

As usual, there's a surprising amount of stuff with this particular mascot on it but, to paraphrase Dr. Ian Malcolm, Marketing...finds a way... 

Also on site is the standard little old lady to answer all your salt and salt related questions, an educational video about salt playing on a loop and the obligatory penny smashing machine.  I would definitely recommend a stop at this place if it's only a few hours off your pre-planned route.  But I'm into weird stuff like this.

Outside, in addition to the lickable walls, you'll find a Texas Historical marker about legendary aviator and adventurer Wiley Post.   And not too far from that that is even more salt!  This time in the form of a great big chunk:

Atop a wooden table and shaded by an outdoor roof, this guy has been welcoming folks to town for years.  The rain and wind have probably done their best to wear it down but it remains in place waiting for the next curious visitor to give it a lick.

Spurs of the Moment

Spurs are about motivation.  A well placed spur in the right haunch would get you where you needed to be, when you needed to be there, back in the old days.  But these days they tend to be less "working cowboy" and more "duded up tourist".

That's not to say that they aren't still used in ranching and rodeo but they've made they're way into the decor in a big way.  You can find several examples of that across the state, starting in the legendary Fort Worth Stockyards:

You can find this "big un" near one of the branches of the Texas Trail of Fame, in a little out of the way location near the Lewis & Clark star.  I don't have a lot of information on the "what and why" of this thing but it definitely fits in with its surroundings.

You can find these beauties outside of RT Bit and Spur in Gainesville and they're easy to miss.  The house/business is behind some trees as you come in to town so you have to keep your eyes open.

But the next one is easy to find as it's one of the many spurs that claims to be the world's largest.  It makes its home in Hico, TX, not too far from the fake Billy the Kid grave.  I didn't have a tape measure or a ladder (or time) so I couldn't investigate its world's largest claims.

And finally, since size matters not, I'll leave with with the l'ilest Texas spur and an assignment.  The next time you visit downtown Dallas' Pioneer Plaza you'll find, among the many cow statues, a few cowboy statues.  And on one of these statues you'll find this:

Your mission: find it, flick it and make your future kids and grandkids listen to the story of how you found it and flicked it.  What could be more fun?

Tour of Texas Dinos Part 2

Previously: Part 1

If you've ever visited Dinosaur Valley State Park in Glen Rose, you have definitely seen the two big greeters up front.  T-Rex-esque and Brontosaurus-esque (or whatever you're supposed to call brontosauruses now) statues are just past the park office, near the entrance, and they're happy to pose for picture after picture with visitors.

Many a foggy road trip vacation memory was made by these beauties.  As the years passed many people would remember seeing them but the details would fade away like a dream at dawn.  Where they really there?  Where did they come from?  How did they get there?

They've been standing guard at the park since the 70s.  And while the area has a lot of well preserved, easily viewed dinosaur footprints, it's seems unlikely that the Texas Parks and Wildlife Service would have the funds to commission such cool looking, yet budgetary frivolous, conversation pieces.

And of course, they didn't.  The origin of this species happened closer to the Atlantic Ocean than the Paluxy River.  They were originally a part of an exhibit at the 1964-65 World's Fair in New York.

As was the style at the time for World's Fairs, the Sinclair dinosaur exhibit was big and there was lots of it and it was big!  It included nine of these custom made behemoths and "educated" fair visitors about the connection between the dead dinos in the ground and the gas they put in their car.

It's easy to get excited when you're planning a big fair exhibit and it's easy to get swept up in the "Let's build more dinosaur statues!" hype but eventually the fair closes and you're left with nine great big dinosaur statues on your hands.

There was apparently some attempt to get the Smithsonian to take the herd but I guess there just wasn't enough room for this "Breakfast Club" of monsters, so Sinclair tried to put them to work.

It was time to hit the road.  A few of the specimens went on tour.  This was a little before my time but if I, as a young lad, heard about a touring troupe of fiberglass beasties, I would have totally been into that.

I imagine there's a huge amount of novelty that comes along with the job of driving a giant brontosaurus around on a flatbed trailer, but I would also imagine that once that novelty wears off, it doesn't come back.  So eventually the gang needed a forever home.

Which brings us back to the Lone Star state.  There was a lobbying effort to get a couple of dinosaur statues at what would eventually become the "Dinosaur Capital of Texas" and the oil company decided that the free publicity that comes with donating giant dinosaurs is much better than the costs of storing giant dinosaurs and the rest...is prehistory...

If you plan to visit the park, I would definitely recommend it.  Mother Nature did a great job of crafting a great little getaway spot with cool dinosaur tracks to see and cool water to swim in.

Our two friends eventually got some company in town as the area embraced the modern stone age philosophy and and other statures can be seen at the nearby Dinosaur World park and outside the Glen Rose visitors center.

Foul Territory

Texas is known for pioneering oil barons whose business acumen frequently takes a back seat to their larger than life personalities.  But at some point the blustery sale pitches, ten gallon hats and six shooter personalities all seem to fade together.  And that's when a different kind of Texas businessman gets the spotlight...like East Texas chicken magnate Bo Pilgrim.

With his matter-of-fact demeanor and deadpan delivery, his commercials for "Pilgrim's Pride" chicken quickly became staple of 80s and 90s TV.  His business dealings and charitable work also made him a big part of the East Texas community, particularly in Pittsburgh, TX.

He passed away earlier this year but his presence can still be felt in the area.  At the Northeast Texas Rural Heritage Museum in Pittsburgh his cardboard cutout stands tall in an exhibit of famous area residents, along with his trademark hat.

But the town has an even bigger tribute to the late meat packing mogul.  Outside the local chicken processing plant you'll find this giant bust of Pittsburgh's prominent poultry purveyor.  Feast your eyes on this roadside siren as it beckons you to pull over and snap a picture:

If that's not making a statement then I don't know what is.  The giant head of Bo Pilgrim welcomes(?) visitors coming in to town along Highway 271.  It kind of makes you wish for a Huntsville Sam Houston statue type of full scale version but for now we'll have to settle for the head and shoulders...and of course the old commercials:

Separated at Birth: The Twin Dilemma

Outside of the south Dallas location of Schepp's Dairy stands a four legged sentry who keeps two great big eyes on the comings and goings of the busy distribution center.

Not a big deal, you say?  Cow statues are plentiful...especially in Texas, you say?  Well, ok, you're right but this one seemed familiar and as I rummaged through my hard drives of pictures and video...

I stumbled across this little beauty in Benbrook, TX, about 60 miles east of the other one:

The resemblance is striking.  Long lost twins, perhaps?  Our friends at Roadside America tell us there are multiple mega-cows grazing along the back roads of the U.S. and that there are standard fiberglass models and not so standard fiberglass models.  But I think it's safe to say that these two are from the same herd.

So what's the story?  Were they both previously perched at Schepp's and then one got out when the farmer left the gate open?  Are their origins completely separate from Schepp's and then later the dairy got a hold of one of them?  Another open case file in the world of roadside mysteries...

Tour of Duty

Sad Sack was a wartime comic strip about the misadventures of a well meaning goofball in the U.S. Army.  The strip was originally published in the military magazine Yank before becoming a comic book published by Harvey Comics.  I don't have a lot of info but at some point in the 70's Harvey published "Sad Sack U.S.A." featuring issues that focused on individual U.S. states...including Texas!

Again, I don't have a ton of info on the series.  I'm not sure how long it ran or how many states were featured.  Texas was issue #4 and other states like New York, Illinois, Washington and Michigan got their own issues.  I'd like to think they got around to all 50 states but for today we're just focused on their Lone Star State road trip:

There isn't much of a story.  The premise seems to be that Sack, Sarge and Sadie have car trouble in the middle of Texas and need to walk to Dallas.  They weren't sticklers for geography in this book since they seem to start in the dessert and after a brisk hike end up in Big D:

I guess they showed up in October because Big Tex is out to welcome them.  No mention of the rest of the State Fair but from this point the locations are fast and furious, many of them only getting one panel.  After a quick stop to ride a nondescript roller coaster at Six Flags, the gang takes in the Fort Worth Convention Center and then decides it would be a good idea to head to Denison:

If you've never visited, you should.  Mainly because it's an important piece of Texas history but also so you can decide for yourself how good the likeness from this issue is.  Or you can just check out the pic from my last visit:

Not too shabby.  For some reason the crew heads right back to Fort Worth to see the Log Cabin village and then off to the panhandle for some Palo Duro Canyon sightseeing.   While they're up there they stop by Lubbock, Muleshoe and Happy, TX before heading south to San Antonio:

Like many of us do, Sack and his pals took some time to relax on the River Walk.  Now did this 1972 comic book inspire the filmmakers of the 1984 Dabney Coleman/Henry Thomas film Cloak & Dagger to set a scene on the River Walk?

Probably not, but I'd like to think so.  After a few drinks and some mariachi music, our intrepid explorers were finally willing to brave the humidity of Houston.  Along the way they pick up a hitchhiker who lets them know that Houston has a few surprises in store for them:

After a quick stop at the Battleship Texas it was beach time!  Sun, surf and sand greeting our weary travelers.

These guys just can't seem to sit still though because after a few beach shenanigans they began the long trek towards West Texas.  Anyone who's done that trip knows what a long haul it is.  Luckily, the gang found some interesting stuff along the way:

Just like Big Tex, the World's Largest Jackrabbit is colored all white in the comic.  I assume it's some weird publishing thing or a cost cutting measure or maybe they just mistakenly thought it was white.  For the record, here's what it looked like on my last trip:

Galveston, El Paso, Glen Rose and on and on.  Our trio or sightseers weren't slowing down and the cities, landmarks and attractions were piling up.  What could possibly bring this trip to its conclusion, you ask?

Yep, apparently Texas is so big that they ran out of pages before the gang could see it all.  I guarantee you don't see that kid of thing happen in New Hampshire comics.

Jake and Elwood Tour Texas

If you've traveled around any, you may have noticed that your old pals the Blues Brothers tend too hang out from place to place.  For some reason (don't ask me), tons of Jake and Elwood statues were commissioned and distributed across the country.  They pop up in bars, restaurants and places that can only be described as "miscellaneous." 

You can even still buy a pair if you've got an extra two grand lying around or try to get a better deal on eBay.  But for the thrifty sight seer that just wants to catch a glimpse of the boys, you're in luck.  They're no strangers to the Lone Star State.

Stroker's Ice House is biker bar in Dallas housed at the custom bike shop of Rick Fairless.  You might have seen it on TruTV's "Ma's Roadhouse."  It's got a ton of bizarre statues on top including dinosaurs, a hot dog man and...you guessed it:

There they are crooning to the bikers in some custom polka dotted threads.  The boys hold their own among other celebrity statues like Frankenstein, Dracula and Betty Boop.  It's getting crowded up there so let's head to the next stop.

I'm not exactly sure what "America's Vice Stop" is.  I had assumed that it's one of those places that sells vaping stuff to horrible people but their Facebook page seems to indicate that they sell fresh fruit and vegetables.  I don't know why that would be considered a "vice" though.  Regardless, though, our pals make an appearance:

The guys are atop a great big storage container (which is apparently for sale) from time to time but recently they've been M.I.A.  I don't know if it got too windy to be safe or maybe the store owners are just temporarily storing the boys while they come up with a better way to display them.  The Blues Brothers come and go at their own discretion and they're missing from our next stop:

A few years back there was a restaurant housed in the historic Collin County prison in downtown McKinney.  In keeping with the theme, the outside was decorated with our friendly felons.  The "Prison Bars & Grill" closed down and afterward the statues left for parts unknown.  But while they were there we shot video of the place:

I wouldn't be surprised to come across the guys again at some point in the future.  So keep your eyes out and maybe you'll see the them too.