EXPERIENCE Home of rock and roll legend Buddy Holly, Lubbock in Texas is an image of America rarely seen

T he first thing that I noticed after setting foot in Lubbock was how the place seemed to look nothing like the images of the U.S. that one tends to see in movies. There were no bright-lit skyscrapers, no crowds of people trying to cross the road, and definitely no neon signs and large billboards. I must admit that I was a bit disappointed initially. The adaptability of the place's name to Tamil-English bilingual puns did nothing to ease my passage.

Lubbock is the quintessential Texan town — the kind you'd find in old John Wayne westerns. The hub city, as it's called, is home to quite a few sights and sounds. From large lakes and majestic canyons to shrines dedicated to rock and roll, Lubbock has them all. And of course, one cannot not talk about Texas Tech University, the second largest contiguous university campus in the U.S., which was the purpose of my visit.

The first thing I did was to set out on a road trip to the Palo Duro Canyon, around 45 minutes away from the centre of Lubbock. ‘The Grand Canyon of Texas' is truly a magnificent spectacle, with the sunlight reflecting off the mirror-like edges of the rocks, and contributing to a multi-hued sight for sore eyes. Not far from the canyon is the Buffalo Spring lake, touted by the wooden sign present there as ‘Lubbock's oasis in the wild west'. After rowing across the lake in a row-boat (flailing my arms like a robot), I sat down to watch one of the best sunsets I have ever seen.

Over the next few days, I visited the Buddy Holly Cultural Center — in memory of the rock and roll legend Buddy Holly, who was born in Lubbock, and the national ranching heritage centre, a museum of ranching history that showcases authentic old Texas style ranch buildings, and the Moody Planetarium — all located quite close to the heart of the town, and thus, quite easily accessible.

One another thing that's quite interesting about Lubbock is the numerous bronze statues of people in various positions of still-life that you can find on the pavement. They are all designed and installed by Glenna Goodacre, considered one of the best modern-day sculptors the world has seen. Of course, I could not help thinking if those statues came to life whenever there was a full moon. It would not be too surprising if that were to happen though — Lubbock has been the site of a number of strange happenings, including a major UFO sighting called the Lubbock Lights in 1951.

Lubbock's downtown area is close to the Texas Tech University campus, and filled with a number of restaurants and bars — all of them offer nice discounts for anyone associated with the university. Many a time, I have been offered free food and/or drinks, simply because I wore a Texas Tech t-shirt.

The Texas Tech University's campus with its Spanish Renaissance-themed buildings, and well connected by the campus buses is a sight in itself. Sometimes, one can even find students riding their horses to class. The first time I saw that happen, I was somewhat taken aback and believed myself to have travelled back in time.

Starting a month before Christmas, Lubbock turns into a land of lights, with every nook and corner being decked up with brightly coloured incandescent bulbs, somewhat looking like a Daft Punk video, or like the computing world from the Tron series of movies.

Lubbock is definitely an interesting place to be in — has a lot of good, very little bad, and no ugly. It is a place where one can buy a lot with just a fistful of dollars, and one fine place to make a lot of amigos. Quick Gun Murugan or not, you will enjoy visiting Lubbock for sure. Bienvenida, amigos!

SRIKUMAR KRISHNAMOORTHY