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Amarillo, Texas - Part 3
Written by: Janet Pope
Day 3
Early morning in Amarillo is a beautiful sight to see - the air is crisp, the sky is bright blue and there's a sense of cowboy adventure in the air. We rounded up our cowpokes early and headed towards the Elkins Ranch for a Chuck Wagon Breakfast.
On our way through town we took in some local sites of interest. Many of the roads had been paved with bricks by prisoners in 1910 and still remain today, adding a picturesque look. There is a world class performing arts center under construction, opening in October 2005, which will showcase the symphony, ballet and performing artists, and add a cultural gem to this growing community.
As we drove, I noticed diamond shaped signs sprouting up at random over lawns and the sidewalk's edge. Each one had a different quote or witticism, some well known and some rather cryptic, but all leaving the reader with a thought to ponder. It seems that Amarillo is the proud beneficiary of the philanthropy of Stanley Marsh 3. He prefers the number 3 to the Roman numeral III and is the town's eccentric millionaire and patron of the arts. Every town should have one. He decided to make Amarillo his personal canvas and commissioned about 700 of these signs to espouse his thoughts on life. They certainly give visitors something to look for and talk about. Marsh 3 also was the designer of the Cadillac Ranch where Cadillacs rest in peace in the fine Amarillo ground, becoming a work of art in itself.
On our journey through town, we passed sites of local color like Drive Through Liquor stores and Toot ‘n Totems - the northern equivalent of a Seven/ Eleven Convenience store - but I just loved the name. Along the roadside, the land began to be more wide open as we traveled on. There are no tall trees, due to the harsh canyon environment, so flat land was as far as the eye could see.
We spotted a Cowboy Church, where youths gather on Sundays to hold rodeos, often going from church to church. Now that's Texas - while we just pray, they turn riding horses into a prayer.
As we continued to drive along a somewhat empty highway, our guide gave us a little historical background. In 1874, ranching was introduced to the area and in 1877 came the invention of barbed wire and the fencing of Texas. Before that time, cattle really roamed the land freely, until roundup time.
We finally came to The Elkins Ranch, which has been in the family for five generations. Bought in 1923 by Charlie Elkins, Mary, his granddaughter now has turned to tourism and runs cowboy breakfasts and dinners, horseback riding and jeep tours.
We all piled into cow patterned jeeps and headed down an extremely steep and narrow pathway, further down into Palo Duro Canyon. One wrong turn and we would be over the canyon's edge. My life was now in a cowgirl's hand. As we traversed the bumpy rode downward, Elena, our driver, gave us a narration. It made me slightly nervous that she casually drove this road and talked at the same time, so I made sure to ask no questions for fear of distracting her. Especially since she mentioned the inhabitants of the canyon were deer, wood mice, bobcats, mountain lions, cougars and, of course, rattlesnakes. Actually, the rattlesnakes scared me the most, since I thought I would have a better chance of at least seeing the others coming at me.
As we bumped along, I held on tightly with one hand and took notes with the other. Elena pointed out short mesquite bushes and their mesquite beans, very similar in looks to a green bean, which jelly is made from. There are also short juniper trees and plenty of cacti. She kept mentioning all of the natural leaves and fruit that one could eat if one were stranded down here, but that kind of talk only made me more nervous.
But Elena did not look worried, so onward we drove, as she told us that the canyon was formed by water and wind erosion and continues to grow half an inch a year. More history: In 1541, Coronado, in search of the Seven Cities of Gold, came to this canyon and saw the different layers of various colored rock rippling out in a swirling effect and dubbed them the Spanish Skirts. I guess after traveling and exploring for so long with his men, his mind was naturally on skirts.
Palo Doro itself means "hard wood," which is actually what the rock formations resemble. The view of this canyon, without sounding trite, literally takes your breath away. Being from a city, I tend to forget that there are still places in this country that remain as untouched and natural as this. The vastness and sheer beauty of the scene actually looked like some kind of western backdrop for a movie - a little surreal. I expected to hear a director yell "Cut!" and see the background roll up into the sky.
But we haven't even gotten to the food yet. Breakfast was served Chuck Wagon style. You took a tray and moseyed on over to the open grills that held large griddles filled with eggs and ham, sausages, homemade biscuits and gravy, the best potatoes I've ever eaten, fruit, cinnamon cake and hot coffee. The smells alone were fantastic.
As we ate, Mr. Ed Montana played his guitar and took requests. I didn't even have to ask for "Amarillo By Morning." The song fit the day perfectly. The sun was out, there was a gentle breeze making the morning comfortable, the smell of the sausages frying and a cute cowboy singing to me. Life doesn't get better than this. It was worth risking a few rattlesnakes. When I thought the experience couldn't be more perfect, a cowboy even asked me to dance the Tennessee Waltz – alright, I asked him, but once I heard the song, who could resist dancing?
Before we headed off, Mary even shared her secret family recipe for the potatoes. Life is good.
No one wanted to leave but this was our last day to explore Amarillo. The Panhandle Plains Historical Museum, on the grounds of West Texas A&M University, was our next stop. Originally built in 1932 by the State of Texas and the University, it recently had a major renovation in 2001.
The large entranceway greets you with wall murals depicting the proud history of Texas and its development. We had a tour guide for a short time and then we were on our own to wander this large museum. It boasts being the largest and best history museum in Texas and I can attest to the fact that it is large. I roamed from one gallery to another and just when I had thought I had seen it all, I turned a corner and there was still more. Their extensive painting gallery is home to an original Georgia O'Keefe, who taught at the university for a while. With more than two million artifacts filling rooms of period furniture, clothing through the decades, paleontology, geology and antique cars, there is something for everyone.
One of the rooms I liked best was the painting exhibit. Our guide summed it up best when he said, "You can tell it's a good Southwestern painting when they get the horses right. Anyone can get the people right, but to get the horse right takes talent. He should look like he's going to leap off the canvas. There should be a stirring in his eyes." And that about says it all for Texas - if you don't get the horse part right, you don't get it right at all. Remember the Cowboy Church - riding a horse is a form of worship.
Having explored this museum for a few hours, we actually had the nerve to say we were hungry. We ate a light lunch at Wrong Way Feldman's Diner, which specializes in burgers, salads and sandwiches. Feldman must have a Texas sense of humor because on the menu is "Oprah's Favorite Burger- she gets 'em here all the time." and a "Holy Moly Burger topped with jalapenos and green chilies - don't call us tomorrow." My cornbread hamburger was delicious and juicy and my Texas-sized soda was a bargain at only a $1.10.
On the way back to our hotel we stopped at Boots 'N Jeans, a Western wear store. This town is very loyal to local businesses and it was there that I caught cowboy fever and bought a pair of jeans and a western style shirt. With my new leather belt I felt like I didn't stand out in the crowd. Now I needed to open my mouth to talk before they knew I was from New York.
We all headed back to the hotel to rest a bit before our big night on the town. On our last night we headed down to Palo Duro Canyon again, but this time to see the sunset, have dinner and catch a show - Texas Legacies.
At the Visitor's Center for the Canyon we learned that the canyon is 800 feet deep and 120 miles long, so obviously we have seen just a small part of this mini Grand Canyon. Our volunteer guides, John Dietz and Fred Rathjen, are old timers to this area, who hold an obvious deep rooted love for the region and the canyon in particular. With binoculars, they pointed out many landmarks, including a 310-foot formation of rock, dubbed The Lighthouse. They were a fount of information, filling in even more history - in 1874, in The Battle of Palo Duro, the Native Americans were pushed out of the canyon and, in 1875, Charles Goodnight introduced cattle to the area.
I kept marveling at the fact that all this land is so pristine and untouched, but I discovered that 90 percent of the land in Texas remains under private ownership. There's a land legacy here, with ranchers handing down thousands of acres of land to their families and generations preserving the vastness and natural beauty of the area.
Tonight we dined at a pre-dinner for those seeing Texas Legacies, an outdoor show. The barbecue dinner was served buffet style and included a beef stew, potatoes, cole slaw and a cobbler. Simple, but hearty food... definitely not Atkins country.
The show itself has been around for 37 seasons and tells the history of Texas in song, story and dance. This is a huge undertaking with 53 cast, 110 crew and staff, wagons, horses and a train, all against an open sky and an unbelievable background of canyon. On any given night, the cast never knows what can happen. Quite often a family of deer appears on the rocks in the background, as if on cue. The show was well done and ended in a patriotic display in honor of the Fourth of July weekend, complete with fireworks.
Tired from a long day in Amarillo, we headed back to our hotel rooms, weary, stuffed and filled with Texas fever. And that would have been the end of my adventure, except this tale has a prologue.
PROLOGUE
That night, as the tune "Amarillo By Morning" played in my head and I dreamt of open blue skies, a weird sensation awakened me. It felt like a rattlesnake was rumbling in my stomach and without getting too graphic, I spent the entire night sitting next to my toilet bowl.
The reason I share this unfortunate incident is because this is when Texas hospitality was put to the test and passed with flying colors. My host, Eric Miller, from The Amarillo Convention and Visitor's Council, took one look at me in the morning and took over. I actually had my bags packed ready to go home to New York, but I felt so weak and was still nauseous. Eric rescheduled my flight for the next day (against my protests), re-booked my hotel room, got me water, held my hand, called my family and took me to a doctor. The diagnosis was a viral stomach infection and at this point I was so weak that I could barely hold my head up or prop my eyes open. Poor Eric, this was more than he bargained for but, without missing a beat or breaking a Texan sweat, he loaded me back in his car and drove me to his own home. I crashed in his daughter's bed for a while, as the shot the doctor gave me calmed down my tumultuous tummy. It was a little like Goldilocks - "Daddy who's that sleeping in my bed?"
The doctor who saw me on a moment's notice, the hotel staff at The Ambassador, Eric's family and even the airline were all wonderful and extended the best hospitality that could be offered to a visitor.
So, in summary, go to Amarillo to have a great time. Enjoy the food, the local color, the sense of history and the love of the land and the horses. Don't plan on getting sick, but if you do - fear not, you're in good hands - you're in Texas.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
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