Amarillo

For tradition and grub, try the Golden Light Café where they’ve been serving up cheeseburgers and hand-cut French fries since 1956. The Amarillo Stockyard Café is the place for a hearty western breakfast. Speaking of hearty, Texas sized appetites are welcome at the Big Texan Steak Ranch, where if you can eat a shrimp cocktail, a salad and dinner roll, a baked potato and 72 ounces of steak then your dinner is free! You’d better have $50 on you, just in case.

The San Jacinto District on W 6th Ave. is a great place to spend an afternoon or evening. This area is a real charmer. Many of the area shops have their original fronts from the 1920’s. It’s a great place to get a burger, beer or book for the road. It’s also the hub of Amarillo’s nightlife. Visitors can find live music at the Golden Light Cantina or the Blue Gator Bar & Grill almost every night, often featuring local acts like Roger Dean or Kickin’ Wookies. To catch bigger-name shows, however, visitors may have to venture out of the district to venues like Midnight Rodeo or the Amarillo Civic Center Auditorium.

Visitors passing through Amarillo in late October may want to check out the League of Celtic Nations Annual Celtic Festival & Crafts Fair. Celtic music and dance is featured at the Amarillo Tri-State Fairgrounds. Visitors can fly into the Amarillo International Airport or ride into its Greyhound Bus Depot.

Need to check your E-Mail? The Amarillo Public Library has Internet access. There are scores of chain hotels to choose from in Amarillo, but the hotel tax is %15. Try the family run Amarillo Hotel for nice rooms at reasonable rates. No visit to Amarillo would be complete without heading west of town to gawk at Stanley Marsh’s Cadillac Ranch, where the eccentric Mr. Marsh has partially buried 10 Cadillac cars hood-first into the ground.