TEXAS TWO STOP

Downtown Skyline from Tranquility Park - Photo Courtesy of visithouston.com

It is fitting that this summer would end with a double dose of Texas - call it my Texas two stop. I made it to the metropolis of Houston and then up to the panhandle of Texas to the modest town of Lubbock. In Houston, I took part in the Brillant Lecture Series - a strategic program designed to inspire the local community with some very fascinating people. Quite honestly, I am humbled and a little blown away that I was asked to participate in this lecture series. Other speakers in the current series include: Sir Sidney Poitier, Queen Noor of Jordan, Dame Julie Andrews, Diana Ross, Secretary-General Kofi Annan and Carl Rove. The Hotel Granduca where the event took place put on a great show in conjunction with the Chandon Winery from California. The chefs created a tremendous array of canapes in the White House style. I had a wonderful time and the people of Houston could not have been better. I can't wait to get back. To see a slideshow of this event click here.
Houston - Don, Stephanie & Bill

My next stop was Lubbock. Lubbock was about as close in likeness to Houston as the 574 miles between the two cities. In this town, I experienced a real taste of Texas hospitality. The mayor was kind enough to send me a certificate making me an honorary citizen of Lubbock. It was a great way to end the White House style dinner I did for the guests of the Lubbock Club.

Afterwards I found myself in a sportsbar surrounded by guys wearing either ball caps or cowboy hats. The guys talked about NASCAR while Eminem played in the background and the large screen tv broadcasted the Olympics. The feature this night was the U.S. vs. China for the Gold Medal in Beach Volleyball. Two teams of women dressed in small Nike bikinis faced off on imported sand in an open stadium that allowed rain to pour down on them. None of these things in themselves seem strange or unusual - cowboys, nascar, Eminem, or Olympic Beach Volleyball. Mix them all together, however, into a single moment and throw in a scooner of beer and then things seem really strange.

Oversized Novelty Pistol BBQ Lubbock, TX- Photo by brykmantra -flickr.com

Although the Lubbock bar moment was an oddity, it didn't take away from what I know to be true about this town. It will never be as big as Houston, but it is growing in the amount of businesses, housing, and population. With this in mind, Lubbock can still boast about its agricultural roots in terms of being one of the largest contiguous cotton growing regions in the world. Over the next several years it will be very interesting to see how the "Hub-City" (its nickname) transforms.

Cotton Module Bale Lubbock, TX- Photo by David Kozlowski -dallasphotoworks.com