SALEM, Ohio — Group Travel Family travel planners are always seeking destinations that offer exciting events and friendly hospitality for their members. Many of you are familiar with Visit Lubbock and its effort to spread the good word about a destination that should be on your short list of upcoming tours; but for those of you who are not, we’d like to share this information.
Visit Lubbock promotes group tourism with a steady presence at many gatherings, and Lisa Grinstead of Visit Lubbock works with travel planners from across the country. The Visit Lubbock team provides information about local attractions to assist in planning group schedules and will help you create tours and specialty outings for your organization. All the Visit Lubbock services are complimentary and start when your group has confirmed a total of 10 room nights. That could be a total of 10 rooms for one night or five rooms over two nights.
“At Visit Lubbock, promoting the Hub City is our full-time job, and we couldn’t be happier to be on the front lines welcoming group travelers,” said Grinstead. “We get 5.8 million visitors to Lubbock each year, and those visitors come with plenty of inquiries. In honor of National Travel and Tourism Week, we rounded up a few of our frequently asked questions and tossed in a few of our favorite questions for good measure.”
Where is Lubbock?
“Discovered by the Spanish explorer Coronado on his search for the City of Gold, Lubbock was first named Llano Estacado,” said Grinstead. “Today we call it Lubbock, and it’s located at the bottom of the Texas Panhandle on the South Plains [or High Plains]. From here, we’re four hours from the mountains, eight from the coast and in the middle of cotton country under the biggest skies in Texas.”
Why is Lubbock called the Hub City?
“Our city acquired its nickname because it’s surrounded by five major highways,” said Grinstead. “If you look at it on a map, it gives the appearance of a hub on a wagon wheel.”
What is there to do in Lubbock?
“That’s our favorite question,” she said. “We never let anyone that crosses our path leave thinking that Lubbock is boring. We’re home to five award-winning wineries, world-class art collections, a monthly art trail through Lubbock’s Cultural District, and you can see live music in the city on any given night. There are also plenty of museums with rotating exhibits to explore, and other new entertainment options are set to open within the year.”
Is it Buddy Holly with an ‘lly’ or an ‘lley’?
It’s both, according to Grinstead. “Although he went by Buddy, his given name was Charles Hardin Holley,” she said. “When Decca Records drew up his first contract, they mistakenly left off the “e” in Holley. Not wanting to correct them, Buddy signed on the dotted line, giving him the name he is known by around the world.”
Was the Chilton really created in Lubbock?
“All our research says yes,” she said. “The story goes that a Dr. Chilton wanted to enjoy a refreshing beverage at the Lubbock Country Club. He instructed his bartender to mix the juice of two lemons with vodka and club soda cocktail and serve it over ice with a salted rim. Texas Monthly magazine did some research of their own and found that the cocktail is virtually unheard of outside of West Texas.”
Where do locals go to eat?
“Lubbock is home to almost 1,000 restaurants, with more being added every month,” said Grinstead. “But even with the soon-to-be additions of places like P.F. Chang’s and In-N-Out Burger, there’s still nothing better than our local restaurants.”
Do you ride horses to work?
“While we’re really proud of our Western heritage in Lubbock and were named the No. 1 Western Town by True West Magazine, we don’t ride horses on our daily commute,” she said. “But we do like the mental image of a horse heading down Marsha Sharp Freeway.”
What’s that star that’s really bright in Texas?
“As the song goes, ‘all the stars at night are big and bright in Texas,’” said Grinstead, “but in Lubbock, you can see them especially well. Our sunsets are pretty amazing, too.”
To learn more about how your group can visit Lubbock, call Grinstead at 800-692-4035 or visit www.visitlubbock.org.
