Road Trip to Lubbock, Texas

 

It’s a story of the Wind and the Plow

Lubbock YouTube Video

The story of Lubbock, the "Hub City" of the Texas South Plains, is a saga written in red dirt, marked by stubborn persistence, the whisper of the wind, and the transformative power of water and education. It begins not with a single stroke of genius, but with a competitive scramble on the open prairie.

In the late 1880s, the vast, semi-arid high plains of West Texas were home to powerful ranching operations. Civilization came tentatively, often driven by rivalry.

The settlement we know as Lubbock was born from the merger of two small, competing towns: Old Lubbock (named for Colonel Thomas Saltus Lubbock, a Confederate officer) and the nearby community of Monterey. In 1890, the two groups struck a deal, consolidating their resources and establishing the new county seat on a centrally agreed-upon tract of land.

Early Lubbock was a ranching service town. Cowmen drove their herds through, and businesses catered to the rugged life of the open range. The landscape was flat, the weather was unpredictable, and the future depended entirely on a single, crucial resource: the ability to tap the deep reserves of the Ogallala Aquifer (say THAT three times fast). The railroad finally arrived in 1909, linking Lubbock to the wider world.

The advent of the railroad and the revolutionary use of deep-well irrigation systems turned Lubbock from a cattle town into the undisputed capital of cotton. Farmers discovered that the region’s long, hot summers were perfect for the crop, and the sandy loam of the South Plains, when watered, yielded bountiful harvests.

Cotton quickly became King, driving massive population and economic growth. Lubbock became the primary shipping and processing point for one of the largest contiguous cotton-growing areas in the world.

Red Raider Mascot

However, the defining moment that guaranteed Lubbock’s long-term stability was the founding of Texas Technological College in 1923 (later Texas Tech University, Go Red Raiders). The establishment of this major state institution secured a permanent, intellectual, and economic anchor for the city, diversifying it far beyond the fortunes of agriculture. The institution grew alongside the city, providing a stream of engineers, educators, and doctors paving the way for the next phase of development.

World War two brought aviation to Lubbock. Gliders were used extensively in the invasion of Europe and many pilots and crews were trained in Lubbock. The Silent Wings Museum showcases this little known but important element of the Allies invasion of Europe.

The former South Plains Army Air Field site, now the Lubbock Municipal Airport, where 80 percent of pilots were trained, opened the Silent Wings Museum with the restored Waco CG-4A  glider as a centerpiece of the exhibits. 

The post-war boom solidified Lubbock's status as a regional medical and retail center. It survived major setbacks, most notably the Lubbock Tornado of 1970, a disaster that tore through the heart of downtown.

 May 11^th, 1970 was devastating for Lubbock. An F-5 dual Tornado, which     ravaged much of downtown and wiped out the near-by Guadalupe         neighborhood, killed 26 and injured over 1500. The path of the Lubbock     tornado was the subject of a detailed mapping carried out by Ted Fujita. It   was described as the "most detailed mapping ever done, up to that time, of   the path of a single tornado," becoming a seminal work in understanding the   relationship between tornado subvortices and extreme damage. The degrees   of damage wrought by the tornado also became the basis for the six tiers of   the Fujita tornado scale, which served as the standard for classifying   tornadoes until it was superseded by the Enhanced Fujita Scale in 2007.

 The memorial includes two flowing black granite-clad walls representing the two paths of the tornadoes. 

The community responded with resilience, clearing the rubble and engaging in significant urban renewal projects that ultimately modernized the downtown area.

The Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center has transformed the city into a medical destination for the South Plains. While cotton remains a vital part of Lubbocks identity, the economy has diversified into manufacturing, technology, and energy sectors, including the wind farms that dot the horizon.

Lubbock is also famous as the birthplace of rock 'n' roll pioneer Buddy Holly. The Buddy Holly Center and a Walk of Fame honor his legacy and that of other West Texas musicians.

Early on February 3, 1959, his plane crashed shortly after takeoff, killing Holly, Ritchie Valens, J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson, and the pilot, Roger Peterson. Buddy Holly was 22 years old. This event is known as "The Day the Music Died," as popularized by Don McLean's song "American Pie". 

For nearly a century, Lubbock was the largest "dry" city in the United States prohibiting the sale of alcohol. This changed in 1972 when the city allowed the sale and consumption of alcohol.

Interestingly, the city has also become a center for Texas wine, with the region accounting for 90% of the state's wine grape production.

 Let’s not forget a Lubbock icon, the Prairie Dog. Lubbock saw fit to honor the Prairie Dog with their own park and preserve. The cute little devils are everywhere around town and the ones at the park look well fed. Our guests learned they love broccoli so we scored some and fed them as we watched.

We stayed at the Hotel Elegante’ in Downtown Lubbock and steps away from the Tornado Memorial. Our hotel was nice but needed a remodel. You just can’t paint and expect it to brighten an old interior. The hotels sales pitch was that they had the “Comfiest Beds on the Planet”. I will say the beds were comfy.

And there were the meals we had. Dinner was at Bryan’s Steakhouse. Great steak and came with a baked potato and amazing salad bar. Reminded me of the old Pinnacle Peak in Santee, California without the hanging ties. Lunch was Triple J’s Chophouse. Huge menu and large portions. Breakfast was Lubbock’s Breakfast House and Grill. Old style restaurant feel with big portions and lots of coffee to fuel our trip home.

From its humble beginnings as a dusty crossroad, Lubbock has demonstrated a relentless ability to adapt, first by harnessing water, then by investing in education, and finally by rebuilding and diversifying. It remains a vital economic and cultural engine of West Texas, a testament to the pioneering spirit of its founders.

Harvest Festival 2025

 

Harvest Festival 2025

Harvest Festival Video Link

We live just a few blocks away so we mounted up and made the trek to the Common Area where our amenity center is located. Grandson Robert was being a good brother and held hands with his sister all the way. 

We live in Aubrey, Texas a gem of enduring Texas pride just north of Dallas. Once known as the “horse capital” of the state, the town still reflects its equestrian roots, even as it grows into a thriving destination. 

Fun fact: Originally called Onega, it was renamed Aubrey in 1881—its new name drawn from a hat in true Lone Star style.

Sandbrock Ranch is an HOA development which was actually a part of a working horse and cattle ranch. The developers still have land to the east of us and still have their horses and cattle there.

The Festival was well on its way with a DJ pushing music and Food trucks on the perimeter dishing up hot food and ice cream.

Many inflatable games were present for the kids from Axe throwing to shoot'em ups to a Maze.

The grandson even tried his hand at Bronc riding. He did not make the full 8 seconds.

There was this guy on stilts juggling too.

There were some vendors on hand selling real estate, jewelry, roof repair and some food and some beer and wine for the adults. We scored cake pops. 

While waiting in the really long face paint line, we picked up our HOA supplied resident pumpkin that the Grandson got to take home. 

As darkness approached, it was taking way too long in the Face paint line and with no relief in sight, as the sun set, we made our way back to our hacienda.

That's it for us, thanks for catching up with Rocks in My Sandals. We'll be back soon.

Sorry it took so long, YouTube held it back, they thought I had violated a Copyright...you'll know when you hear it.

The Great Texas Fly Over

The Great Texas Fly Over

On a return flight from San Diego to Dallas. A pretty good rain had fallen over the proceeding two days and I was surprised with a clear Pristine sky out my window where the bright blue sky touched the plains over West Texas. The view was amazing.

I realized I was seeing, what many probably had not seen or noticed as these preoccupied passengers flew between their destinations.

As we crossed into Texas at El Paso, the vast plains of west Texas rolled by beneath us. For miles we saw, like little points of light, what seemed like thousands of oil well sites as far as the eye could see.

 Some working, some not working and many abandoned sites with perfectly straight strings of dirt roadways like ant tracks connecting them where the gas and oil was being pulled from the earth beneath us.

 As we moved farther east, I could see many of these former sites were now being occupied by Wind Turbines lazily turning in the always persistent West Texas wind.

 Then the tan scrub land melded into the more greener  crop circles, farms and ranches stretching from horizon to horizon.

 They then coalesced into small towns and farms some being pushed aside with the new home developments that were popping up all over Texas.

 The land then became more populous giving way to the bustling highways, buildings and businesses of the Metroplex.

 Then just as suddenly, we were back to Dallas and Love Field and my return home.

Thanks for watching Rocks in my Sandals.

 

Pilot Point Bonnie and Clyde Days

 

Here’s our latest adventure: https://youtu.be/JGw9r9YIdOc

Costa Rica Medical Mission

I was invited to do a Medical Mission trip through Compass Church in Colleyville, Texas. It was to be six days in beautiful Tamarindo, Costa Rica, a country I had never been to. Although I was still mentally recovering from my last trip to Thailand driving what seemed like hours in the back of open pickup trucks (lots of dirt and sand in every pore of my body), I always succumb to the Sirens call of my good friends Chad and Sara who were on the trip. We had a goodly number of nurse providers from various disciplines, some lay people like me and Doctor Ken from Thailand was along too.

We were blessed with a relatively short fIight (3 hours versus 23 to Thailand) and was rather surprised on our arrival of the amazing accommodations we were provided at the Epic Tamarindo, a five-star resort tucked away from the Tourist Zone of Tamarindo, Costa Rica. The resort was fairly new and was owned by one of our sponsors. Liberia International Airport is the closest international airport to Tamarindo, about an hour away.

We were there under the auspices of an organization called S.O.S. International in Keller, Texas. Although they plant Christian churches internationally, their focus is on child trafficking. We were receiving medical donations from Blessings International in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma to do our clinic work. Another fun change was S.O.S., through the churches we would be serving, would do all the setup of the clinic and we would bring the medicines and personnel to conduct the clinics, a real time saver for us. S.O.S.is a new partner for Compass Church Outreach and we were the guinea pigs as such. 

A bit about Costa Rica. Costa Rica's history began with indigenous peoples before Christopher Columbus arrived in 1502, leading to Spanish colonization, which decimated the native population (isn't that the way it always goes?) and left Costa Rica as a poor, isolated colony.

After gaining independence from Spain in 1821 and briefly joining the Central American Federation, Costa Rica became a fully independent nation in 1838. The country then developed on a foundation of agriculture, particularly coffee (really GOOD coffee), and established a strong, stable democracy in the 20th century after a very messy civil war. Today, Costa Rica is known for its peaceful, eco-friendly, and democratic society, a far cry from its other Central American neighbors.

Costa Rica does not have a traditional standing military, having abolished its army in 1949 after the civil war and instead relies on civilian security forces like the Public Force for law enforcement and national security. This decision led to shifting resources from military spending to social development in areas like education and healthcare, making Costa Rica an example of a peaceful, unarmed democracy (what a concept).

In 2023, about 95% of Costa Rica's electricity came from renewable sources: 74% hydropower (probably all that rain!),13% geothermal, 12.5% wind, 0.5% solar, and 0.1% biomass. That's actually a dip from recent years, mostly due to drought. Since 2015, the country has consistently generated more than 98% of its electricity from renewables, peaking at a record 99.98% in 2021 (again, what a concept).

The 1994 film The Endless Summer II, which featured Tamarindo’s waves and beaches, is widely credited with launching a significant tourist boom in the late 90’s and early 2000’s.

On day one of our Medical Mission trip, we started the day with a chef prepared breakfast on the patio at Epic Tamarindo. After the meal and a brief prayer, we did our Daily Devotional together and discussed our first Clinic of the week. I and two other members were tasked with Pharmacy duties which involved prepackaging various medications which our medical providers would be prescribing to their patients.

We rode an hour on our bus with driver Diego to the village of Santa Cruz and set up inside of their church. At noon, the town provided us with a very tasty lunch of  Arroz con Pollo and chips dish at our stations.

The days interesting case was a woman who showed up with an obvious through and through bullet wound to both legs. She had already been treated for the wounds and only wanted to be seen for the tooth pain. You can’t make this stuff up.

Taking a history

The fun case was a pregnant woman who heard we had a sonogram machine and wanted to be checked. It was the first time she heard the baby’s heartbeat. It was amazing.

One gentleman came up on his crutches. He was homebound but because he heard we were doing a clinic, left his home just to come see us. It was quite a distance but he made the effort because regular medical care in that part of the world is rare.

By four that afternoon, we had dispensed vitamins, pain medication and antibiotics to over 75 patients. It was very hot and humid and we left with booming thunder clouds overhead. We were right smack in the middle of Costa Rica’s rainy season (May thru November) which added to the extreme humid conditions.

That night we celebrated our success by going into Tamarindo for a scrumptious pizza dinner at Pizzeria La Baula. I had the Focaccia Bread Pizza. Really tasty.

Day two was our second run at Santa Cruz. The usual cases presented themselves, lots of aches and pains but one in particular that got everybody’s attention was a gentleman who had a huge open wound to his left ankle. He also suffered from a traumatic brain injury in years past so he was a “poor historian” in medical terms and he couldn’t accurately say when he acquired the injury. He would just say sometime around 1984, which wouldn’t account for the extent of the injury. All we could do was clean, wrap it and hand him some pain meds for the road.

We were able to get a quick shower and change to get to a late dinner at Patagonia Del Mar in downtown Tamarindo. Their primary menu was sea food but had some meat items and amazing desserts including the best caramel Flan I have ever seen. Formed like a small volcano, it had sprinkles of coconut on top. A co-worker had ordered it (another Flan Fan) and reported how delicious it was.

A Flan Volcano

Day three was a free day which brought us to the Langosta Beach Club sponsored by our hosts. Beautiful beachfront playground with monkeys in the trees and gentle waves to bathe in.

Day four was a new site and about a two-hour drive to, Matambu, a part of the Chorotega Indigenous Territory in the Nicoya region. This was a group of indigenous people who had recently been given some autonomy from the government to rule themselves.

It was a small church off the beaten path that our intrepid driver, Diego, said we couldn’t drive up to so we disembarked and hiked the rest of the way. The church was a stout tin roof building lined with wood planking, no air-conditioning, just some fans. Lunch was Arroz con Pollo made on an open fire behind the church. Delicioso.

Let me take a moment to discuss the weather in Costa Rica. We arrived in the middle of the rainy season and boy did it rain. Afterward would bring a crushing humidity which tried men’s souls and their antiperspirants. Of course, it didn’t faze the natives but wore me out. I began sweating as soon as I exited the bus until I got back in. In Matambu, it decided to rain each afternoon as we ended the clinics. On the second day, there was thunder and lightening right overhead and rained so hard you couldn’t hear the person next to you speaking.

That evening, we went back to Tamarindo and dined at the Auto Mercado food park. Many ordered from El Chante Burger, I had Asian at Anthony’s. To entertain ourselves was a Corn Hole game setup.

Some of my worthless trivia;  was first described in Heyliger de Windt's 1883 patent for "Parlor Quoits", which displays most of the features of modern cornhole, but uses a square hole. Quoits is a game similar to horseshoes, played by throwing steel rings at a metal spike. But I digress and will not deep dive on that game.

Back to site two the next day. This time a villager hopped aboard and convinced Diego to drive up the rutted path to the church Diego, a more courageous man with a 45 foot long diesel pusher than I, gripped his wheel and made it without incident. It was a long day punctuated by the above-mentioned rain storm.

Lunch was a first for me in a Latin country, We had spaghetti and meat sauce. Again cooked on the open fire with a big vat of pasta and another with ground beef in a light sauce. Really terrific. Then they went further and made grilled handmade tortillas. There is something about a warm, pliable corn tortilla as you bite into it that warms your soul. The best tortillas I’ve had ever.

Our Bus

After packing up our stuff, we hopped on our bus and held our breath as Diego slipped and slid his way back to the highway on the now saturated rutted road for our long return to Tamarindo.

Later after another long shower to cool off, we were treated to a wonderful meal prepared by the resort Chef and her staff.

That night we debriefed about our experiences and turned in. The following morning was full of packing and loading up for the trip to the airport and security. We navigated our way back on for the connection in Miami and back to a late-night arrival in Dallas.

In closing, I feel a few things need to be addressed. First, our accommodations were amazing but not atypical. I did have mixed feelings about staying there but it was the first trip of its kind and I'm sure more modest accommodations will be sought, if and when we go back. The food was crazy good for a mission trip and I know it was designed by our sponsors to entice us to return but I missed the down-home culinary delights we've experienced in Mexico and Thailand. And we should have "mixed it up" more with the local's that, I'm sure, will be addressed in the future. Nothing like sharing a meal or worship with others to see how they do it.

All in all, a rewarding trip in which we got to serve our fellow man and I'm sure those we met were grateful for our work and contributions. I can only hope our efforts, in some way, made a difference in their lives.

Ken Burns at Brandeis University Commencement 2024

Everybody should watch and listen to one of my personal heroes, Ken Burns, giving a commencement speech at Brandeis University. Watch the whole thing, if you can get past the political statement, you’ll get the message.

“As a Nation, we are diametrically preoccupied. Everything is right or wrong, Red or Blue, young or old, gay or straight, rich or poor Palestinian or Israeli, my way or the highway.

Everywhere we are trapped by these old, tired, binary reactions, assumptions and certainties. That preoccupation is imprisoning.”

Ken Burns at Brandeis University

Our European Vacation or How to see Europe from the back seat of a car.

Our story begins as a lunch discussion after church on a sunny Sunday in February. We were discussing vacations and a comment from our friends, Sara and Chad, was, "Hey, you should join us on our trip to Portugal.” Diane (nor I) had ever been to Europe and she has it on a to-do bucket-list. She immediately said, “Yes.” I had some reservations because I had a sense our friends had a different view of vacationing than we do. Though world travelers, they are very spontaneous and view vacationing as more of a race against time to accomplish as many goals as possible in the time allotted. Kind of like “The Amazing Race” rather than “Rick Steves’ Europe.” We, on the other hand, are more, “Where can we go to eat a nice meal, take a picture then take a nap” kind of travelers. What we got was “Rick Steves joins the Amazing Race.”

My mission in life is to praise Jesus and make my wife happy. Although I had my reservations, wanting her to check that bucket list item, I joined the crazy train to Europe. We pushed our coins together and made our contribution to airfare, hotels and fun. We were joined by our friend Louis, more about him later. What we didn’t do was ask a few probing questions that, in hindsight, may have improved our lot in life on this trip.

Folks, I’ve hated airports since 2001 and my faith in them hasn’t changed much since. I often harken back to those days when you could just walk in, walk to the gate to depart or meet someone or just get some food and people watch. Now we’re barraged with PA announcements about security precautions, ‘don’t leave luggage unattended’ messages, long lines and not-so friendly TSA agents who change-up the rules on a whim and seem to compete to get you to get as close to undressed as possible. Even Pre-Check doesn’t always go as advertised with some new guy deciding whether shoes and belts are on or off. Don’t get me started on paying for my luggage which may or may not arrive at the same destination as me. I forgot the AirTags AGAIN!

The DFW experience was passable and the flight to Philadelphia was uneventful. We were fortunate our travel mates, Chad and Sara, are among the 1 percenters who have a zillion points and can get us free bags and a stay at the Admiral’s Club. Side note, American’s Admiral’s Club was the idea of American’s first CEO, C.R. Smith. In 1939, Smith, a Texas native, wanted to have a place at the new LaGuardia Airport for VIPs and other elite customers to go before their flights. Smith wanted them to feel like “Admirals of the American Airlines Fleet” so he named it the “Admirals Lounge”. The receptionists were called “Skippers” and the bar staff were “Stewards”. It was such a success, other airlines followed suit and now have their own lounges. 

Another friend, an American Airlines Flight Attendant we had met, spoke about the thankless job they had and whenever she traveled, she always brought a little gift bag for each of the crew as thanks for their work. Diane and I decided to do that for our international flights. The crew were very appreciative and gave our team extra attention, some extra snacks and a bottle of wine on the return flight to Philly and DFW.

Philly to Lisbon was a long haul but the 787 was well stocked, had lots of movies and made it to Lisbon without losing a door or engine cover.

After 2 ½ hours to Philly and seven hours to Lisbon, the first red flag waved. Our companions had rented a BMW X-1. Mind you, there were five of us with two bags a piece and some backpacks to accompany us. The X-1 is a fine “Luxury Compact SUV” (with an emphasis on “Compact”) that BMW even admits can seat “up to 5” if the 5th person is a pulldown armrest with Stanley cups. Just a little on the tiny size for all of us and our junk. Realizing this, our friend tried to get a van which was way too pricy but was able to secure a Volvo XC60 Hybrid SUV. Lots of get up and go but still a little small for 5 people and all our stuff but it had to do (see photo).

We hit the road and drove 2 ½ hours to a neat little town on the south coast of Portugal called Luz in the Algarve region of Portugal. Side benefit, our friend Chad speaks Portuguese from a time he spent in Brazil in his youth. You’d be amazed how Portuguese is NOT like Spanish. There are some similarities, but way different.

There is the  Praia da Luz (the Beach of the Light) which is very scenic with sand meeting cliffs. Luz harkens back to the time of Roman conquest and still has remnants of Roman ruins around town. There lies the Fortaleza da Luz which was built in 1624 to protect the harbor, church and village from pirates and Moors who plundered the area. The Fortress is now a great restaurant (Fortaleza Da Luz Restaurant) which overlooks the beach, and has a great menu to choose from. Portugal and Spain are both seafood centric but there are other things to eat there. One of the best Cheeseburgers and fries I ever had was in Salamanca, Spain. Also, everywhere we went most people spoke English, had English signs and even English translated menus.

There we were introduced to Vin de Verde (Green Wine). A Portuguese national favorite, it is basically a dry white wine with just a hint of carbonation and low alcohol content. It comes from the northwest corner of Portugal, the Minho region where a lot of Portuguese grapes come from. It’s kind of like their version of Boone’s Farm if anybody remembers those days. We spent the night at our really nice VRBO three bedroom condo.

The next day we drove another 2 hours to another cool little town, Faro, farther east along the coast. Faro is another ancient town from Roman times established as a fishing and fish processing center. We did lunch. After a walk around and a rooftop drink overlooking Faro, returned to Luz. The next morning, we got back into our SUV and began our 3 hour drive to Seville, Spain. Lots of open country and the next red flag. You see, my friend driving is a cop.

All of you who were cops recall the driving habits you acquired while in Patrol or Traffic. For those who don’t know, imagine driving a powerful 4,200 pound vehicle (don’t forget that giant battery) that belongs to someone else and your only responsibility, regardless of preventative maintenance requirements, is to gas it up at the end of the day. Everything in between is crazy driving to get to your destination.

View of :Luz from our patio

Chad and Sara were in the front. As Chad sped our way through the Andalusian countryside, Sara was busy holding her Google Maps in one hand and monitoring the Volvo’s navigation console, calling out turns, lane changes and traffic circles (they were everywhere) like a co-pilot working an Instrument Approach in Cat 5 weather (clouds almost to the ground, really scary). While we were captive in the back sliding side to side as we hurtled across Spain trying unsuccessfully not to slide into one another like it was the 24 hours of Le Mans.

We were weaving in and out of traffic on the flat plains, hedges of vines heavy with their grapes whizzing by and winding mountain passes only occasionally stopping at gas stations to refill the Volvo’s insatiable appetite for gas at an average of  $1.62 PER LITRE (about 5.86 a gallon) and filling ourselves up with snacks and the best machine made Café de Leches I’ve ever come across.

Pastel de Nata and café

Let me digress, my first instinct on hearing that a side trip to Spain was in the plan, reminded me of all the pastoral beauty my good friend Dana encountered and documented and the people he met he has blogged about walking the El Camino de Santiago. “The Camino” follows the Pilgrim’s walk through Spain to the Shrine of St James at the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, Spain. Huge following, lots of foot blisters and eternal camaraderie to those who have completed or even attempted it.

Our ride was not so much pastoral as our view was confined to seeing the farms and villages zip by from the side windows and the view forward of lumbering trucks and lessor vehicles not keeping in tune with our friend’s schedule through a bug spattered windshield (see photo from Diane’s seat as she bravely straddled the cars tunnel). I got a much better appreciation for what it must be like sitting behind the pilots of the Space Shuttle.

After extricating ourselves from the rear seat, like butterflies from their cocoons, we visited Seville (Sevilla). An inland port, it is the chief city of Andalusia and the fourth largest in Spain. Sevilla was important in history as a cultural center, as a capital of Muslim Spain, and as a center for Spanish exploration of the New World.  Sevilla has been around since the 2nd Century BCE (that’s before Christ). It really brings the “Old” to Old World architecture. Sevilla became the center of the exploration and exploitation of America (think Chris Columbus).

Universidad De Sevilla est 1505

For two centuries Sevilla was the dominant force in Spain’s New World commerce; it was the site of the chief mint for gold and silver from the Americas, and many Spanish emigrants to the New World sailed from its quays. Sevilla was in fact the richest and most populous city in Spain in the 16th century, with some 150,000 inhabitants in 1588. Their importance was fleeting, however, since Sevilla’s prosperity was based almost entirely on the exploitation of the colonies rather than on local industry and trade. As a result, Sevilla’s economy declined in the 17th century, though its cultural life underwent a great flowering at that time. The painters Diego Velázquez, Francisco de Zurbarán, and Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, the sculptor Juan Martínez Montañés, and the poet Fernando de Herrera are the glories of Sevilla and of Spain. Miguel de Cervantes conceived of his novel Don Quixote while he was confined in Sevilla’s jail (I’m guessing Mike had too much Vin de Verde).

Catedral de Seville

Columbus is buried there in the Tumba de Christobal Colon in the massive Seville Cathedral. Although Chris is buried there, it was not his first stop. He died in Valladolid, Spain and was originally interred in Sevilla waiting for a Cathedral to be built in Hispaniola (now Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic). When Hispaniola (the D.R.) was signed over to France, they pulled Chris out and sent him to Havana. When that didn't happen, he was sent to Sevilla for burial in the Cathedral. He got more mileage after his death than he got “discovering” the New World.

We then returned to Luz to pack and prepare for our sortie north to Santander, Spain. One of our primary missions was to get our friend and fellow back seater, Louis, to his ancestral home of Rumoroso, Spain. Louis had traced his grandparents to the town prior to their migration to America. So we invigorated ourselves with Café Lattes and de Leches in the early light at The Studio Coffee in Luz and off we went on our 10 hour drive to Rumoroso.

Halfway up, we stopped at Salamanca, Spain passing through the Plaza Mayor de Salamanca, a huge sprawling town center. Beautiful architecture and, though we didn’t stick around long enough, is lit up at night and quite a sight to see. Salamanca is a UNESCO World Heritage site that became prominent in the 3rd Century BCE and the capitol of the Castillo and Leon districts. It is also home to Salamanca University. In 1218 King Alfonso IX founded Universidad de Salamanca considered the oldest University in Spain.

We walked the winding alleys of the town and found Meson El Churrasco open for lunch (home of the great Cheeseburger mentioned above). Trip Advisor came in handy (make sure you get those international cell phone rates added) for restaurants and menus. Some of our companions were Gluten intolerant and many had Gluten Free options.

After a little shopping, we then hopped back into our Swedish ride and made the rocket run in the waning light to get Louis his photo op at Rumoroso at the very northern coast of Spain.

The Art Hotel Lobby

As day turned to night, we made our way to our next hotel, The Art Hotel in Santander, Spain (yes…I did say The Art Hotel). It is a boutique hotel with real modern art inside. It was a nice room on the first floor with an actual window you could open but our view was the alley next to the hotel. Packed up and ready to stuff our bags into the back of the Volvo the next morning, we now had a tried and true procedure for that and off we went on another 10 hour ride back to Lisbon.

It’s important to note that throughout our travels, we couldn’t help but notice that just about everywhere we went, whether on the road or in the cities, we encountered graffiti. I get the art and symbolism of some of it but it really takes away from the beauty of a place.

Lisbon (Lisboa) is the capital and largest city of Portugal. Lisbon is one of the oldest cities in the world and the second-oldest European capital city (after Athens), predating other modern European capitals by centuries. Established by pre-Celtic tribes and later the Phoenicians there are ruins which date back to the 1st Century BC. The Portuguese were also big-time explorers, think Magellan, Vasco De Gama and Prince Henry the Navigator (an SUV we could have used on this trip) which is why people in Brazil speak Portuguese.

Lisbon was the nicest of the places we stayed. The Ikonic Lisboa is part of a chain of hotels throughout the world. It is located in the Park of Nations, the site of the 1998 Lisbon Expo on the banks of the river Tagus. It is a very modern hotel (not pet friendly) with an AMAZING breakfast buffet as part of our stay. Travel tip, don’t forget your 240/120 volt converters. If you plug something American into a socket, bad things will happen to your device and maybe the building.

Breakfast Buffet

For dinner, we walked into the Park of Nations and found Cantinho do Avillez. We were seated outside people watching on the promenade under the wings of a replica of a Sopwith Camel bi-plane from WWI. I enjoyed one of the best Quinoa salads I’ve ever had.

Luckily, the following morning, the airport was minutes away and we got there in plenty of time to get through security. Well…there was a slight deviation I experienced for the first time. I noted on my ticket back to Philadelphia had a series of four Ss printed on it. When I got to the gate, my name was called along with other passengers to return to the ticket desk. When I got there, we got pulled aside and a secondary search was conducted on me and my carry on bag just as the airline called for boarding. I was number three and had to take everything out of my pockets, remove my belt, remove my phone and iPad from their cases and my shoes. All items including me were swabbed for GSR and Bomb elements and once re-dressed, the agents were kind enough to let me jump the line to get on the plane. I was worried I wouldn’t make the flight.

When I got on the plane I immediately searched SSSS on a ticket. Here is what I found: Secondary Security Screening Selection or Secondary Security Screening Selectee, known by its initials SSSS, is an airport security measure which selects passengers for additional inspection. People from certain countries are subject to it by default. The list is a subset of the “No-Fly” list. The passengers may be known as Selectee, Automatic Selectee or the Selectee list. In the case of Southwest Airlines, secondary screening selectees may have a "checkerboard" pattern printed on their boarding passes. So beware the dreaded SSSS or checkerboard on your ticket.

The flight back was long but comfortable. American has two meals they served, breakfast and dinner. Both were passable for airplane food. Because we had handed out our gift bags, we got a little more attention and got some extra drinks, snacks and a bottle of wine. Several of the Flight Attendants came by to thank us for the gifts and seemed genuinely appreciative.

Back in Philadelphia, we made our way to the Admiral’s Club for the three-hour layover which got delayed further by a storm front passing through Dallas. I had lost my original return ticket to DFW along the way and had the ticket reprinted in Lisbon. Unfortunately, the reprint did not have my TSA Pre designation and I had to go through regular security (note to self, don’t lose your ticket ever again). We got home around midnight and had to Uber in a Lincoln Navigator (how ironic) back to our car and home. A 1,362 mile road trip we will not soon forget.

In case you’re curious, the gift pack was a small flashlight (was timely in that the Attendants had recently been told they can’t use their phone flashlights on duty), mini tube of hand cream, tube of lip balm, a red “Flight Crew” key fob, one dark chocolate and one milk chocolate candy all packed in a snack size baggie….all available on Amazon.