THE PANHANDLE

What better place to start a Texas travel guide than the wide-open plains of the Panhandle? Towns and tourist attractions are few and far between, so they stick out like sore thumbs. For example, it might not seem noteworthy that settler Thomas Cree planted a bois d'arc tree beside his Panhandle homestead in 1888 ... but some claim it was the first tree ever planted in the region. To mark this groundbreaking sapling, a gardening plaque was erected along Route 60 southwest of the town of Panhandle. Unfortunately, Cree's tree was accidentally killed in 1969 by road crews carelessly spraying herbicide; a new tree stands in its place.

Is Thomas Cree's tree odd? Perhaps, but not odd enough. We can do better than that. But be sure to top off your tank — it's going to be a lonnnnnng drive.

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Abilene

National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature

Back in 1993 the mayor of Abilene, Gary McCaleb, was reading Santa Calls to a group of schoolchildren when he got an idea to contact the book's author and illustrator, William Joyce. What started as a request for Joyce to visit Texas turned into something bigger. Why not establish a museum dedicated to the artists who create picture books, right here in Abilene? In 1997, the National Center for Children's Illustrated Literature (NCCIL) opened its doors.

The NCCIL gallery typically focuses on one illustrator at a time, featuring original sketches and finished artworks, side by side with the books in which they appear. Some of its exhibits are on loan from other museums, and directly from artists, but it also has a substantial collection of its own. Rather than let the art collect dust, the NCCIL lends out its collection to children's museums around the nation.

102 Cedar St., Abilene, TX 79601 (325) 673-4586

E-mail: nccil@bitstreet.com

Hours: Tuesday–Saturday 10 A.M.–4 P.M.

Cost: Free

www.nccil.org

Directions: At N. First St., one block north of the railroad tracks.

Rathergate

Dan Rather can tell you from experience: you better get your facts straight. And your fax. In the waning months of the 2004 presidential campaign, Rather came forward on 60 Minutes Wednesday with new allegations regarding President George Bush's service, or lack thereof, in the Texas Air National Guard. He cited several newly uncovered documents faxed to him by retired Lieutenant Colonel Bill Burkett of Baird, just east of Abilene.

Who was Burkett? The same man who had also crossed Bush's radar during the 2000 presidential election, claiming that in 1997 he overheard two members of Governor Bush's staff — Joe Allbaugh and Dan Bartlett — arranging to "scrub" Bush's military records at Camp Mabry in Austin. Ten days later Burkett spotted an unidentified political staffer, who claimed to be doing research for Bush's autobiography A Charge to Keep (ghostwritten by Karen Hughes), tossing the governor's military pay and performance records into a trash can. The incident took place at what later became the Texas Military Forces Museum (3100 W. 35th Street) on the base. Shortly after making the charge, Burkett's medical disability rating from the Texas National Guard was dropped from 50 percent to 30 percent. Needless to say, Burkett had an ax to grind, and Rather should have been suspicious.

The documents in question were faxed from an Abilene Kinko's and bore a few clues that pointed to forgery. Most damning were a superscripted "th" and a proportionally spaced font that indicated the memo was re-created on a modern word-processing program, not an early 1970s typewriter. What made the story even more curious was that several conservative blogs posted elaborate, technical refutations of the documents within hours of Rather's broadcast, almost as if they had been tipped off in advance. Hmmmmmm ...

Could this have been a setup? Those who have followed the career of Karl Rove claim that the incident seemed suspiciously "Rovian," though no smoking gun was ever uncovered. What can't be ignored, however, was how well the Rathergate scandal played into the president's reelection playbook; Rather was disgraced and other reporters started taking a wide detour around the National Guard story. After an internal investigation, CBS fired four employees who worked on the story, and Rather moved up the date for his previously planned retirement.

Abilene Kinko's, 4133 S. Danville Dr., Abilene, TX 79605

(325) 698-3300; fax (325) 698-4500

Hours: Always visible; Store, Monday-Friday 7 A.M.-11 P.M., Saturday-Sunday 8 a.m.-8 P.M.

Cost: Free

www.kinkos.com

Directions: Exit north on Buffalo Gap Rd. from I-83/84, then west on Danville Dr., the I-83/84 north-side frontage road, for one block.

Amarillo

Big Texan Steak Ranch

There aren't many places left in Texas where you can still witness a genuine, perfectly legal showdown, except in Amarillo. Here, at the Big Texan Steak Ranch, you can watch a hungry man (and sometimes a woman) go mano a boca with a 72-ounce steak. The battle takes place on a platform in the middle of the restaurant, like a prize-fighting ring without the ropes. If the challenger can down four-and-a-half pounds of charred sirloin, and a salad, and a roll, and a cup of shrimp cocktail, and a baked potato, and dessert, all within an hour, the meal is free. About 35,000 have tried, but only one in seven have walked away without picking up the tab. Among the winners are a 69-year-old grandmother and an 11-year-old boy, and one guy who downed it all in under 10 minutes.

Even if you don't have a Texas-sized appetite, there's plenty to enjoy at the Big Texan Steak Ranch. Try an appetizer of diamondback rattlesnake or mountain oysters ("If you think it's seafood, go with the shrimp" warns the menu). The restaurant is decked out like a fancy barn, with wagon wheel chandeliers and dead critter heads mounted on the walls. Stop in on a Tuesday night and they've got a Big Time Opry. They also host an 80player Texas Hold 'Em Tournament every Wednesday and (gasp!) Sunday. If you want to spend the night, there's the adjacent Western Motel; the pool isn't Texas-sized, but it is Texas-shaped. And if you rode in on your trusty steed, they've got a Horse Hotel as well.

7700 I-40 E, Amarillo, TX 79111

(800) 657-7177 or (806) 372-6000; Motel, (806) 372-5000 or (806) 3710099

E-mail: lee3372@aol.com

Hours: Daily 7 A.M.–10:30 P.M.

Cost: Meals, $9–$30 ($50 for 72-ounce steak meal); Rooms, $39.99–$79

www.bigtexan.com

Directions: East of Lakeside Dr. (Rte. 335) on the north-side I-40 frontage...