Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
comes some of the region's best
chile verde
(succulent chunks of marinated pork in a pi-
quant green sauce.) Yum!
Whitehouse Meat Market
( 432-367-9531; 200 E 52nd St; meals from $7; 6am-6pm Tue-Sat)
Hidden among some industrial
buildings north of the center, this is the place to get a great burger, cooked or uncooked.
Besides fine Texas beef in deli cases, it serves up fab burgers in simple surrounds. Get a
double.
BURGERS
$
FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
In 1990 the book
Friday Night Lights
, written by journalist HG 'Buzz' Bissinger, was published to much critical
acclaim. It follows the Panthers football team of
Permian High School
(1800 W 42nd St) during the team's 1988
season. No fawning bit of fluff, the book delves deeply into the lives of the young players and their coaches. It
displays teenage angst and portrays a community where academic excellence is ridiculed in favor of success on
the playing field. Many locals were horrified at its exposure of racism and other social ills in Odessa. The book
was adapted into a 2004 movie and used as the basis for the popular TV series that ran from 2006 to 2011.
The huge Ratliff Stadium, which seats nearly 20,000, is next to the school. Signs, emblazoned with the nick-
name 'Mojo,' show the team's long history of victory, which coincidentally went into decline when the book was
published. (Archrival Midland Lee High School has been doing much better.) But fall Friday nights here under
the lights are still
the
place in Texas to watch high school football. See
www.mojoland.net
for more info.
Information
Odessa Convention & Visitors Bureau
(
432-333-7871, 800-780-4678;
www.odessacvb.com
;
700 N Grant Ave,
9am-5pm Mon-Fri)
In the Bank of America building.
Suite 200;
Getting There & Away
Odessa is about 12 miles west of Midland International Airport. The
Greyhound bus terminal
(
432-332-5711;
www.greyhound.com
;
2624 E 8th St)
is served by regular buses along the I-20 cor-
ridor between El Paso ($74, five hours) and Fort Worth ($83, six hours).
TOP OF CHAPTER
Big Spring
POP 27,300
The relentlessly flat Permian Basin landscape starts to show signs of a change 40 miles
east of Midland. Big Spring is on the edge of the Edwards Plateau Caprock Escarpment,
