Our Texas Panhandle Pit Stop to Honor Waylon Jennings

Anyone who thinks there’s nothing to see while driving across the Great State of Texas is a fool. If you look hard enough you can spend weeks visting oddball attractions in the Panhandle, like Jesus in a Box and Cadillac Ranch.

RV Pitstop at Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo Texas

Should you decide to venture far beyond the interstate, then an overnight stay in Littlefield is mandatory. This small dusty Panhandle town is just west of Lubbock. There’s not a lot to this place, which is probably why its most famous hometown hellraiser, Waylon Jennings, would tell folks he was from Lubbock.

Footprints of a Legend at Littlefield Texas City Park

Unlike our first Panhandle Pitstops road trip, this time we knew to slow down and stop to check out the only museum in America dedicated to Waylon Jennings, Waymore’s Drive-Thru Package Liquor Store and Waylon Jennings Museum.

Waymore’s Drive-Thru Package Liquor Store

As fans of both Outlaw country music and adult beverages, we were happy to stop and pay homage to one of the greatest musicians of all-time (yes, that’s right, now shaddup).

Waymore’s Drive-Thru Liquor Store LIttlefield Texas

This little family-run establishment was founded by Waylon’s brother James. On any given day you’ll find him, some other relative or friend of the family running the store and ready give to you a personalized tour.

Waylon Jennings’ first guitar

The day we arrived, Waylon’s niece was our hostess. She happily shared non-stop stories about his life and relatives with a lovely Texas twang that was so fast we only grasped about half of what she was telling us, but she was adorable nonetheless.

Clean-cut teenage Waylon Jennings: Who knew?!

Much of the collection was gathered from family garages and attics, some from e-Bay and some from who knows where. Capitalizing on the Outlaw music connection, they’ve even gathered cool relics like this custom stage jacket made just for Johnny Cash:

Can you feel the presence of The Man in Black?

There’s a pair of Waylon’s trademark “Flying W” boots. It’s obvious, don’t you think? Nobody can ever fill this cowboy’s shoes.

Boots Too Big to Ever Fill

Rumor has it that Waylon didn’t have a lot to do with Littlefield because of some feudin’ that happened between him and this side of his family at some point, but if there is some bad blood there, we didn’t get a sense of that at all.

Waylon Jennings Mural at the Drive-Thru Liquor Store

The cheapskate in me looking for signs that we were going to get hit up for money for this lovely tour. But nope, they weren’t asking for cash or trying to exploit their connection at all; this was just genuine friendliness from salt-of-the-earth people who are proud to be associated with Waylon.

Of course we couldn’t leave without buying something, so we picked up some cheap beer and thanked our lovely host for an unforgettable time.

Some people think Waylon deserves a fancy-pants memorial with more pizazz. After all, you can’t escape the irony of having a liquor store museum dedicated to a genius who died far too early from substance abuse issues. But so what, I say; Waylon was as real as it gets, and so is this one-of-a-kind Outlaw establishment.

IF YOU GO: Be sure to stop and stay at the free Waylon Jennings City Park. It has free RV camp sites for small to medium rigs, complete with water, electric and a dump station, all for a donation. And oh, it even has sanctioned horse-shoe competition courts!

Waylon Jennings City Park, LIttlefield Texas

2 thoughts on “Our Texas Panhandle Pit Stop to Honor Waylon Jennings”

  1. How totally cool…I rode the train to Littlefield, TX, with my grandfather in 1958, and the only thing I remember about it was that it was FLAT. Your account of Waylon’s family business gives me good reason to go back. Waylon, Willie and the Boys have been a part of my Texas culture for many years. To meet some of his family would be a hoot. Thanks for the info. Safe travels, guys.

    Reply
    • Hey Bob, now riding a train in 1958? What I would give for THAT! Definitely go back, maybe do a Panhandle tour, there’s so many quirky fun things to see and FREE city parks with RV hookups. Can’t ask for more.

      Reply

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