Should you ever go to Lufkin...

I love Lufkin, Texas. It's a great town - just the right mix of small-town life with great restaurants and churches and stuff to do.

But if you ever visit Lufkin, there are few things you need to know. Here are some tips...



EAT MEXICAN FOOD
Lufkin is a great place for Tex-Mex. For the lightweights, there's Cafe Del Rio. It's Mexican food, but it's also a local hangout...it's clean, it's loud, the food's good, they're always busy, etc. For the hardcore eaters out there - the folks who wanna' eat a little more authentic, Lufkin's got a couple of great places. The king is a place called Morales. The food is the real deal...but beware, it's kinda' like eating at the very dirty home of an old Mexican woman.

DO NOT GO TO WAL-MART.
Now if you're like me, you probably try to avoid any and all Wal-Mart stores. I get it. But the Wal-Mart dynamic in Lufkin is kinda' like the perfect storm. It's a Super Center, which means it can hold a lot of rednecks. (But what WM can't, right?) The strange part is the social aspect...on weekends, it really is a hang out for folks who probably should be at home bathing.

DON'T BE MISLED BY THE MALL
The Lufkin mall is a great mall. Good selection of stores, not so giant that you get exhausted walking end to end and usually uncrowded. It's got a good movie theater, almost every "genre" of mall store and plenty of kiosks. (Which you love...don't deny it.) Yeah, there are bigger malls in the world, but most of them make you want to take a shower and hide in a corner once you're done. With Lufkin Mall, you're in, you're out and usually better for the experience!

CHICK-FIL-A
I don't care if you're hungry or not...next time you're in Lufkin, you must go to the Chick-Fil-A run by manager Julie Walker. I assure it you that it is the cleanest, friendliest, most delicious Chick-Fil-A you'll ever visit. I know good service tends to be a constant at Chick-Fil-A restaurants, but Lufkin's is next level good.

GO DOWNTOWN
Downtown Lufkin is really great. For the past five years or so, the city has invested a lot of time and money to restore what used to be the center of Lufkin's social activity. It's still a work-in-progress, but they've come a long way toward making it great.

PANTHERS
Go to a Lufkin Panther game. It's probably the closest you'll ever get to an idol worship ceremony. (Hee hee)