Our parents tried their best, but let\u2019s be honest \u2014 half of us were raised by Lubbock itself. The city babysat us, entertained us, and taught us how to stretch a $5 bill into a full night of fun. From mall food courts to Sonic parking lots, these are the things that shaped who we are \u2014 for better or for worse.<\/p>\n
The South Plains Mall<\/p>\n
We spent entire weekends there with no money, just vibes. You\u2019d hit Hot Topic for your personality, Spencer\u2019s for your rebellion, and Chick-fil-A for your emotional support nuggets. If you got dropped off at the mall at noon and picked up at 9 p.m., congratulations \u2014 that was your daycare.<\/p>\n
visitlubbock.org<\/p>\n
visitlubbock.orgJoyland Amusement Park<\/p>\n
It taught us three important lessons: long lines build character, funnel cakes heal emotional wounds, and never trust the tilt-a-whirl after a corn dog. Joyland was where friendships, crushes, and stomachaches were born \u2014 all in the same day. Ask me about the time I tossed my cookies on the Octopus ride. Ah, memories.<\/p>\n
Justin Massoud<\/p>\n
Justin Massoud94.5 KFMX<\/p>\n
Every Lubbock kid\u2019s unofficial life soundtrack. The RockShow woke us up, the music got us through heartbreak, and the DJs somehow knew what we were doing even when our parents didn\u2019t. FMX didn\u2019t just play music \u2014 it helped raise a generation of weird, loud, wonderful West Texans, and it never stopped. Don’t forget to tune it. It’ll make your kids WAY cooler.<\/p>\n
Gas Stations\u00a0<\/p>\n
When your parents weren\u2019t looking, this is where you learned about independence \u2014 and questionable nutrition. You could survive off Hot Cheetos, chimis, and a Dr Pepper for days. Bonus points if you bought scratch-offs for your mom \u201cbecause she said so.\u201d<\/p>\n
Google Street View<\/p>\n
Google Street ViewScience Spectrum Field Trips<\/p>\n
We lost ourselves in the giant bubble exhibit, and I’m not going to lie, it’s just as awesome today. The Science Spectrum made learning feel fun, even when all you really wanted was to buy slime and dehydrated astronaut ice cream bars.<\/p>\n
Read More:\u00a0The Truth About Growing Up In Lubbock, Texas<\/a><\/p>\n Google Street View<\/p>\n Google Street ViewEmpty Parking Lots<\/p>\n Our first classrooms for driving, flirting, and figuring life out. Every teenager in Lubbock learned to parallel park next to a Walmart cart return. And if you didn\u2019t do donuts behind a church at least once, were you even raised here?<\/p>\n Photo by Chris Mok || @cr.mok<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a>West Texas Sunsets<\/p>\n Our unofficial curfew. When that orange-pink sky hit, we knew it was time to head home (or at least pretend we were on our way). The sunsets raised us gently \u2014 with just enough drama to make us appreciate beauty before the dust kicked back up.<\/p>\n Chrissy Covington<\/p>\n Chrissy Covington<\/p>\n Lubbock isn\u2019t just where we grew up \u2014 it\u2019s how we grew up. This city taught us patience, humor, resilience, and the fine art of making our own fun. Our parents gave us roots, but Lubbock gave us personality, and most certainly, a little sass.<\/p>\n Keep scrolling for more Lubbock nostalgia in the galleries below…<\/p>\n What Your Go-To Golden Corral Food Says About You<\/p>\n The news was slow this week. Enjoy…<\/p>\n Gallery Credit: Chrissy<\/p>\n Top 10 Best (and Worst) Places to Hide During a Haboob<\/p>\n I’m usually so glued to Netflix, I don’t even realize when one rolls through town…<\/p>\n Gallery Credit: Chrissy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Our parents tried their best, but let\u2019s be honest \u2014 half of us were raised by Lubbock itself.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":28728,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[168,170,169],"class_list":["post-28727","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-lubbock","tag-lubbock","tag-lubbock-headlines","tag-lubbock-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28727","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28727"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28727\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28727"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28727"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28727"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}