Tips for enjoying your own 'Cowboy Morning'

Getting there: Roam the Texas Panhandle in your own car via Interstate 40 from the east or west, Interstate 27 from the south and U.S. 287 from the southeast or northwest. Follow Texas Highway 217 from the town of Canyon to the entrance to Palo Duro Canyon State Park. Take FM 1061, also called Boys Ranch Road, northwest from Amarillo through the Tascosa hills, which resemble the rugged landscape of classic Western movies. For air travelers, Amarillo is served by Southwest, American and Delta; most flights connect through Dallas-Fort Worth.

Lodging: Amarillo, the capital of the Texas Panhandle, is a way station for transcontinental travelers and has many budget and moderately priced motels, including Holiday Inn, Hampton Inn and Radisson on Interstate 40, all less than $100 per night. Best motel name: the Nursanickel Best Western ($66 per night) in Dalhart in the Panhandle's northwest corner. To the southeast is the tiny town of Turkey and a quaint hotel where they don't lock the doors. Turkey also is hometown of the late king of Western swing music, Bob Wills.

Dining: "Cowboy Morning's" breakfast ($19 for adults, $14.50 for ages 4-12) is by reservation only (1-800-658-2613) and includes a wagon ride and entertainment daily June through August. Otherwise, check from April to October for sporadic openings; you can tag along with a tour group that may have booked the event out of season. If 8:30 a.m. is too early, ask about "Cowboy Evening," a new event for groups that features a rib eye steak instead of eggs (S25 adults, $14.50 children). Plan on an hour by car from Amarillo. Directions are at the Web site, www.cowboymorning.com.

Order a hamburger at the MidPoint Cafe in Adrian, which is the midpoint of historic Route 66. Arnold Burgers rated a rave in The New York Times, but perhaps more delightful is a double-meat chili cheeseburger and tater tots in your car at the Beef Burger Barrel on Plains Ave. The kitchen is inside a giant white barrel; orders are placed at a walk-up window. The 16-ounce rib eye at the rural Lone Star Bar & Grill is a bargain at $16.50; sit away from the pool table or prepare to avoid a waggling cue stick.

The "free" 72-ounce steak at the Big Texan costs $50 plus tax if you don't consume it and all the sides in an hour; the rules of the challenge and other information are at www.bigtexan.com. A better bet: the 16-ounce T-bone for $23.50 and no time limit. A far more difficult test in Panhandle dining is being a vegetarian.

More to do: "TEXAS" is performed at 8:30 p.m. CDT nightly except Wednesdays through Aug. 17. Tickets range from $10 to $23 for adults; some children's tickets are as low as $5. The script has changed to correct historical errors and organizers say the story line will continue to evolve in the future. Phone: 1-806-655-2181. Web site: www.texasmusicaldrama.com.

Palo Duro Canyon State Park, established in 1934, now includes more than 16,000 acres. It combines history, nature and geology; Coronado may have visited and Indians resided along the Prairie Dog Town Fork of the Red River for thousands of years before fighting their final battle in Texas with the U.S. Calvary in 1874. Enter famed rancher Charles Goodnight, who saw a natural cattle fence in the steep canyon walls. Park information: Call 1-800-792-1112 or visit www.tpwd.state.tx.us/park/paloduro. A virtual tour is available at www.palodurocanyon.com.

"Lone Star Rising" is another Panhandle pageant inspired by history and culture. In its second year, it is performed at 8:15 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays until Aug. 18 at the renovated Lake Meredith amphitheater about 30 miles from Amarillo near the town of Fritch. Neil Hess, longtime director of "TEXAS," developed "Lone Star Rising" after he and "TEXAS" trustees parted ways in 2001. Tickets are $15 and under. Web: www.lonestarrising.com.

Other Panhandle possibilities: Alibates Flint Quarries National Monument, also near Fritch, which attracted Indians for prized flint to fashion tools and weapons; Cal Farley's Boys Ranch, on the site of the rowdy frontier town of Tascosa, complete with a Boot Hill Cemetery; Panhandle-Plains Historical Museum on the campus of West Texas A&M University in Canyon, adult admission, $4; American Quarter Horse Heritage Center & Museum on Interstate 40 in east Amarillo; the XIT Rodeo & Reunion in Dalhart, claiming the world's largest "free" barbecue, annually the first Thursday through Saturday in August.

More on the Web:: www.amarillo-cvb.org, the official convention and visitors bureau site.