It looks as though my final assignment in the Air Force will be at Dyess AFB in Abilene, TX. I’ll only be there 2-3 years before I retire and move farther South, so I plan on renting a house.

Any advice on clean, quiet neighborhoods? I’ve only ever passed through Abilene in travels...what is there to do in my down time? Any good gun shops or ranges?

This message has been edited. Last edited by: brywards,

You can go spray some graffiti on the cars at the Cadillac Ranch....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157631106500126/

flashguy

I go to Abilene 4- 5 times a year to check in on my Uncle. The one comment I would make is, you will not confuse this town with the "Big City", things move kind of slow. Check out Joe Allen's place for a good meal/steak.

We loved our time at ABI. We were there about 10-15 years ago, so my info is a little dated.

You don't mention your family situation, but it's a great place to raise kids. Single dudes found it a bit more challenging. If you didn't want to date a girl from one of the three Christian colleges, you likely drove to DFW or San Antonio. Wiley HS was the preferred high school.

There a set of Union Pacific tracks that bisect the town. General wisdom is that south of the tracks is a little more upscale. Most of the guys I knew either lived south of the mall (toward Buffalo Gap) or in the NE part of town toward ACU. There were a few that lived further out in the country (e.g. Anson, Clyde).

Everybody raves about Joe Allen's. His place was a distant second to Harold's, but it looks like Harold has passed on and his place is closed. So, I may have to jump on the Joe Allen's bandwagon.

Abilene Indoor Gun Range was a favorite haunt. It was great to duck in and blast for a bit. When I was there, even though the prices were hourly, if nobody was waiting on the Lane, you could keep shooting for the same money. I have no idea if that's still the case.

I can't remember the name of it, but there was a gun shop on (I believe) S. 1st. I made hm mad by asking if he'd check the headspace on a Garand. He snapped back that he didn't work on new-fangled automatics. The other shops were fine. Abilene had a decent fun show, but Sweetwater's was better. The Market Hall show in Dallas and the San Antonio show were good, too.

For special meals, Perini Ranch in Buffalo Gap or the Beehive in Albany were good.

Good luck.

PS--The Paramount theater was a gem. It's got an Art Deco kind of motif. It would alternate playing dollar movie fare and a classic movie. It's a treat to see something like "Casablanca" on the big screen. Abilene also had a drive-in that would play double- and triple-features.

quote:

Originally posted by Herknav:
Single dudes found it a bit more challenging. If you didn't want to date a girl from one of the three Christian colleges, you likely drove to DFW or San Antonio. Wiley HS was the preferred high school.

Wait, what?

You're suggesting trolling the local high school for dates?

+1

quote:

Perini Ranch

Great food but some will find limited seating a challenge.

There's a great cowboy action shootimg venue there. The Butterfield Trail Regulators.

FWIW 45 minutes west to Roscoe is Blackland Smokehouse the best brisket I ever ate, and that's a lot!

There was an outdoor range about 10 minutes outside of town. Pretty basic. Two pistol pit areas where you could shoot from 1 yard up to about 40. A rifle range with shooting benches and berms at 25, 50, 100, 200, and 300 yards. Daylight only range. There was a range officer there on Sat and Sun, unmanned during the week, members had a code to the gate for weekday access. Cost was about $150/year for most people but military membership was half price.

If you are looking for green grass and mild summers, well, sorry It is west Texas. There is not much outside of town. Perini Ranch steakhouse in Buffalo Gap is one of the top steakhouses in Texas, you have to eat there at least once. Try the bread pudding, trust me.

If you have kids in high school Wyle (sp) was considered the best school in town followed by Cooper.

The closest big city is Ft Worth about 2.5 hours away. Fredricksburg is a German influenced town about 3-4 hours away that has a pretty big Oktoberfest every year. There is also a good winery/vineyard in Fredricksburg named Becker Vineyards if you like wine.

Note: I left Dyess Jan 2009 so my info is a little dated.

Almost forgot, I saw a press release a few years ago that the base CC was allowing people with concealed carry license to keep their handguns secured in their vehicles while on base. If still true that is a big plus.

One more edit. Here is the article about handguns in your vehicle.

LOL @ Rogue. Um...that was supposed to go in the “where to live” section. Oops.

quote:

Originally posted by RogueJSK:

quote:

Originally posted by Herknav:
Single dudes found it a bit more challenging. If you didn't want to date a girl from one of the three Christian colleges, you likely drove to DFW or San Antonio. Wiley HS was the preferred high school.

Wait, what?

You're suggesting trolling the local high school for dates?

I started chuckling after reading where to pick up chicks and the next sentence mentioned a high school.

Thanks for the info, fellas. I’m from San Antonio/Austin areas, so South TX isn’t new to me...but West TX is. I’m not excited about the assignment, but there was nothing available this summer in San Antonio.

bywards, you may be "wandering, but not lost" but your avatar is....

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
bywards, you may be "wandering, but not lost" but your avatar is....

flashguy

Nope, it’s not lost. It’s sitting on Photobucket, held ransom for the upgrade payment.

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
You can go spray some graffiti on the cars at the Cadillac Ranch....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157631106500126/

flashguy

Amarillo, not Abilene

quote:

Originally posted by JR78:

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
You can go spray some graffiti on the cars at the Cadillac Ranch....
https://www.flickr.com/photos/...s/72157631106500126/

flashguy

Amarillo, not Abilene

You're right, of course! Sorry! My bad! (You could still do it, of course--you'd just have to drive farther....)

flashguy

quote:

Originally posted by brywards:

quote:

Originally posted by flashguy:
bywards, you may be "wandering, but not lost" but your avatar is....

flashguy

Nope, it’s not lost. It’s sitting on Photobucket, held ransom for the upgrade payment.

Yea photobucket broke the inner webs.

I was born in Abilene, but I haven't done anything but pass through since 1963, so I am no help.

One more thing—there is Base Housing across the street (Rebecca Raceway) from the main gate. I think it was Quail Creek, Quail Hollow, or something similar. These were brand new units when I was there. One of our FE’s received a ~$250 electric bill for a ~1,000 sq ft apartment/condo. Apparently, build quality was sub-par.

quote:

Originally posted by brywards:
Thanks for the info, fellas. I’m from San Antonio/Austin areas, so South TX isn’t new to me...but West TX is. I’m not excited about the assignment, but there was nothing available this summer in San Antonio.

Dude, if that is the worst it gets for an AF assignment..then suck it up and enjoy Jo Allen's!

At least it ain't Del Rio, right?

(And for the record, I spent 4 years in Del Rio!)

Our son took a position with Fox TV in Abilene in August and we have made 2 trips down there so far...wife spent several days helping him find housing and ended up spending $635.00 a month for a studio apartment.
College was getting ready to start and Dyess was adding people so housing was very limited at that time. We only looked at one small home and it was a $725.00 a month POS.

I believe that the south side of town is considered the "better" area but we spent quite a bit of time exploring Abilene and there are areas of nice home scattered through the city.
Our son really likes Abilene and as a sports reporter for Fox TV he visits all the schools in Abilene and surrounding areas..he speaks highly of Abilene schools.
Best meal we had last trip was at the food truck burger joint that parks near downtown Abilene.
The B1-B bombers seem to be constantly taking off and landing at Dyess and those planes are awesome to watch..after take off they seem to bank/turn like a much smaller plane.

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