Insider's Guide: Abilene's Distinct Quirks And Driving Challenges

With Dyess Air Force Base and three different universities, Abilene is home to many walks of life. Because of this, there are a ton of quirky things that we have to explain to others about our town.

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Bad Drivers

Yes, every town has bad drivers, but Abilene seems to have more than usual. Heck, there is even a Facebook page dedicated to the horrible driving that we do in town called "Abilene's Worst Drivers". From not merging correctly to pulling out in front of someone and going 20 miles under the speed limit, Abilene can leave out-of-town drivers very frustrated.

Getting Stuck at the Tracks

Abilene has railroad tracks dividing the north and south sides of town. And, you better believe you'll get stuck at the tracks at some point. In fact, it's not unusual to get stopped by a train 3 or 4 times a day. And, most of the time, it's when you're in a hurry.

Floods When Someone Spits

Anytime Abilene gets any rain at all, you can count on several intersections flooding because we have a very slow drainage system. In fact, it's not uncommon to see several stranded cars after a good rain.

Church On Every Corner

Abilene has so many churches, that we actually use more than one of them as a point of reference anytime we give directions to people from out of town.

Measuring Distance in Hours

If you ask us how far away a town is, we'll tell you how long it will take to get there instead of how many miles. "How far is it to Dallas?", "Oh, about 3 hours".

Doesn't Take Much Snow To Shut Down Abilene

Even if it's only a light dusting of snow, you're sure to see schools shut down, businesses close, and drivers lose their minds.

'Gut Bomb'

A 'gut bomb' is simply a fried burrito from Allsups. It is truly one of the greatest past times you'll ever experience at 2 am in the morning. One of my co-workers, not from Abilene, got to experience this awesome goodness recently.

'The Black Hole'

Once you move to Abilene, you're pretty much stuck here. Many have tried to leave several times, only to come back. Abilene just sort of swallows you up. You know, kind of like a black hole.

No Rush Hour

There is a reason why radio station in Abilene don't do traffic reports. That's because there is no traffic. Unless you are at the intersection of Southwest Drive and the Winter's Freeway and that's a completely different story.

We'll Drive Anything To Walmart

It doesn't matter if it's a car, truck, SUV, bike, skateboard, or tractor. If it gets us to Walmart, we're good to go.

Crosstown Showdown

High School football is huge in Texas. It's even bigger when two teams from the same down square off. When Abilene High and Cooper High meet, everybody in town is either at the game or listening to it on the radio.

These are just a few of the quirky things in Abilene that we have to explain to others. I'm sure I've missed some so shoot me an email and let me know of some others that should be on this list.