Arriving at Clovis Regional Airport in Clovis places you among it all, with the High Plains, early rock and roll history, and a corner of three states an easy drive away. Clovis is a railroad and ranching town on the eastern edge of New Mexico, close enough to Texas that the accent drifts. It is best known for two things from very different eras: the stone points that gave the Clovis people their name, and the 1950s studio where Buddy Holly cut his first hits.

What to see around Clovis: - Tour Norman Petty Studios, where Buddy Holly and the Crickets recorded their biggest songs - Visit Blackwater Draw, the archaeological site where 13,000-year-old Clovis points were first identified - Walk the Blackwater Draw Museum on the Eastern New Mexico University campus in Portales - See the art deco Hotel Clovis downtown - Take the kids to Hillcrest Park Zoo - Catch the Clovis Music Festival each fall for a weekend of oldies and classic cars - Order a green chile cheeseburger at a drive-in on Mabry Drive - Watch the sky at Ned Houk Park on the north side of town

Portales, about 20 minutes south of Clovis, grows Valencia peanuts and throws a Peanut Valley Festival every October. Fort Sumner and the grave of Billy the Kid are about an hour west, and the Bosque Redondo Memorial there tells the story of the Long Walk. Muleshoe National Wildlife Refuge across the Texas line fills with sandhill cranes in winter, and Lubbock is about 90 minutes east. The sunsets here go on for miles, and the pace is just right for a slow weekend.