Actually, if Texas was a country, it wouldn't even come close to being a small one, not in size nor on the economic scale. (the last I saw, Texas would rank 14th or 15th in world GDP ranking) "...full of a while lot of nothing" is pretty insulting.
Were you asleep when you drove through Wichita Falls? I've lived in quite a few places in Texas and been to most parts of it and when I think of places I'd like to live, Wichita Falls wouldn't even make the top 100 in the state alone. It's miserably hot and dusty dry during the summer and horribly cold during the winter, what with the north wind sweeping down from Canada and funneled directly through there. While it doesn't have as many tornadoes as other places here in Texas, when it does have them, they're sometimes massive. While it's not totally lacking in "things to do", you can do them all in a week or less, I'd bet. I'd rather live in Old Mobeetie than Wichita Falls.
As far as going to The Big Texan; sure, stop there some time, if for nothing else than to get a postcard to send back home. It's pretty nice for a tourist trap and its main claim to fame is the free 72 oz. steak...if you eat it and all the trimmings within an hour. The last time I went, the rattlesnake wasn't too bad, but I've had better calf fries fresh and semi-raw just off the branding iron stove. (no salt for it except for the sweat that poured off my brow as I hungrily gnawed through the testicles that had been attached to the young bull not but ten minutes before) I'd recommend sticking with a cheeseburger or chicken fried steak, but there are much better places to eat in Amarillo. If you do ever stop there, be sure and tip the fiddler when he comes around and you request a tune; he's a friend of mine. His rendition of "Faded Love" will bring a tear to your eye...does to me, anyway.