The Grand Library Tour days 4 and 5

I'm in Big D, my oh yes...
Big D, little a, double l, a, s

Yesterday was day two of Lyndon Baines Johnson.  He was a big man so he took up two days.  I was kind of tired and discouraged Wednesday evening so I proposed skipping Johnson City and the LBJ Ranch but now I am glad that we didn't.  My advice to future visitors...if you are short on time and can only choose one or the other, skip the LBJ Library and head for his childhood home and ranch 40 miles west of Austin in Johnson City, TX.  You will learn everything you need to know and have a much more enjoyable time.

The drive over to JC was really pretty.  Texas Hill country begins a few miles west of Austin.  It is a very scenic area with rolling hills and valleys.  There are vistas along the road where you can see for miles into the distance.  Little Texas towns dot the way.  The Pedernales River runs through hill country and into Johnson City.  For those of you outside of Texas the correct pronunciation is Per-dah-nal-es.  I don't know why.

Lyndon Baines Johnson was born in 1908 about 15 miles outside of Johnson City, TX in a little house on his grandfather's ranch.  Grandpa Johnson had been a real cowboy.  He obtained some land in  what is now Johnson City and developed a longhorn herd consisting of about 1000 heads of cattle.  He drove his first herd to Abilene, KS and sold it for $100,000.  Most of the money was reinvested in cattle but by the time he drove the second herd to Abilene cattle had gone bust and Mr. Johnson lost all of his money.  The family eventually moved to what is now known at the LBJ Ranch.  Lyndon Johnson's father was a self-taught attorney turned politician.  His mother was college educated, a rarity for her time.  When Johnson was 4 he began running up the hill near his house to a one room school. He insisted on sitting on his teacher, Miss Katie's lap.  His mama enrolled him in school where he became a voracious reader.  Mrs. Johnson wanted her children to go to a better school so by the time Lyndon was 7 the family had moved into town.  The house in town was adjacent to the original Johnson farm.  In 1951, LBJ bought his grandfather's ranch from his uncle and it became the Johnson home when they weren't in Washington DC or Austin.  Improvements were made over the years including the addition of a runway and hangar for "Air Force 1/2", the Lockheed Jet used to shuttle LBJ, his family and guests from the AF base in San Antonio.  It is said that Johnson conducted 25 % of his Presidential business from the Texas White House as the ranch became known.  The house is typical of a 50-60-70's décor house.  It isn't huge and it isn't small but it was adequate.  One thing that tickled me is that Johnson had this little amphibious car.  He would take unsuspecting visitors out for a ride and while driving down along the Pedernales (remember how to say it?) he would veer off down the bank screaming "the brakes went out".  They would land in the river where LBJ would engage the amphibious side of the car and off they'd go.  We had a delightful half day in JC and at the ranch.  We ate dinner at a local brew pub and hit the road for Arlington.  3 hours later we arrived at our hotel and hit the rack.

This morning we headed to the campus of SMU (Siri calls it "smoo") to visit the George W. Bush Museum.  The last three days we've only shared the space with a few people.  Today was a different story.  The museum was very crowded.  I'm sure its newness has a lot to do with it as well as end of the year school trips.  Yes, TX schools are still in session.  The building itself is beautiful, and difficult to get to.  Once inside you are in the middle of a huge rotunda where every 15 minutes a spiffy multi-media show takes place ala' Disney World.  The museum is interesting, lots and lots of information presented in many multi-sensory formats.  The most movie exhibits are in the 9/11 gallery.  A beam from the World Trade Center is in the center of the floor.  A docent encourages visitors to touch it.  I particularly enjoyed the Life in the White House section.  One area that's neat for kids is a section on the Book Festival started by the Bush family.  There is a shelf with award winning books for kids and a place where they can sit and read.  Overall, the museum spends the majority of space on Bush policy, the Afghan and Iraqi Wars and Overseas initiatives.

The museum is impressive but I also found it to be overwhelming.  There is so much information presented that my brain kind of turned off after awhile.  I think it is a museum that would best be viewed in chunks.  Choose an area you are most interested in and spend your time there.  Don't miss the four films at various stages of the museum.  They are worth sitting through.

Tonight is the Royals/Rangers game.  Hope last night's luck carries on tonight.  They beat the Cardinals at 3:10 a.m. this morning after a 4 hour rain delay.  Way to go Royals!

Home tomorrow.