Today is a Texas travel day after a couple of great days in Austin and San Antonio. It is so hot here. I have a real problem with this kind of heat. My feet and hands swell, sweat runs into my eyes and I just generally want to die. But we have had a good time, thanks to a nicely air-conditioned room to retreat to at the end of the day, and an occasional cold beer!
One of our favorite sites in Austen was the Lyndon B. Johnson presidential museum and library. Having lived through those tumultuous years of the Johnson presidency, it was a real walk through a very memorable time. I remembered how angry I felt toward Johnson for his inability to get our country OUT of the tragic mess of the Vietnam Nam War. We hated him. Of course hindsight adds perspective. Not that I'm letting him off the hook, but it was more than he, alone, could deal with, it seems.
The building is beautiful, and the exhibits were great. The perspective of time allows us to see many very good things that were accomplished during Johnson's presidency— social programs, such as Job Corps, Head Start, Medicare and the great advances in Civil Rights legislation. Johnson truly was a champion for equality and a compassionate government. He called his vision "The Great Society."
One thing I hated in the Museum was this animatronic Johnson, telling stories. Ugh. It looked nothing like him and was kind of embarrassing.
I did love this portrait, though.
Austin is a beautiful city. I'm going to cover more in a separate post.
Yesterday we went to San Antonio for the day. We started at the Alamo and immersed ourselves in the beauty of the old mission and fortress and, of course, the tragic story of the battle of the Alamo.
Ray's cousin Sue lives south of San Antonio, so she drove up to meet us for lunch on the San Antonio Riverwalk. We had such a good time catching up with Sue that I forgot to take photos. After lunch we strolled along the Riverwalk, which is just indescribably lovely. Whoever dreamed this idea was genius. Every city should have something like this.
Yes, it is a touristy thing, with lots of overpriced restaurants and bars and sightseeing boats going up and down, but, dang!, it is just, well,—lovely. Yes, we took the boat ride tour. We loved it. And, even the hellacious heat couldn't spoil it. (Ice cream helped)
Go to San Antonio and do this. Really. You won't be sorry. But you likely will be really, really hot.
So, today is a car day all day long. We are headed for Lubbuck, hometown of Buddy Holly and I'm humming " That'll be the day-ay-ay when I die..."
Posted with Blogsy
Thank you for your nice comments about my home state. It is a great place to live. I always enjoy seeing Texas through the eyes of others. But it can be HOT. as my yankee husband always says, we love our air conditioning.
ReplyDelete