Last Day in Austin
April 8, 2023 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 16 °C
Since today was our last day in Austin, we got up early and by 10:30 we were at the LBJ library. If you are not familiar with the challenges of getting 6 children between the ages of 8 months and 11 years out the door, that will not sound like an early day, but I assure you, it is. My contributions were minimal and trivial - holding a baby for a few minutes, filling a water bottle, etc. Joe and I had been to some of the LBJ sites out of town, but we always love going to this presidential museum/library. It is chock full of information, recorded phone conversations, film clips, memorabilia, etc. I listened to LBJ speaking with MLK a few months after JFK’s assassination. The Civil Rights folks were very suspicious of LBJ, since his first years of voting in Congress had been squarely on the segregationist side, but he proved his mettle by getting a lot of monumental legislation passed. The kids liked seeing the model White House Oval Office and all except the 4 yo and baby were totally engaged by the movie describing his life. The older ones enjoyed scrutinizing LBJ’s school report cards, too. LBJ would not be a very popular person in today’s Texas, but I believe that history will recognize him as one of our great presidents. Never thought I would say that! And maybe I’m under the influence of the loving spin on his life that you get here at the library. Flawed and inconsistent like all of us, but oh so much more than the Viet Nam war.
After the library, we took our obligatory trip to the turtle pond on the University of Texas campus, and from there back to the rental for lunch. We then split up, and my group went up to Mt. Bonnell for great views of Lake Austin and then over to Zilker Park. Too cold for a swim, but we had to go back to the playground.
Dinner at Salt Lick, a BBQ ranch about a half hour out of town, is another one of our sacred traditions. If you are not a meat eater you would not be too happy, but their cole slaw and potato salad are both top notch.
It would be so great if we all lived closer together, but these reunion trips are very special!Read more
Traveler Laurie, it sounds like you had a great little vacation with your kids and grandkids. The children are all good looking! Just wanted to mention that Nils and I just got home from Texas about 30 minutes ago, and that I saw this Salt Lick BBQ place at the Dallas Airport.
Traveler A great Easter break - I can understand the difficulties of assembling children. Makes you appreciate teachers. 😁. So good to get together though and lovely to read that the whole family has a love and appreciation of history.
Traveler Oh, I loved your description of the LBJ library! In Robert Caro’s book "Working", he describes the jolt of electricity he felt on first seeing the HUGE assembly of boxes containing primary source material. Row after row after row, from floor to ceiling.