LBJ Day, Continued

This was the Presidential site that many of us were especially eager to see: The Lyndon Baines Johson National Historical Park. Most us us on tour remember President Lyndon Johnson, and seeing where he lived brings back very real memories of the times.

The first stop was at his boyhood home. The small "dogtrot" style residence belonged to the family for many years and was restored during LBJ's time to its appearance in the 1920's. Relatives and friends in the area donated antiques. LBJ himself would lead people on a tour of this home, reminiscing about his boyhood.

This photo of President-to-be was displayed in one of the bedrooms.

I like this wood cooking stove. (My Granmother had one like it.)

Next we visited the Johnson family cemetery. President and Mrs. Johnson are both buried here among many, many other family members.

Driving up to the ranch is very impressive. It's a long drive. Along the way we were looking for deer among the trees. (I recall reading that LBJ had taken President Kennedy deer hunting one time and I wonder whether this was the place,) Before we reached the ranch home, however, we stopped at the pens where the longhorn cattle are kept. These are direct decendents of LBJ's cattle. This is a working ranch, and the National Park Service here are dressed like ranchers.

   

There's a runway at "The Texas White House," too short for the Presidential jet Air Force One, but adequate for a smaller jet or a helicopter landing. On view is the Jetstar LBJ used that he liked to call "Air Force One-Half."

Finally we made our way to the residence itself. We had learned so much about President Johnson this day that when we saw the ranch, I almost expected him to walk out and greet us. We had an extensive tour.

Mrs. Johnson used this ranch as her home up until 2007. She updated it throughout the years. When the home was turned over to the National Park Service to be opened to the public, it was restored to the appearance it had during the LBJ Presidency.

The furnishings seemed quite common. We were told that the grandchildren didn't like the restoration because this was not the home they remembered growing up.

I really enjoyed seeing the office where he worked, and the display of what looked like a Presidential plate collection. ( This reminded me of the collection we have in our dining room.)

The room that made the biggest impression on me, however, was the bedroorm where he died. I hadn't thought about him dying here, so I wasn't expecting to see this. At the time of our tour, this part of the home was undergoing renovations.

The highlight of this day was a BBQ, just for our group, much like the ones given by LBJ years ago. The lawn under the trees near the banks of the Pedernales River was one of his favorite places. This is where he held press conferences and entertained dignitaries. And here we were on a gorgeous early Texan evening.

There couldn't have been a better finale to our exceptional trip with C-SPAN and Presidential historian Richard Norton Smith and a fine group of fellow travelers.