We're in Longhorn Territory

Day 108 - Austin, TX - Sunny Upper 60's:

Today we slept in a bit. I've been under the weather for the last day or so and we figured it was best if I slept a bit. We headed out and made our way to the Texas State Capitol. The first thing you notice is that the building is PINK! It is made with pink granite donated by the town of Marble Falls. The interior walls are mostly limestone. The capitol is the second tallest capitol building in the U.S. we actually drove by the tallest on our way to Houston. Anyone know what it is? Once inside the capitol we caught a tour of the building.

We entered the rotunda which is 218ft from floor to ceiling. When you look to the top there is a star with Texas written in between the points. One thing we learned during our visit is that not only is everything bigger in Texas, but everyone in Texas wants you to know that you are in Texas. On the floor of the rotunda is a painting with six seals of Texas. These seals represent the six nations that have governed Texas. In order they are: Spain, France, The Republic of Texas, The United States, The Confederate States of America, and then back to the United States. It was news to me that at one point (for about nine years) Texas was it's own country! In the rotunda room you can see portraits of the former governors of Texas in chronological order. The most recent portrait is of George W. Bush. These portraits go around the room and continue up four floors. When the next new governor is elected the portrait of the governor leaving office will replace George W. Bush's and every portrait will be moved once place to the left all the way up the floors...no one wants that job!

From here we went up to the Senate room. The Texas senate only meets on odd years and in those years they meet for only five months. The only change to this can be made by the governor who may call a special session but it's rare. The Senators are elected to four year terms and therefore meet for 10 months out of their 48 month term. While in the Senate room we were able to notice some more Texas pride including the chandeliers. The light bulbs actually spell out Texas. It was also funny to notice that all the door hinges say Texas Capitol. I guess you'll never forget where you are! Next we headed over House of Representatives. It was very similar to the Senate room including the Texas light chandeliers. These folks are elected to two year terms and also meet only on odd years for five months. Ben asked why only five months and the man was not real sure. He says they believe it is because in old days travel was not so easy and with Texas being such a large state it was difficult for everyone to get together. In addition most people were farmers and could not be away from the farms for more time than that. Now they don't have any real reason other than it's in the Texas Constitution and they've always done it.

Our last stop was in the Capitol extension. When the building started to overfill, the government decided that they needed more office space and meeting room. They built the capitol extension which was finished in 1993. It is all UNDERGROUND! The extension also has tunnels that lead to other government buildings in the capitol complex. A side note: most of the other buildings in the capitol complex are made of pink granite too!

After our tour we headed back to our hotel room to have some lunch. Once we were done we made our way back to town and walked through the University of Texas campus. It is GORGEOUS. We signed up for tour of the Texas Longhorn Stadium tomorrow! Located on the campus is the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library and Museum. We made our way in and learned so much about LBJ! We watched a short movie that chronicled his life. I know very little about him in general but seeing all of the programs that he put through including, Headstart, Financial Aid, Food Stamps, Civil Rights and over 200 other landmark bills. The last time I was in Texas I visited his ranch. We did not make the trip this time but if you get the chance I recommend visiting. The museum is OUTSTANDING. It is a journey through America and the world as it was during LBJ's life. While history is in the background of each wall, LBJ and Lady Bird's lives are in the forefront. You can read love letters, see photos of their childhoods and enjoy artifacts of the lives. Some of the most impressive: LBJ's limousine, the Model-T family car, a collection of Presidential pens used to sign the landmark bills, and many handwritten notes and letters.

My personal favorite and most poignant was a letter written to LBJ from Jackie Kennedy. I'm not sure if you know this but the outgoing president always writes a letter to the new president and leaves it in the Oval Office. JFK was not able to do this for LBJ and so after JFK's funeral Jackie sat in the Oval Office and wrote the letter to President Johnson. It was a very emotional letter and a true piece of American history.

The museum has a large collection of Presidential gifts. When foreign dignitaries visit the U.S. they often brought gifts. I didn't really get most of them...I mean I'm sure they are worth TONS of money and some of them were quite elaborate but more than anything they were somewhat bizarre and most likely useless. There were also a number of gifts on display sent to LBJ from the American people. One of my favorite things was a collection of drawings and pictures sent by children. My favorite was a letter from a little boy who told LBJ that he and his two friends would like to go to space a week from Monday. They wore size 8 space suits and if anything went wrong as long as they had laser guns they would know what to do! TOO FUNNY!

The last part of the museum was a replica of the Oval Office as it was when LBJ was in office. This included some of the actual furniture (most of it) and artwork. It is pretty spectacular and as close to an Oval Office as I'll likely ever get! On this floor there was also an exhibit dedicated to Lady Bird Johnson. If you're wondering where the name came from, it said that her caretaker when she was a baby said she was as pretty as a Lady Bird...and the name stuck. The exhibit had some of her clothing as well as information about her flowers! Another really neat thing is that she kept a journal everyday that she was living in the White House. It started out handwritten and then moved to recordings. She would record her thoughts and events, gather any memorabilia, and put them in an envelope with the date on the front. These were eventually turned in to a book that I would now like to read!

From the museum we headed down to Sixth Street which is touted as an entertainment and music mecca. I kind of equate it to a Bourbon Street but with more college kids, more businesses, and a lot less drinking...while there is plenty of drinking it's not on the same level. We walked around for a bit but it was early and there was not much going on so we headed out to dinner. We ate at The County Line. We read it was a must eat. On our way we drove through the RITZY part of town...mansion after mansion after mansion. The restaurant is located on Lake Lady Bird and offers a great view. We had some real Texas barbecue...still though the ribs weren't as good as Gug's!

By now I was feeling the effects of the illness so we made our way back to the hotel. We had hoped to go in town for a drink and some live music but I was just not feeling up to it...tomorrow we are going to the Texas State Museum and then to Longhorn Stadium. Who knows what other fun we might find!

Thanks for reading!