Thursday, October 12, 2023: We checked into our cozy Airbnb in Austin, TX at 5:30 p.m., after our long drive from Jefferson and through Austin’s insane traffic. Our Airbnb was on the west side of Austin, so we had to drive through the entire city at rush hour, which was no fun. The Airbnb was the tiniest Airbnb we’ve ever encountered but it had everything a person could ever want in it.
It was too much of a pain to drive into Austin for dinner, so we ate some of our Buc’ee’s chipimiento spread on crackers and Mike made us Vodka tonics. We enjoyed these on the picnic table on our deck. The owner of the Airbnb, Michelle, was leaving the next morning to meet some family in Seattle to watch the Taylor Swift Eras Tours. She chatted with us quite a long while. They had an Airstream on the property also and she told us we could watch the sunset from the Airstream’s picnic table, which we did, but it wasn’t anything special.
Our tiny Airbnb in Austin
Our tiny Airbnb in Austin
Mike at the picnice table having Buc’ee’s chipimiento spread on crackers
Friday, October 13: On Friday morning, our only day in Austin, we slept in a bit in our cozy Airbnb, so we didn’t get the earliest start. We finally arrived at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Museum & Library at 10:00. I’ve only visited one other presidential library and museum, the George W. Bush one in Dallas in 2016. I like them because they show the president amidst the popular culture and the important national and world events during the time he was in office. The museum shows all the challenges the president and the country faced during that era.
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The Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin, TX
Lyndon Baines Johnson (August 27, 1908 – January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served as vice president from 1961 to 1963.
Johnson began his presidency with near-universal support, but his approval declined throughout his presidency as the public became frustrated with both the Vietnam War and domestic unrest. Johnson initially sought to run for re-election but ultimately withdrew his candidacy for many reasons, especially the toll the presidency was taking on his health. Johnson returned to his Texas ranch, where he died in 1973.
Historians rank Johnson in the upper tier for his domestic policy achievements. His administration passed many major laws that made substantial gains in civil rights, health care, welfare, and education. Conversely, Johnson is strongly criticized for his foreign policy, namely presiding over an escalated American involvement in the Vietnam War.
Campaign poster: Kennedy for President with Johnson as VP
JFK and LBJ on the Wall of Portraits
Nov. 22, 1963: JFK Assassinated
Newspaper headlines of Kennedy’s assassination
“President Dead”
Johnson sworn in after Kennedy’s death
Mike gets the Johnson Treatment
The Johnson Treatment: He used a mixture of charm, intimidation, logic, kindness, cajolery, and horse-trading to get the deals he wanted. He often moved close to make his point.
Photos of President Johnson
Johnson lived and breathed politics from an early age. He started as a Congressional Aide in 1931.
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
Popular culture in the 1960s
LBJ proposed many programs to protect the environment
Integration in Little Rock, Arkansas
Soviet Premier Nikita Khruschchev embraces Cuban Prime Minister Fiedl Castro on September 23, 1960
Communist China’s invasion of Tibet in 1959
Fear of Nuclear War: Atomic bomb test in Nevada in April 1955
The Greensboro Sit-in at F.W. Woolworth’s on Feb 2, 1960
Soviet Fires Earth Satellite Into Space
Two of Johnson’s greatest legacies
LBJ and the Civil Rights Movement
Civil Rights Movement
Legislation created Medicare and Medicaid in 1965
LBJ’s Goals
LBJ’s Legislation
Before he left office, his programs began to transform America
Challenges in Latin America
World problems in 1964
Six Day War
Johnson inherited the Vietnam War. He tried to find a middle way – to win the war without drawing in Communist China or the Soviet Union, or to avoid defeat long enough to negotiate a peace with North Vietnam.
Johnson Hints New Vietnam Escalation
Inside the Viet Cong
By mid-1967, Americans killed or wounded in Vietnam reached nearly 70,000. Johnson felt increasingly hopeless: “I can’t win and I can’t get out.”
On March 31, 1968, Johnson announced he wouldn’t run again. He feared the toll that Vietnam and the Office would exacerbate his heart problems.
Johnson announces he won’t seek reelection.
LBJ’s Farewell
The Oval Office during Johnson’s presidency
Lady Bird’s office
LBJ’s LImousine. He ordered this after he left the presidency in 1968. To meet the Secret Service requirements, it was equipped with television, radio, a telephone, and other security features. It is not armored, bulletproof or bombproof.
Archives in the LBJ Library
Austin skyline seen from the LBJ Library
There was a special exhibit on Lady Bird Johnson which we also enjoyed, “Lady Bird: Beyond the Wildflowers.” We learned how much she loved the Caddo Lake area where she grew up; we had just visited the lake on Thursday. She was well educated, with 2 Bachelors degrees: one in history and one in journalism. She bankrolled Johnson’s Congressional campaign with a modest inheritance she’d received and helped promote him in many ways. She initiated the Highway Beautification Act. She is one of the most highly regarded American First Ladies by historians.
The elegant Lady Bird, whose real name was Claudia Alta Taylor. She wore this gown at a reception for HM KIng Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit of Thailand in 1968.
Alice Tittle, the Taylor family’s nanny, described young Claudia as “pretty as a lady bird,” and the name stuck.
Her family’s store: T.J. Taylor: Dealer in Everything
Lady Bird’s calendar from the 1932-1933 academic school year shows her busy social life at the University of Texas at Austin
She felt University taught her that “one new horizon only opens the door to still another.”
Lady Bird at Caddo Lake, “which became very much a part of my childhood. It was a very scenic, interesting, wild, haunted place, not unlike the Everglades of Florida.”
In 1940, LBJ gave Lady Bird her first movie camera. She filmed their travels on the campaign trail for Johnson’s Senate run in 1941.
The Johnson’s honeymooned in Mexico.
In 1943, they purchased their first home in Austin.
Portrait of Lynda, Lady Bird and Luci in December 1947
In addition to buying and running the KTBC radio station, Lady Bird also tended to the running of LBJ’s congressional office during his time serving in WWII.
The Johnsons spent weeks at their ranch in the Texas hill country while LBJ recovered from a serious heart attack in 1955.
Johnson for President
The gown worn by Lady Bird Johnson for inaugural celebrations on January 20, 1961.
Lady Bird in her inaugural gown.
The Johnsons at the LBJ Ranch in 1959.
The Johnsons undertook a trip to Southeast Asia in 1962. Two separate trips included among them the Phillipines, India, Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan.
On her 5-day Whistle Stop Tour, she made appearances in Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Indiana and Kentucky.
First Lady of the Environment
During her time in the White House, Lady Bird and her environmental initatives were popular subjects for political cartoonists.
Lady Bird planting a cherry tree at the National Cherry Blossom Festival at Tidal Basin, Washington, D.C.
She worked tirelessly on Headstart to give children good education with attention to health care. The Head Start program was established in 1965 as part of Johnson’s War on Poverty.
Lady Bird visited Kentucky in May 1964 to bring national attention to the plight of American poverty.
Lady Bird had a director’s chair with the title “First Lady” while filming her award-winning TV program: “A Visit to Washington with Mrs. Lyndon B. Johnson, on Behalf of a More Beautiful America”
Lady Bird’s outfit while filming
Lady Bird and her love of wildflowers
We had lunch at Chi’lantro BBQ, with its famous kimchi fries (fries, caramelized kimchi, shredded cheese, onions, cilantro, magic sauce, sriracha & sesame seeds) and a Korean Esquites Bowl. Yum!
Chi’lantro BBQ
Korean Esquites Bowl: spicy chicken, brown rice, black beans, guacamole, cilantro, onions, pickled veggies, double Korea esquites, tortilla chips, salsa roja and lime juice
kimchi fries from Chi’lantro BBQ
We then went by the Texas State Capitol. Designed in 1881 and built from 1882-1888, the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1970 and recognized as a National Historic Landmark in 1986. It is 302.64 feet tall, making it the 6th tallest state capitol and one of several taller than the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C.
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Texas State Capitol
sculpture near the Texas State Capitol
Texas State Capitol
Texas State Capitol
Texas State Capitol
Texas State Capitol
Texas State Capitol
We visited the Mexic-Arte Museum which aims to educate and enrich the community through Latino art and culture. Most of the exhibits revolved around Día de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead). Mexic-Arte has been a driving force for uniquely Austin celebrations of this day for 40 years.
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Mexic-Arte Museum
Before heading to South Congress Avenue (SOCO), in downtown Austin, we stopped for an iced coffee and lemonade and a scone at the Hideout Award-Winning Coffee House and Improv Theatre. I loved the old theater signs we found downtown.
Hideout Award-Winning Coffee House and Improv Theatre
Hideout Award-Winning Coffee House and Improv Theatre
Hideout Award-Winning Coffee House and Improv Theatre
view of downtown Austin
Paramount Theatre
State Theatre
We finished our day in Austin by going for a stroll through South Congress Avenue (SOCO). The neighborhood is cute and quirky with lots of interesting shops, clothing boutiques, cafes, & restaurants. We dropped into Allen’s Boots where I would have liked to have found a pair of cowboy boots, but I couldn’t find any I liked. I got myself some early birthday presents at Paper Work.
South Congress Avenue (SOCO)
South Congress Avenue (SOCO)
South Congress Avenue (SOCO)
South Congress Avenue (SOCO)
South Congress Avenue (SOCO)
South Congress Avenue (SOCO)
South Congress Avenue (SOCO)
Birds Barbershop on South Congress Avenue (SOCO)
South Congress Avenue (SOCO)
South Congress Avenue (SOCO)
South Congress Avenue (SOCO)
We stopped into Guero’s Taco Bar for a margarita and a tequila. Then we went to the old-time Austin diner, Magnolia Cafe. There, Mike had a jalapeño cheeseburger & I had breakfast for dinner: Eggs Zapatino. A yummy way to end our time in Austin.
Guero’s Taco Bar
Guero’s Taco Bar
Damas at Guero’s Taco Bar
Guero’s Taco Bar
Guero’s Taco Bar
Magnolia Cafe
Magnolia Cafe
me at Magnolia Cafe
Mike’s Jalapeño Cheeseburger
Eggs Zapatino – scrambled eggs on a toasted English muffin smothered in queso and topped with avocado 🥑, all served with home fries
Magnolia Cafe
Magnolia Cafe
We returned to our Airbnb, sat outside on the porch and drank vodka tonics and I wrote in my journal. I’ve taken to buying stickers from everyplace I go, but after I put in the stickers, I hardly have space to write. Lol 😂!
writing in my journal on the porch of our tiny Airbnb
a journal with too many stickers!
Steps: 8,752; Miles 3.71. Weather mostly sunny; Hi 90°, Lo 59°. Drove 41.1 miles.
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