Luckenbach & LBJ Ranch

We were up bright and early today since we had a full tour schedule ahead of us.  First, we made a stop at a local coffee & pastry shop for breakfast.  Omelettes and Taco breakfasts were on order along with coffee.  The food was good and the coffee hot.  Well, I think it was hot, but we didn't order any.  Judy and Herb did and had a few cups.  Since coffee was $2.75, numerous refills were in order by them.  

We headed for Lyndon Baines Johnson State Park and National Park.  The LBJ ranch and homestead has been a park for many years.  We drove by the school house that LBJ attended and it looks the same now as when he was a little boy.  Judy said she attended a school house much like this when she was in elementary school.  Not with LBJ though!

Junction School House

Judy late for school again.

  
Right down the road from the school is a reconstruction of his birthplace.  It was a very modest home like all the other homes in the area at the time.  His father had made a fortune and then lost it before they moved to this area and bought land.  The family cemetery is just across the road from the home and it is where LBJ and Lady Bird Johnson are buried along with a lot of Johnson kinfolk, including his parents.

LBJ boyhood home

We then drove further into the park and along the 6300 ft airplane runway that LBJ had constructed so he could land a jet plane there.  Evidently he didn't like to waste time driving from the nearest large airport.  His Lockheed JetStar VC-140 plane is sitting under an open hangar just outside the old hanger where it was parked.  The old hangar has been converted into a visitors center with pictures and sayings from when he was president.   There are two Lincoln Continental convertibles, a 1934 Ford Phaeton roadster, a water car and a golf cart in the hangar.  He had gun racks and an open wet bar installed in the Ford and liked to drive it around the ranch.  Think about that.  Driving with open liquor and also hunting from the back of a vehicle.  Rank does have it's privilege.

1934 Ford Phaeton

Judy and Gerry wanted to take the tour of the Texas White House and joined the tour being led by a Park Ranger.  They enjoyed the tour and loved seeing the interior of the house.  The pool looked very inviting on a hot day like this and they had to resist temptation and not jump in the pool.  The front of the house was so long and Gerry had to take three photos to get all of the house in the picture.  I converted it to a panoramic picture so it would fit on the page. 

We all enjoyed visiting the LBJ ranch and seeing his cattle corrals, homes, and lots of acres planted in hay.  It is a working farm and they have cattle running all over the place other than the large house area.  Well worth visiting if you are in the area.

The next stop on the day's trip was in Luckenbach, TX to visit the place.  Willie Nelson & Waylon Jennings made it famous in a 1977 song. 

 (Luckenbach, Texas / Back to the Basics of Love)

The only two things in life that make it worth livin'
Is guitars that tune good and firm feelin' women
I don't need my name in the marquee lights
I got my song and I got you with me tonight
Maybe it's time we got back to the basics of love

Let's go to Luckenbach, Texas
With Waylon and Willie and the boys
This successful life we're livin'
Got us feuding like the Hatfields and McCoys
Between Hank Williams' pain songs and
Newberry's train songs and Blue Eyes Cryin' in the Rain
Out in Luckenbach, Texas ain't nobody feelin' no pain

So baby, let's sell your diamond ring
Buy some boots and faded jeans and go away
This coat and tie is choking me
In your high society you cry all day
We've been so busy keepin' up with the Jones
Four car garage and we're still building on
Maybe it's time we got back to the basics of love

 The actual town of Luckenbach is just a bar, dance hall and a few other buildings.  The dance hall is quite large and looks like an old barn.  It still draws in large crowds on the weekend and has a large motorcycle parking space in front of the dance hall.


The general store has a post office, souvenir shop and bar in it.  To say it is rustic doesn't do it justice.  It sure does have a lot of character and was a neat place to visit.   


This post is getting quite long, so I'll just include a few pictures and give you guys a break.

Luckenbach, TX

Gerry & Judy shopping

Backroom bar

Entertainment  - Bill Lewis in Pickers Circle

Herb & Judy

 We visited another winery in Sisterdale, TX and wrapped up the day touring the area.  We had a fun time and were well worn out when we got back to the motor home where a crockpot dinner was awaiting us.

Oh, one more thing.  We managed to arrive in Fredericksburg just as their drought was broken.  We received over an inch of rain Saturday night and today it hailed and rained cats and dogs.  Just our luck.  Hail again.  More dents on the car to join the ones from last year.