Monday, August 7, 2000
This morning, we had a very special vacation challenge: paying our taxes. Because of some maneuvering of finances and waiting for the right time, this was the day it had to be done. These sorts of things can be discombobulating on a vacation, but they aren't impossible as long as you plan. We had planned to pay by phone using a Visa card but found out the IRS doesn't accept Visa. Luckily, there was an IRS office in Austin, where I could pay by check easy as pie.
Otherwise, we had a very historically educational day as we traveled to two Presidential Museums in Texas. Next year we are planning an all-out Presidential Museum tour of the U.S., visiting at least one site for each president. Two of those presidents were on our way this year so we got a head start, instead of traveling several hundreds of miles out of our way next year. We first visited the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum in Austin. Maintained by the University of Texas, it is very educational and done quite well. It has a total of eight stories (though only three are open to the general public) with many exhibits including a replica of the Oval office during Johnson's terms and an animatronic LBJ telling humorous stories while wearing a cowboy hat and leaning on a picket fence. We also got to enjoy a great introductory video and even saw Johnson's limousine. Vienna will be doing short reports for each president and got a lot of useful information about Johnson here. I even think she enjoyed it.
Next, we went about an hour and a half to College Station, home of Texas A&M, to see the George Bush Library and Museum. Surprisingly, this one was even better than the first. I really learned a lot about Bush and even found some new respect for him. The exhibits here were very interactive. Vienna had a neat questionnaire to fill out, finding answers throughout the museum about Bush and using stuffed dogs (Millies) as checkpoints. She always loves that kind of challenge - even though it is no real challenge for her. She also got to listen to stories told by Barbara Bush that she enjoyed a lot. Andy's and my favorite part was the exhibit on the Gulf war. It was very engaging and really made it come to life. I really learned Bush's role in the whole thing and remembered a lot of things I had not thought about in many years. There was a lot to this museum and we all really enjoyed it.
We, of course, bought plenty of souvenirs from the gift shop, including a laminated poster of all the presidents, just right for learning them all in order. We will be doing that before our next trip. Ugh! More school work! Of course, Andy and Vienna will soon create a page on Presidential Places.
After this we traveled to Waco in hopes of finding some interesting motels to shoot - no luck. We spent a little time driving through and admiring some of the old architecture that Andy loves but then had dinner and headed North to gain a little ground before the next day.
Before leaving Austin, we had some of that famous Texas BBQ at the IronWorks BBQ. The meal was great and the atmosphere was very casual. We have decided that Texans do their BBQ right. We did not get out to Lockhart for Black's but maybe next time.
