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| Johnson City, Texas |
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| Our group on the porch of the LBJ Boyhood Home |
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| LBJ, our 36th U.S. President |
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| Children's Bedroom with Toys |
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| Boyhood Dreams of Baseball |
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| Back Porch |
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| Kitchen of the Past |
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| Rocking Horse |
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| Backyard through the Screen Door |
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Fried Green Tomatoes at the Silver K Cafe!
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| Colorful Old Mill in Johnson City |
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| Armadillo Guarding the Old Mill |
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| New Version of the Old Mill |
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| Tools Decorating the Old Mill in Johnson City |
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| Betty by the Cowboy Boot |
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American Flag at the Old Mill
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| Pedernales River on the LBJ Ranch |
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| Sauer-Beckmann Living History Farm at the Ranch |
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| LBJ Ranch River Landscape |
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| Marilyn at the Homestead's Front Door |
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| Canned Goods from the Farm |
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| Chickens Napping under the Wagon |
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| Stonewall, Texas |
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| Homestead Barn |
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| Volunteer's Demo |
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| Living Historians at the Homestead's Farm |
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| Dinnertime! |
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| Hereford Mother and Nursing Calf |
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| Lunch Lines |
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| Texas White House on the LBJ Ranch |
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| LBJ's Car |
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| Local Stonewall Church |
DayTrippin' with LBJ,
A Closer Look at our 36th President
by Cindy Morawski
I grew up with Lyndon Baines Johnson. In 1963, I remember the sadness of the day our country lost John F. Kennedy to an assassin's bullet. LBJ suddenly had to step into the 36th presidency on November 22nd while our country mourned.
A lot of things happened while LBJ was at the wheel of the presidency. The Vietnam War sharply divided Americans. Federal Aid to Education became part of LBJ's Great Society. The War on Poverty helped improve living conditions in the '60's for many U.S. citizens. Astronauts Grissom and Young manned the first Gemini flights. Medicare went into effect. The Civil Rights Movement marked political change. Later in 1968, Martin Luther King would also be sadly claimed by an assassin. Bob Dylan sang out-- Times, they are a changin'! Both social and political changes marked the sixties while LBJ led our country.
Amidst the turbulence of 1968, LBJ announced that he would not run for reelection. In 1972, he suffered a heart attack, and he slowly recovered; however, he rarely left his Texas Stonewall ranch. On January 22, 1973, Johnson had another heart attack and died in San Antonio. He was later buried in the family cemetery at the ranch. After his death, the Manned Spacecraft Center at Houston was renamed the Lyndon B. Johnson Space Center. Also, the Texas state legislature made August 27th, Johnson's birthday anniversary, a legal holiday in the state of Texas.
Last Thursday, I went DayTrippin' with LBJ and my travel club friends. We started out with a tour of his boyhood home in Johnson City, then we walked around the town, and later lunched at the Silver K Cafe where we discovered fried green tomatoes and prickly pear iced tea. In the afternoon, we headed out to Stonewall, 14 miles further on 290. Our destination was the LBJ Ranch where we visited the Sauer-Beckmann Living History Ranch. Mrs. Sauer was the midwife who brought LBJ into this world. We also took in the Texas White House with an informative tour done by a national historic park ranger at this special site. All in all, we enjoyed a day out while learning more about the past, and our past-president, Lyndon B. Johnson.
HAPPY DISCOVERIES!
Hope you have a beautiful spring!
Cindy
www.CindyMorawski.com
I sure enjoyed looking at your photos and reading what you wrote! Sorry, I couldn't be there.
ReplyDeleteHope you'll consider hiking with us in April, Vera! We're also going to Fralo's, the Art of Pizza, one of the best pizza places around, in my opinion!
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