LBJ Library

May 8, 2017

Yesterday we took Ride Austin, (which is like Uber and Lyft) to the LBJ Library.  Uber and Lyft got kicked out of Austin because they did not want to abide by the ordinances or laws set out by the city council.  However, we found that Ride Austin is expensive or at lease in my opinion it is.  It is 4.7 miles from where we are staying and it cost $41 for a round trip.  Not sure what parking would have cost if we drove, but also the dully does not like tight places either or covered garages.

LBJ Library is on the University of Texas campus but we made sure that we did not wear and Bama shirts or other items that would give us away.  The Library is 10 floors but only a few are available for viewing.  My favorite was the 10 floor where the Oval Office was replicated from when Johnson was President.  It had all kinds of phone equipment in the office because he was on the phone consistently with Senators and other trying to get his policies passed.  The office had a coffee table with a hidden telephone system with about ten lines.  BTW there was no cell phone or computers in those days, so the phone was the major part of the communication system for the White House and of course the US Mail service.

There were a lot of displays that were funny (LBJ liked a good joke and told a bunch of stories when in from of the press) even though Johnson’s Administration was full of conflict.  There was the Vietnam war, Civil Right issues and riots because of the war in the streets of the
US.  I know because like many of you we lived through that era.

Johnson was famous for getting in your face when he was trying to get you to do something or trying to get you to approve of what he wanted.  There was a saying that if Johnson was breathing in your mouth you were in trouble.  See photos below.  

A friend of mine, who worked at Georgia Power, previously worked for the Sercreat Service, and he was Lady Bird Johnson’s bodyguard.  They did keep in touch with each other up until her death.  He is dead also having passed away about five years ago.

After touring the Library, we came back to the RV park and then walked up the street (Barton Springs) to have dinner. We had been told by people to eat at the Tex-Mex restaurant, Chewy’s.  We did and it was very good food.  There are a lot of food trucks in the city and just about a half a block from our RV is a wagon wheel of them in a vacant lot and they have everything to eat.  We will be trying those out before we leave.  They also have a lot of open restaurants just up the street what look very inviting.  All have mostly outside seating and they have everything from hamburgers and shakes to steaks.