Lyndon B. Johnson's ranch is located in Stonewall, TX. It is about 60 miles from Austin. The folks decided to drive there and see the ranch which is also known as The Texas White House because Johnson spent a great deal of time there while President. The ranch has an airfield, so it was easy for him to fly home as well as have many visitors.
The home is now part of the National Park Service. When you arrive, you need to get a driving permit from the visitor's center. It is free. Mom is not sure why you really need one. The folks watched a half hour video on the ranch before they drove through it.
The one thing that the video showed and the folks thought was neat was a dam that Johnson would drive on. It looked like he was disappearing in the water. The folks were able to take photos of it, but it is more impressive in the video when you see Johnson driving on it.
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| See how it looks like the road goes into the water? |
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| This is it from the other side. |
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| School house that Johnson attended. |
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The family cemetery is on site. Lady Bird is on the right and LBJ is on the left.
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| It is still a working ranch. |
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| This is where the secret service worked. |
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| House where the Secret Service lived. It is close to the President's house. |
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| Wagon that was used to serve Chuck Wagon dinners to guests. |
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| An attempt at a photo of the house. |
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It was difficult to get a good picture of the house and this lady didn't help.
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Photos were not allowed inside the house. The President's office was quite high tech for its' time period. He had two secretaries desks along with his desk and several phones. LBJ had three TVs in the living room of the house. They were for the news of ABC, CBS and NBC. He loved the Presidential seal and had it on his recliner and even had it on his bathroom towels. Phones were all over the house and he even had one on the leg of the dining room table. His chair at that table had a view of the TV in the living rooms. He was very big into multi-tasking. Can you imagine what he would do with the technology we have today?
The kitchen has a pecan pie on the stove. The pie was being made for Mrs. Kennedy who had never had pecan pie. The Kennedy's were supposed to have dinner there but never made it because JFK was killed that day. The cook had the TV on in the kitchen on and learned of the shooting of JFK while making the pie.
Visitors are allowed to tour the bedrooms of LBJ and Lady Bird. LBJ died in his bedroom at the age of 64. He called the Secret Service for help, but he could not be saved. He had heart problems. He died just ten years after Kennedy.
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| This the view from the house of the river. It is beautiful! |
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| See the Presidential seal? It was used for parties. |
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| Presidential plane |
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| Guests were asked to put their names in concrete when they visited the ranch. |
The folks really enjoyed visiting the ranch and highly recommend it. The tour of the house was just $3 a person and it was really interesting. Mom wishes pictures were allowed because she really wanted to share them with everyone. The ranch itself is in a beautiful setting and it is easy to see why the family chose to live there.
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| A view of the house from across the river. |
Joey,
The Greyhound Who Is Your Tour Guide Once Again
