On The Meandering Road: March 25, 2017

We were hoping to be up around 7 am, but we slept in until 7:45 am. We wanted to leave early at 8 am to start. Not happening!

I went out to see how the weather was like. Really nice. It was 46˚. It was very sunny and there were no clouds! A perfect day for our outing.

We packed our lunches to go. I made a list of places to visit today: Johnson City, TX; Lyndon B. Johnson State Park; Fat Ass Winery; Texas Longhorn Metal Sculpture; Hill Country Science Mill and Der Stadt Friedhof Cemetery.

We were on way to Johnson City, TX (the hometown of Lyndon Baines Johnson, the 36th President) when we spotted the beautiful Longhorn metal sculpture. There were also several outdoor sculptures.

We went to the community market, walked around, bought two handmade soaps (key lime and cherry). There was one booth that had Phoenix, the Euarasin eagle-owl. It is not found in America and its native land is Eurasia. It is one of the largest species of owl. Its average lifespan is 60 years.

Just behind the market is Blanco County Jail that that was built in 1892. Across the street from the jail is Blanco County Courthouse that was built in 1916.

We drove by Hill Country Science Mill so I can get out and get pictures of the metal sculpture climbers scaling an old metal silo. Then I walked across Hwy 290 to take pictures of metal sculptures at one store.

At the intersection of Hwy 281 and 290 there are fields of wildflowers. We pulled over to a shoulder and I walked over to the field to get close-up shots of the flowers. The winds were blowing, so it was hard getting a shot that is not out of focus. There were maybe 6-8 different kinds of wildflowers.

Erwin wanted to go and check out Arc De Texas Wine & Views, the luxury wine tasting place on 290 South. The building is modeled after the “Arc de Triomphe” in Paris, France. It is a 4 story building. It is situated om a 2,000 acre ranch. The view was outstanding. We did not do a wine tasting. It also has accommodations nearby. The expensive accommodation is the 86 ft tall Lighthouse. It has 4 bedrooms and 4 bathrooms, and can sleep 9 people comfortably. The nightly rate for 2 people is $720 a nite.

We went back to Johnson City to check out one store: Whittington’s Jerky & General Store. We had jerky samples and we did not care for any of them.

We visited Lyndon B. Johnson (LBJ) National Historical Park where LBJ’s boyhood house. He spent most of ten years living in the house. It was there that LBJ launched his first campagin for Congress, and his ascent to the U.S. President from the east porch.

We checked out Vino Vium and sampled five different wines. Erwin did not care for three of them and I did not like one. The lady who served us was born deaf, but wore hearing aids. She used to know sign language, but has not used it since.

LBJ State Park and Historical Site is in Stonewall, TX. This is where LBJ was born. After retirement from the public service he moved back to live at the ranch. He died in 1973 and was buried in the family gravesite at the ranch.

To visit the ranch you need to go to the visitor center to get an auto tour permit. We were given a map of the route to follow and visit: LBJ’s first school building, birthplace, the family cemetery and Texas White House.

The last attraction before leaving the state park was the Texas White House where LBJ and his wife, Lady Bird, lived there after LBJ's retirement from politics.

It was after 5 pm when we left the state park and went to Fat Ass Winery. We wanted to get 6 bottles of Country Peach wine. Last year we bought just one bottle, drank it somewhere, liked it so much but we were too far away from Texas to buy more.