This morning we left Kerrville and drove 40 miles to visit the LBJ Ranch in Stonewall, TX. We stopped at the Visitor’s Center to get our driving permit and driving tour map. The Visitor Center features exhibits about the LBJ Ranch and the presidential years of Lyndon Baines Johnson. We watched a 24 minute news clip from a 1960’s news feature showing LBJ giving a tour of his ranch. LBJ was born, lived, died, and buried on the ranch that he loved.
We were able to drive through the ranch at our own pace and stop at highlighted sights along the way; President’s birthplace, boyhood school, cemetery, show barn, airstrip, hangar, and finally the Texas Whitehouse. At the Texas Whitehouse we took a $3 guided tour of the first floor. The home was a century old rock farmhouse that was greatly enlarged over the years. The rooms on the first floor that we toured were; President’s office, living room, dining room, the Johnson’s bedroom suites(separate). The home was much smaller than we expected!
Both the ranch and home tours were very interesting, providing a glimpse into a time gone by. We learned a few things about LBJ’s personality; LBJ was a Texan and loved to how off his ranch to guests, he had a amphibious car and liked to scare his guests by driving into the river on his ranch, and he was media-conscious and had triple screen TV arrays in several rooms.
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On our way back towards Fredericksburg, we stopped at the Fat Ass Winery. We wanted to get some Fat Ass wine to go along with the Red Ass wine from last summer’s adventure. The $10 tasting included a souvenir wine glass and a taste of 6 wines; Texas Holiday Cheer, Dry White, Dry Red, Semi Sweet White, Sweet Red, and Peach. At the winery we also enjoyed the gift shop with it’s unique items and hilariously themed momentos. When we left the winery, we had Wine, a Wine holder and 2 complimentary wine glasses.
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A few minutes down the road, we veered off into Luckenbach, TX. The town with a population of 3, has a general store(bar), barn, and out buildings. Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings made this town famous by the 1977 hit song, Back to The Basics of Love. Today, concerts by known country artists happen almost every weekend, and every day of the week finds a local musician performing for free on the patio or inside the general store. We were fortunate to be able to sit and listen to a few locals performing outside on the patio. There is always something happening in Luckenbach, Texas!
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Next, we drove to Llano, Texas to Coopers Old Time Pit BBQ. It was highly recommended by the Fat Ass Winery, so we made the 40 mile one way trip to get some Texas BBQ. It was worth the trip! Best BBQ Brisket Ever! The ordering experience was new to us…first we picked our meat off of the BBQ, then we took it inside to have it cut, next we selected side orders and drink. We found a seat at one of the inside picnic tables where we had a loaf of bread, condiments, and jalepenos. It was not fancy, but GOOD!
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What a fun Day!