Our Sunday morning in Austin, Texas began an hour later than normal and that made Vicki extremely happy. But the 7:00am wakeup call on July 21, 2019 wasn’t to pacify my photographer’s wife; it was due to the fact that the LBJ Presidential Library opened at nine o’clock and it was only four miles down the road.
When we arrived at the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum, which was located on the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, I was immediately concerned. As Tom carried me towards the large, white rectangular structure, I could see the exterior of the building was blockaded due to ongoing construction. I also heard my photographer say aloud: “Well, so much for the bobble head posing with the exterior. I hope the construction doesn’t interfere with any of the displays inside.” It turned out that it didn’t. For nearly two hours, Tom carried me to every display inside the museum and the artifacts certainly did not disappoint either of us. Although the design of the exterior, even without the fencing, was lackluster; the interior was awe-inspiring. As a matter of fact, it was one of the best Presidential Library’s that I had ever visited; perhaps just behind Reagan’s and Nixon’s in overall “wow factor”.
My wish was fulfilled when I saw JFK’s Catholic missal that was used during Lyndon Johnson’s Oath of Office ceremony aboard Air Force One on November 22, 1963. Located near the small black religious book were the clothes that LJB and Lady Bird wore during the Dallas motorcade. The dim lighting and protective glass made it difficult for me to pose with the assassination artifacts, but Tom did his best to capture the moment. Another highlight for me was our time spent in the Oval Office that was one of the first replica Presidential White House offices in the country. While the office itself was an exact 7/8-scale reproduction, it featured original furnishings used by LBJ while he was President – including the Johnson desk. Now sit back and enjoy Tom’s images of our two-hour tour inside the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library.
Two hours of nonstop Lyndon Johnson was likely more than Vicki had bargained for, but my photographer and I remained awestruck even after our tour had finished. As Tom carried me outside towards the Highlander, I could hear Lyndon Johnson in my mind as he said in his Texas drawl: “The noblest search is the search for excellence”. There was no doubt whatsoever that we had found excellence in Austin, Texas; excellence in the form of a large, white rectangular building called the Lyndon Baines Johnson Library and Museum.
The noon temperature began to climb as we headed northeast towards Waco; but the high heat and 90-mile drive didn’t concern my photographer’s wife whatsoever. After all, she was on her way to experience the ‘Gaines Factor’ in and around Waco for the next day and a half. That’s right; Vicki has followed Chip and Joanna Gaines and watched their reality TV show ‘Fixer Upper’ for years, but her visit to their Silos in 2016 didn’t quench her ‘Magnolia’ thirst. Three years earlier, we had made the ‘Gaines pilgrimage’ with Vicki’s cousin Kim Johnson and her aunt Sally Knight. The extreme heat of the day, along with the massive crowds, kept our visit to only a few hours – which was not enough time to satisfy Vicki’s palate for Chip and Jo Jo.
At roughly 1:15pm, we arrived at our first of many ‘Fixer Upper’ sites – The Cedar Chest that was located a few miles east of downtown McGregor, Texas. Originally we thought there was a single Cedar Chest antique store to visit, but it turned out there was a collection of buildings that included Cedar Chest, Too and the Cedar Chest Antique Mall. Each of those three places had been visited at one time by Chip and Joanna Gaines during the taping of their show; and my photographer’s wife was thrilled to walk in the footsteps of the “Magnolia Millionaires” – which is the nickname that Tom had given them. I had to laugh to myself because as much as my photographer grumbled about Chip and Joanna Gaines’ “Waco Tourist Traps”, he enjoyed searching for hidden treasures in antique shops and malls as much as Vicki does.
We had spent nearly two hours at the Cedar Chest antique menagerie of stores and it was time to head to the hotel in Waco that Tom had reserved a week or two before we left Michigan. Not only was Hotel Indigo a newly renovated hotel, it was also within walking distance of the Magnolia Silos; which is the centerpiece of the “Fixer Upper” empire. After we made the 20-mile drive into Waco and registered at the Indigo, my photographer and his wife had a little over an hour to relax before dinner. But relaxing was the furthest thing from Tom’s mind; and I couldn’t blame him for being excited. He had made arrangements to reunite with his cousin at the Cracker Barrel restaurant that was located about five miles north of our hotel. Shortly after my photographer’s mother had died seven months earlier, he reconnected with Margaret Ann Long with a telephone call. Tom discovered that his cousin, who he hadn’t seen or talked with in over 45 years, lived roughly 50 miles east of Waco and the two arranged a much-anticipated reunion. As a bonus, Margaret Ann’s daughter and son-in-law, Patricia and Eric Nichols, reside in Waco and were able to join the family get together as well.
The three of us arrived at the Lacy Lakeview area Cracker Barrel at a few minutes before six o’clock while Margaret Ann and her family waited patiently in the rock chairs outside of the restaurant. As we approached them, I had never seen Tom so nervous to meet anyone – ever. When he met Bill and Hillary Clinton and Jimmy Carter, he was cool, calm, and collected. But this was different. Margaret Ann wasn’t a President; but to my photographer, she was more special than any President – she was family. After the initial hugs and family introductions had broken the ice, the remainder of the reunion couldn’t have gone any better. Margaret Ann, who is eight years younger than my photographer, had 45 years of catching-up to do with Tom; which they managed quite well during the 90-minute dinner. Also during that time, we learned that Patricia and Eric were expecting their first baby that was due shortly after Christmas.
At roughly 7:30pm, the family reunion had finished and my companions headed back to Hotel Indigo with me tagging along in the back seat. I could tell that reuniting with his cousin, Margaret Ann, meant a lot to my photographer as he had a bounce in his step the rest of the evening. After Tom placed me alongside the room’s television set, he worked on his NASCAR fantasy league statistics for the race that had just finished at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. Even though my photographer’s favorite driver, Kyle Busch, had finished eighth in the race; it just didn’t seem to get Tom down. To be honest, there wasn’t anything that would put a damper on his day; not after my camera guy’s amazing dinner with his long-lost cousin.
As the lights were extinguished in the room, I still had a bounce to my head, but not in my step. There was nothing for me to look forward to in the morning. No Presidential sites. No historic artifacts or museums. Only Chip and Joanna Gaines’ stuff that anyone can find in a Hobby Lobby. But I knew that this trip wasn’t all about me; although in my mind, it was mostly about me. Tom threw Vicki a “Magnolia bone” in Waco and I was cool with that; after all, it was her vacation, too. Somehow, in the back of my resin-filled mind, I figured that Tom would find a way to conjure up a Presidential site for us to visit on the morrow. It’s what he does and does well!
A lot of very important LBJ artifacts! Good stuff!