Fredericksburg and Thereabout, 48 Miles
“It’s all right to hold a conversation, but you should let go of it now and then.”
~Richard Armour, poet
"The brakes don't work, we're going in, we're going under!"
LBJ would shout this as he drove his car, with his guests, into the river. Pretty funny, ha ha. It was actually, as he drove an amphibious car.
We visited the Johnson ranch today, and rather than bore you with every little sliver of trivia, I'll hit some high notes:
For his daughter's 18th birthday he gave her a new '65 Corvette. When I was 18, that would be the last thing my parents should have gotten me. It sat on display, bone stock, original paint, complete with door dings.
Rather than have guests sign a book, he would have them write their name in wet cement and place the concrete squares around the area. Recognize any names?
He flew his plane to Texas, spent 500 days there during his 6 years of presidency, having cabinet meetings under the oak tree. Called the plane, "Air Force One-Half."
Ron and Shari took us to the Garrison Brothers Distillery, where we learned to cook, ferment, bottle and taste bourbon. Well, three out of four for QG and me. We learned that the US protected bourbon, so it can't be produced anywhere else in the world- like tequila and scotch.
Also, When Prohibition kicked in, 37% of tax revenue evaporated. Yep, the Law of Unintended Consequences struck again. Bourbon is clear, containing no coloring or sweeteners, just corn, wheat and barley but gets it's color from the cask. Don't forget the yeast.
Next, we rode in a pickup truck, neat! to the Alamo Springs Cafe, another place which no one knows about but the locals. Oh, so delicious. And they announced the big one as a guy attempted to eat a seven layer burger. He had 20 minutes to accomplish it, then fifteen to- um, keep it down, and it's free. Otherwise, $28. We left before the stunning conclusion.
And what about music? Once again we enjoyed local fare, as we went to Luckenbach, population 3, and listened to pickers. Anyone can come, sit and pick, every night. Tonight we had seven, and one leads the song while the others may join in if they can. They rotate, and some sing country, some blues, quirky stuff ('Sweet chariot, take me to Hollywood.") and gospel. Thursday night and the place rocked- er, countried.
Truly a busy and wonderful day.
And now, busied and wonderfulled, Quilter Girl!
What a varied bunch of stuff we did today and so much thanks to Ron and Shari who dragged us along on their adventures. The wind was pretty intense today, I do not know how the tent stays put. It was so great to be able to ride along in the afternoon in a pickup without being blown all over the road. Ron and Shari are work campers and Shari's job is activities.
The Distillery tour was one of the scheduled things at the campground, rounding up 25 or so campers to take the tour. It was a great tour, given by people who are passionate about what they do. This is a "boutique" bourbon made and sold in small quantities in Texas. It is hand bottled using volunteers who are fed, share shots every now and then and get a t-shirt and bottle of bourbon when their two day shift is over. There are 1,000 people on the waiting list so no machines in their future.
We are not sure what we will do tomorrow. The wind has died down now, so we may stay another couple of days. Or we may go to Austin. We will see how the wind blows.
QG
The stars at night
Are big and bright
Deep in the heart of Texas!
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