Texas for Thanksgiving

We really didn't know where we would find ourselves on Thanksgiving but were delighted to land in Austin!  We stayed in a perfectly terrible La Quinta on Capitol Hill but it was centrally located which made it easy to walk the streets, even in the pouring rain.

6th St.-usually the music scene but quite dead on Thanksgiving 

The Hotel Driskill, where we were hoping to have Thanksgiving
dinner, but, alas-not dog friendly

Most everything in town was closed for the holiday but we were hoping to find somewhere that had an outdoor patio, where we could eat with Boo.  Finally, we came across Stubbs!

Not a particularly attractive restaurant from the outside, but
it was open and we knew the bbq would be good.

The lady at the desk was very nice but very firm.  They had an outdoor patio in back, but it was not set up and they could not help us.  We offered to carry a couple of chairs and a table out but, "NO!"
I was about to cry, after protesting that it was Thanksgiving, we were from out of town and had no where to go, but "NO!"  Finally, Jim said that she was probably the manager.  She said "no" again and motioned to the man behind the bar.  Jim went over and sweet talked him into setting up a table for us on the patio-miracle of miracles!

We immediately ordered up two very strong margaritas!

We were happy patrones!

Our Austin Thanksgiving table!

Boo knew his place-under the table, always hoping for a bite
of bbq.  And, of course, he was not to be denied, especially
on Thanksgiving.

After the sun set and we were well sated,
we were no longer stressed out-especially, Boo!
Don't you love those eyes in the flash!

The Capitol, where Jim had his first job
as a Page in the Texas Senate.

While driving around town the next day,
we discovered the State Theater,
where Jim had worked as a kid.

The UT Stadium

 We, remarkably enough, had never been to a Presidential Library.  So, on Friday, we spent the morning touring the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum, an impressive building for a very impressive President.  And, this was the perfect thing to do on another rainy day in Texas.

San Lorenzo Head
Replica of Olmec culture circa 1500-400 BCE
A gift to the Center for Latin American Studies at UT

Jim and I took turns in the museum and walking Boo and
ourselves around the beautiful grounds.

The infamous Texas Tower in the background

Lady Bird and Lyndon 

It was so fun reliving much
of the culture of the 60s and 70s.
We had many of these records and
remember well the Newport Folk
Festival, The Whole Earth Catalog
 and Funny Girl, etc.

I loved this picture of the two of them.

Since Jim had grown up in Austin, it was really fun to drive around and watch him get excited by things that he remembered.  Most fun was discovering the house on a hill where he and his family lived from about 1958-61.

The house on 4905 Beverly Skyline-still beautiful

Julie and Tom Thorpe's son, Chandler, went to the University of Texas in Austin and they had often regaled us with stories of the famous Salt Lick Restaurant in the hill country.  We decided to give it a try and were not disappointed.  It is quite an operation:  all kinds of different buildings and places to sit outdoors and in.  And the brisket was to die for!

Even Boo

It is BYOB-or wine

 We thoroughly enjoyed the rest of our drive through the hill country, although it was raining for most of the afternoon.  We stopped at the LBJ Historical Site, where we watched a short video on Lyndon's life here where he had a ranch along the Pedernales River.  We decided to skip El Paso, which looked a little too huge for our taste and headed for Las Cruces, NM.