Fredericksburg, Texas Area Sites

While in Fredericksburg, Texas to volunteer with Habitat for Humanity to build a home we stayed at Lady Bird Johnson Municipal Park.  Habitat for Humanity provided our site with full hook-ups (water, electric, and sewer).

During our free days and when the weather was good we did some exploring in the area.  One day we went to the downtown area.  There were nice stores, restaurants, and a lot of wine tasting shops on Main street.  Also there was the National Museum of the Pacific War.  Knowing that we're not much in to museums we skipped going inside but did catch a photo with Admiral Nimitz who was from Fredericksburg, Texas.   

Chester William Nimitz, Sr. was a fleet admiral of the United States Navy. He played a major role in the naval history of World War II as Commander in Chief, U.S. Pacific Fleet and Commander in Chief, Pacific Ocean Areas, commanding Allied air, land, and sea forces during World War II.

Admiral Nimitz had a very distinguished Naval career and the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier is named for him.  

Al with Admiral Nimitz

Admiral Nimitz Gallery on Main Street

Fredericksburg was founded by a German man (Baron Otfried Hans von Meusebach) in 1846.

The Vereins Kirche was the first public structure erected in Fredericksburg

The reddish-blonde haired John O. Meusebach was named El Sol Colorado (The Red Sun) by Penateka Comanche Chief Ketemoczy (Katemcy), who had encountered Meusebach and his group in the area of present-day Mason.  Meusebach, and several others, brokered the 1847 Treaty between the Comanche and the German Immigration Company. The treaty was unique in that it did not take away the rights of the Penateka Comanche, but was an agreement that the Comanche and settlers would mutually share the land, co-existing in peace and friendship. Meusebach paid the Penateka Comanches $3,000, slightly less than $70,000 in today's money, in food, gifts, and other commodities for their participation in the signing of the agreement. 

The native American signers of the treaty were only from the Penateka band. It is one of the very few treaties with native American tribes that was never broken.

Lasting Friendship

German style Maypole

Downtown

The German influence was evident in town and I'll bet they put on a fun Oktoberfest!

Another day we took a 30 minute drive east to the President Lyndon B Johnson National Historic and LBJ State Parks.

First we went to the State Park

Part of the state park includes the Sauer-Bechmann Living History Farm 1915-1918.  We enjoyed this farm and so I guess we like some museums.   

So glad I don't have to do laundry with this thing!

Shelling walnuts

Kitchen with a working stove where lunch was cooking

All the food the "family" eats is cooked on the farm in the traditional ways.

Then we drove to the National Historic Park

We visited the schoolhouse where LBJ went to school.  On April 11, 1965 sitting at a table on the side of this schoolhouse is where President Johnson signed the landmark Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965.  President Johnson's first teacher flew in from California to witness the bill signing.

Birthplace of Lyndon Baines Johnson, 36th president of the United States.

Baby photo of LBJ on the fireplace mantle

Then we walked over to the Johnson Family Cemetery under some nice big shade trees.

After he left office in January 1969, Johnson returned to his Texas ranch, where he died of a heart attack at age 64, on January 22, 1973.

To the left are LBJ's sibling's graves.  The bigger head stones are
Lady Bird (Claudia Taylor) Johnson on the left and President Johnson on the right.
The two smaller graves on the right (one is hidden by the tree) are LBJ's parent's graves.  

The property is known as the LBJ Ranch and is a working ranch with many animals.

Here are some of the environmental bills that President Johnson signed into law during his presidency:

The property is also known as the "Texas Whitehouse".  President Johnson had an airstrip on his property so he could fly directly there and liked to conduct presidential business there.

President Johnson jokingly referred to this plan as "Air Force One-half"
although it did bear the call sign Air Force One 

President Johnson and his wife, Lady Bird Johnson

World leaders and US politicians would visit the Texas White House.  Unfortunately due to some structural issues with some very large trees in the area of the house, it was closed to visitors.

So many beautiful large trees on the ranch

President Johnson would drive his car along this road and scare his guests!

President Johnson's Central Texas ranch was his refuge. He flew there 74 times -- and spent 490 days there, about a quarter of his presidency. The press dubbed it the "Texas White House," but to the Johnsons, it was home.

We enjoyed both parks and museums and learned a lot about President Johnson.

Another day we visited Enchanted Rock State Natural Area which is part of Texas Hill Country.

We hiked up to the top of this very large rock where some spots were very steep.

From the top we had views in all directions of the Texas Hill Country

Some days we had beautiful weather and other days we woke up to icles on our truck!

Now that we're done with our Habitat for Humanity commitment, it's time to find some more consistent warm weather.  We're headed south!  Check out our visit to Big Bend National Park and learn about our breakdown in the next blog entry.