"Teach Your Children Well"

Austin is really an interesting town.  With it being the state capital, the main campus of the University of Texas, all the music events and venues, the galleries and museums, Austin has a lot to do.  One of the best treasures of Austin is the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Library on the campus of UT.   I've been there a couple of times and the Big Guy has been there more often than that. 

It is the only Presidential Library I have ever visited.  It is particularly meaningful because we lived in that turbulent time.  I was 17 when John Kennedy was assassinated and Johnson became President on Air Force I that same day.  I lived in Chicago in 1968, one of the most turbulent years in American history (Democratic Convention in Chicago, MLK assassination, Robert Kennedy assissination,  Riots, Viet Nam, Civil Rights, and so much more).  LBJ was President throughout the whole thing.  His life was interesting and his Presidency fascinating.  Going to the Library is like reliving that era.  There are TEN floors of Exhibits, history, documents, archives, traveling exhibits, research all about Lyndon B. Johnson's place in history.

The reason that we've gone so often, aside from it being a fascinating place, is that it is one of Maddie-the-Great's favorite things to do!  Go figure!!  She has loved going there since she was about six.  She is nine now and still enjoys it every time she goes.  She looks at just about every exhibit, she reads all the narratives, watches all the video clips, she asks questions, she is quiet, polite, respectful, doesn't seem to get bored, and seems to retain what she learns. 

We went again over the weekend.  It was about the fifth or sixth time M-t-G has gone.  We all enjoyed it again.  It is so large with so much to see, although much of it not open to the public, I'm not sure we've actually seen it all and we were there for three hours this time. 

Our family has always enjoyed American history and museums and the like.  Now it appears M-t-G is following that path as well.  And it is not just LBJ or Texas that intrigues her.  She is enthralled with WWII, particularly the South Pacific and Pearl Harbor. 

Just South of Austin by about 90 minutes is the town of Fredericksburg, a small community with a strong German background.  Its one of those towns that works hard to attract tourists with restaurants with really good food, craft shops, boutiques, and has been a Texas landmark destination for many years.

Johnson City and Stonewall, Texas, where LBJ was born and raised, lived, and is buried, is just up the road from Fredericksburg by about 20 miles.   Fredericksburg is the home town of U.S. Navy Admiral Chester W. Nimitz.  And so, logically enough, I guess, Fredericksburg is also home to:

The Admiral Nimitz State Historic Site in Fredericksburg is the only institution in the continental United States dedicated exclusively to telling the story of Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz and World War II in the Pacific Theater.

Located on a seven-acre site, the Center includes The National Museum of the Pacific War George Bush Gallery, the Japanese Garden of Peace, the History Walk of the Pacific War, the Plaza of the Presidents, the Surface Warfare Plaza, the Memorial and Victory Walls, the Veterans Walk of Honor and the Center for Pacific War Studies.

In addition to nearly 24,000 square feet of indoor exhibit space, the museum boasts an impressive display of Allied and Japanese aircraft, tanks, guns and other large artifacts made famous during the Pacific War campaigns.

The museums many fine exhibits highlight the story of early Fredericksburg, the Nimitz Family, Chester Nimitz from his birth in 1885, his early childhood in the old Nimitz Hotel, his appointment to the US Naval Academy to his role during World War II until his death in 1966.


http://www.wintertexansonline.com/nimitzmuseum.htm

We went a few weeks ago....with M-T-G.  She was thrilled!  There was a Japanese mini-sub that had been captured.  There were individual exhibits for each of the major battles and campaigns in the South Pacific....Guadacanal, Corregidor, Tarawa, New Caladonia, and of  course, Pearl Harbor.  It was wonderful. We were all amazed and impressed. If you ever have the opportunity to visit this museum, I strongly urge you to do so.  I learned a great deal that I never knew before.   It is a very moving museum filled with things and information about a war that I've heard about all my life.  (My dad spent over 5 YEARS in the South Pacific in WWII.) 

M-t-G was so excited but just like in the LBJ Library, she was quiet, respectful, and read every word!  Again we were there for a couple of hours and  didn't see it all.  We will go again someday soon.

It is important to remember the history of our world. There are lessons that need to be learned.  It is even more important to "Teach Your Children Well" about the history of the world they are inheriting. 

And sometimes, if you are very lucky and you have a really special kid, like our Maddie-the-Great,  they teach themselves!  She's some kid!