Togo Goes to Austin
Austin, Texas. It’s the state capital and the home of the State Capitol Building, the University of Texas (Austin), the Lyndon B. Johnson Presidential Libary, and numerous museums, parks, and eateries.
I’m especially interested in eateries and I asked Momma and Daddy what their favorite places are. Momma loves Casey’s New Orlean Snow Balls. Daddy likes them, too. Unfortunately, Daddy always eats them too fast and gets sidelined with what is generally referred to as “an ice cream headache.” Except, of course, this is a snowball headache. And they both love Kerbey Lane and dining on the terrace. So, if nothing else, I’m assured some good eating!
On our way down to Austin, we stopped as we entered the Texas Hill Country for the obligatory bluebonnet picture. The bluebonnet is the state flower of Texas. I’ve made inquiries into whether or not I could be the state dog of Texas. Apparently, that honor goes to the Blue Lacy breed which is a Texas original. The Blue Lacy was bred by the Lacy brothers back in the mid-1800s and features the finest attributes of the greyhound, the sniffhound, and the coyote.
I get it that they want to go with local name brands. I wonder what an HEB or Blue Bell hound would look like. I would make an excellent ice-cream-themed spokesperson.
As soon as we arrived in Austin, I kept us on a pretty tight schedule. The first stop was downtown and the State Capitol Building. Did you know that the building is just over 300 feet tall and is the sixth tallest state capitol building in the United States? That #6 ranking was a bitter pill for Texans to swallow. However, the state remains proud of the fact that it is taller than the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, D.C.
The City of Austin has an ordinance prohibiting jaywalking. I really wanted a picture with the State Capitol in the background. So, I determined that I could dodge any criminality by simply lying down in the middle of Congress Avenue. Since it was Austin, several hundred people thought I was protesting something and soon joined me. I didn’t pay close attention to what they were chanting, but I may be running for governor.
(There was another group further down the street who were demonstrating in support of Texas becoming a separate nation again. They seem to think there’s an old agreement that would allow that to happen and the United States would just have to be happy with one less state. A little historical research revealed that there is no such agreement. In fact, Daddy pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court determined that states, including Texas, can’t secede from the United States even if they want to. [Texas v. White, 1869.] Daddy also threw in some additional Texas trivia. The 1845 annexation agreement bringing Texas into the United States does have a provision that would allow Texas to divide into five separate states. By necessity, all would be much smaller than Texas is now, so Daddy thinks that won’t happen. Ever. Although he did note that it would give at least one of those states an opportunity to build the tallest state capitol building. So there’s that.)
One of the best things we did while we were there was taking a tour inside the capitol building. In the center is the dome room that reaches way up in the air. I made Daddy get down on the ground to get this picture of me looking up to the Texas Lone Star.
You have to admit that this is a really impressive site — and I think this picture might make it into my campaign brochure. I think we would caption it “Lone Star Dog — A Governor We Can All Stand Behind.”
(Also, remember that “capitol” is a building and “capital” is the city where the seat of government resides. Easy tip to remember that — “capitol” has an “o” in it and so does “dome.” You’re welcome.)
After the tour of the Texas House of Representatives and the Texas Senate, we went down to the gift shop. I didn’t get a souvenir, though. That’s okay. The people who worked there were really friendly. I was going to have my picture made with them but they were busy selling postcards to kids and elderly people.
Speaking of postcards, Austin has several buildings that are painted to look like postcards. It’s a well-known good luck tradition to have your picture made in front of such murals.
This was the best shot Daddy could get. I think that he needs to get a camera with a wide-angle lens. He argued that I just needed to be still and stand where he told me. We all know that isn’t going to happen so Momma wrote down: “New camera, with wide angle lens.” I made a mental note: “First act as governor — hire an official photographer to replace Daddy.”
It was getting late and time to head back to Abilene. And so it only seemed fitting to join a cattle drive north as my last big thrill of the day.
We found these fellows just outside of Austin and I volunteered to lead them north.
It seemed like a good idea until we got to the first fence. I slid under easy enough. But then, I didn’t have big horns sticking out of my head. I wished them all well, handed out a few campaign brochures, and we turned our attention to getting home.
If you ever go to Austin, tell them I sent you. And when you head home, drop by Abilene and say “hi!”
My new billboards should be going up any day.
Does your first act of government address jaywalking?
Love this!!!