The Larger-than-Life Experience of Texas

Today, December 29, is Texas's Statehood Day.  This occasion makes me think back to my first trip there, which was 6 years ago next week, when I attended the 93rd Annual AMS Meeting in Austin.

For me, traveling always has some kind of impact on me, and that was certainly the case with this trip in being able to experience Texas.

There's no doubt that Texas is enormous, and I was able to really soak it in by traveling onboard the Amtrak Texas Eagle train.  It entered the state in the early morning hours, but I didn't reach Austin until nearly 6:30 PM.  Even when factoring out time for layaways, that's still quite a long time spent traveling to cover such a large distance.

I awoke on the morning of Friday, January 4, 2013, to see the Big Piney Woods in the northeast part of the state, and I could confirm we were out of Arkansas when I saw the Lone Star Flag flying.

Shortly thereafter I saw a fine sunrise around 7:20 AM CST, as the train pulled into the Marshall station, which you can see in the photo below.

(Please note, all photos in this post are of my taking, unless otherwise noted.)

I took my first step on Texas ground at the Longview Amtrak station, around 8:22 AM CST, a stop where passengers could get off the train to walk around on the platform, even if continuing on.

Thanks to the fellow passenger who got this photo of me making my first step on Texas ground--it is not staged to look like, as this is the actual first step.

Within a couple of hours, the train reached the Dallas-Fort Worth Metro Area, and shortly after 11 o'clock, we had reached Dallas Union Station--please see photo directly below.

The Reunion Tower rising up high into the sky above the Amtrak Texas Eagle train #21 stopped at Dallas Union Station.

downtown Dallas

After leaving there, we traveled on a stretch of track that had a clear view of Dealey Plaza and the Texas School Book Depository building.

I continued to take in views of the behemoth DFW Metro Area as the train continued westward.  I'm pretty certain that at one point, I caught a glimpse of the Six Flags over Texas Theme Park.

Then, around 1 PM, we arrived in Fort Worth, another huge Texas city.  The train back into the station, and had a long enough layover so that I could get a Subway sandwich right at the station.

Downtown Fort Worth

Then we headed south through the wide open plains of Texas along the I-35 corridor, stopping in towns such as Cleburne, Temple, and Taylor.

The station at Cleburne

The wide open Texas plains south of Cleburne

Finally, after the sunset of my first day in Texas, the train arrived in Austin.  It's another large city in Texas.  Before checking into my hotel, I experienced a piece of Texas culture by shopping at a HEB store.

Here is the view crossing the Congress Avenue Bridge--the famed "bat bridge"--over the Colorado River in central Austin, on the morning of Saturday, January 5, while headed to the Austin Convention Center.  Far in the distance is the Texas State Capitol Building.

Outside of attending conference sessions over the next few days, I got to do some sightseeing and soak in more of Texas culture.  I ate at Tex-Mex restaurants and even had some wonderful Texas barbeque-style food, including at the cafeteria in the Texas State Capitol.

The Texas State Capitol

Of course, I had to visit the state capitol as part of my goal of visiting all 50.  And visiting any state's capitol is like going to a museum of that state's government, history, and culture.

The grounds of the Texas State Capitol have monuments for the Texas War for Independence and the Sectional War and even a monument to the Tejano people.

monument for the Texas War of Independence

Monument for the Sectional War

Tejano Monument

Inside and outside are decorations that show the six national flags/emblems of the six nations of Texas's history: Spain, France, Mexico, the Texas Republic, the United States, and the Confederate States of America.

In the annex of the Texas State Capitol, the area where the legislators' offices are located: to the left of the banner that states, "Texas one and indivisible" is the Mexico flag, followed, clockwise, by Spain, France, Republic of Texas, the Confederacy, and the United States

In the rotunda of the State Capitol proper: in the center of the star is the Republic of Texas seal; beneath it is the seal for Spain, followed, clockwise by the United States, the Confederacy, Mexico, and France

Inside the legislative chambers are large pictures of battle scenes from the Texas War of Independence.

From what I can recall, the painting above depicts the Battle of San Jacinto, and below, the painting depicts the Siege of the Alamo.  Both paintings are in the Texas State Senate chamber.

Also inside are portraits of some of the larger-than-life Texas political figures, like Barbara Jordan and Sam Houston, as well as President George W. Bush in the gallery of the past presidents' and governors' portraits.

Sam Houston's portrait in the gallery of Texas presidents and governors

George W. Bush's gubernatorial portrait

From what I can recall, the statue above depicts Sam Houston, and the statue below depicts Stephen Austin.

The building itself is quite largely, and very stately looking, as is the Governor's Mansion a short distance to the south.

I also went to see the LBJ Presidential Library and Museum at the University of Texas at Austin, which houses exhibits and the archives of a true Texas son, who was born a short distance west of Austin in Johnson City, TX.

The LBJ Presidential Library and Museum

Above and below are views from the top floor of the LBJ Museum.  Above shows a view toward the university and the Austin skyline.  The view in the photo below shows I-35, on an elevated roadway, to the left.

The Johnson administration Oval Office replica in the LBJ Museum

I thank the fellow visitor who got this photo of me posing with Lyndon B. Johnson's statue right outside the entrance to the museum.

This was my first time visiting a NARA Presidential facility.  I was floored by all the materials on display from President Johnson's life, including his report cards from his school days, and the Roman missal used at his swearing in aboard the Presidential plane on November 22, 1963.

Austin is known for its quirkiness, and I saw signs of it as I walked around, like the bat sculpture at the Congress Avenue "bat bridge".  Since I was there in January, I didn't have the chance to see all the bats fly out from underneath the bridge.  But it was kind of nice to be there in January to escape teh Chicagoland cold.  Even 40s was a nice enough improvement so that I never needed to wear a heavy jacket.

Above is the view of Austin skyline from the balcony of the Austin Convention Center, on my final night in Austin.  Below is the view of the intersection of 1st Street and Barton Springs Road, right by the hotel where I stayed during my time in Austin.  I took this photo during my final morning in Austin before heading to the train station.

When it was time to head back to Chicago, I went back to the Austin Amtrak station boarded the train to head back northward through the same wide open plains and stops at the big cities like Fort Worth and Dallas.  During both rides, it seemed fitting to read more of Decision Points, George W. Bush's memoir, especially while passing within close proximity of his Crawford ranch.

I finally bid farewell to Texas around 9 PM on Thursday, January 10, as the train pulled into the station at Texarkana, whereby I crossed out of Texas into Arkansas.

All in all, I have to say that I experienced a decent chunk of Texas during this trip, and it was pretty spectacular.  I look forward to returning for more visits to soak in more, since Texas has an endless supply of the fabulous, not only in size, but also in the variety of landscapes and the incredible mix of cultures that converge there, especially old West, modernistic, and Hispanic.

There is definitely a larger-than-life vibe that shows very strongly in Texas.