[Austin, TX, Sun, Apr 26, 2026]

Conference registration began in the afternoon, which meant that I had the morning free. I decided to check out the Lyndon B Johnson Presidential Library because it was the farthest away from my hotel from all the sights on my list. This would be only my 3rd presidential library. I had visited the Ronald Reagan one when I lived in LA, and the Bill Clinton one was on our way to Hot Springs National Park 2 years ago.

The 30-minute walk took me through parts of the University of Texas at Austin campus. I walked by some pickleball courts, which were, sadly, locked and empty.

I also walked by the football field. It was huge, like everything in Texas.

The library contains materials from the presidency of Lyndon Baines Jonhson, the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. Presidential libraries up until then were financed with private funds, the University of Texas at Austin paid $15M of the $18M needed and also donated the land on which the library was built. Although the building is on campus grounds, it is federally run and independent from the university.

The building is rather plain; it is 10 stories high and is made of cream Italian travertine.

I enjoyed learning about LBJ through the many exhibits. I didn’t know that we have him to thank for Medicaid and Medicare! He also did a lot for America’s space program and spearheaded efforts to establish NASA. This was all key to the US landing on the moon, even though it happened six month after he left office. What I enjoyed most though was listening to his conversations with other key figures of the time. At one of the many phone booths throughout the museum, you could sit down, lift the receiver and select the conversation you want to listen to! I picked a conversation between LBJ and Martin Luther King Jr. What struck me most about that conversation was that LBJ did most of the talking.

Of course, this library has a replica of the Oval Office as it looked at the time.

I also enjoyed seeing the first lady’s office. I learned about her contributions during my last visit, since I spent a good amount of time enjoying Lady Bird Lake by boat and by running along its shores.

I enjoyed my walk back to campus. I walked by the Blanton Museum of Art, which was on my list of things to do for later in the week! For now, I had to make do with marveling at the 12 giant petal-shaped sculptures on the outside patio. Some of them perfectly framed the Texas Capitol!

The conference registration and welcome reception took up the afternoon and evening.

Despite the late hour, some of us took a quick walk around campus, hoping to burn off some of the calories ingested from the very meat-heavy reception.