{Weekend Adventure} Packin' It In

It's the last day of 2018, and we certainly lived it up, packing a lot in and moving on from Texas to Louisiana...

We got up first thing and went to pay our respects to President George H. W. Bush, who passed away only one month ago. He is buried on the grounds of his presidential library at Texas A&M University in College Station, TX...

down a path just beyond this lake...

alongside both his young daughter, Robin, and his beloved wife, Barbara...

Since the library was closed...

we continued on to Houston, TX to find a couple of Bush homes and grab lunch at Fuzzy's Pizza, one of the president's favorite pizza places... 

We also took the time to try and find the art studio of David Adickes, sculptor of the giant president heads that topped our list the first time we road tripped to Texas back in 2012, including this collection along the highway affectionately referred to as Mount Rush Hour...

His studio has since moved and is no longer accessible to people who just want to wander around, but we did find a familiar face behind the fence...

We couldn't leave town without seeing where one of our favorite Clemson Tigers, Deshaun Watson, now plays, and checking off another NFL stadium for the boys...

After a full day, we left town and headed east, stopping in Baton Rouge, LA for dinner at a neat food truck turned brick and mortar restaurant called Curbside...

and we made it to New Orleans, LA just in time to check into our hotel and ring in 2019 (on east coast time)…

putting us ushering OUT 2018 right back where we rang it IN a year ago...

I have to admit that we ARE much happier Tiger fans this time around, though!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

{Weekend Adventure} More From Presidential Texas

This morning we set off first thing for a tour of the 6th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza...

The museum is housed on the 6th floor of the former Texas School Book Depository building overlooking Dealey Plaza in downtown Dallas...

The museum is really well-organized and though it ultimately shares information about the horrific death of one of our nation's presidents, it talks a lot about our country leading up to his election and his presidency, as well.

On the day of the assassination, President and Mrs. Kennedy were headed to a luncheon at the Dallas Trade Mart...

The area around the 6th floor corner window is left staged as how it was discovered on November 22, 1963... 

 Of course, the trees would've been much smaller, but it was very eerie looking down at the street below from this vantage point...

   

Also included in the museum were some of the models used to prove how this plot was carried out...

After touring the museum, we headed down to Dealey Plaza...

and took in the view from the grassy knoll...

I can't even begin to imagine what it must've been like to change from an innocent bystander waiting on a glimpse of the president passing by in his motorcade into a witness to an unthinkable crime so incredibly horrific in a matter of seconds...

It was definitely a very moving morning to say the least...

From there we continued on to Parkland Memorial Hospital on likely some of the same roads the president's motorcade took that day...

At the new hospital, across the street from the old hospital where President Kennedy was taken, there are a few displays that depict some of the history of the hospital...

After a late lunch, we headed over to the campus of Southern Methodist University to visit the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum...

We learned that with the government shutdown, only two presidential libraries have remained open thanks to their foundations. Thankfully, THIS is one of them!

We didn't have much time to explore, as we got there late in the afternoon, but the girls really enjoyed the exhibit honoring the former First Lady Laura Bush and her past as a teacher and librarian...

  

and B has always been interested in trying to understand the events of 9/11. This part of the museum was very impactful...

One of the last exhibits offers up a fun photo op in an exact replica of the Bush Oval Office...

  

From there, we continued on toward College Station TX and stopped for dinner at Proudest Monkey in downtown Bryan, TX...

before calling it a night!

{Weekend Adventure} Go Tigers!

What a FUN day! Our Tigers were set to play in the Cotton Bowl against the Notre Dame Fighting Irish tonight, and we came prepared to cheer them on to victory!

After breakfast at the hotel, we headed on over to the stadium to explore and grab some lunch.

Hubby & B checked off another NFL Stadium on their list!

I was excited to see the "Sky Mirror" sculpture by Anish Kapoor, the artist behind the famous "Cloud Gate" sculpture, affectionately referred to as "The Bean", in Chicago's Millennium Park.

We grabbed lunch from the food trucks parked outside in the (Notre Dame - ooops!) fan area and headed inside as soon as the doors opened...

GOOO TIGERS!!!

Clay Walker sang the National Anthem...

We ran into several people we know...friends, family, and classmates, too, and the kids' dance moves got them on the jumbotron... 

Bless...

All in all, it was a GREAT night!

The Tigers are headed to California next for the 2019 CFP National Championship Game!!!

Not sure if we'll make it out there or not, only time will tell, but my vote is that we just keep driving WEST from here... You think I'm joking...

Everyone knows that I LOVE a good road trip, and I mean, we're already a third of the way there at this point!

Oh, if only things like work and school and army commitments didn't get in the way...darn it!

{Weekend Adventure} From Denison to Dallas

After two straight days of covering quite a lot of ground, today ended up being a bit of a much-needed down day...

We kicked off the morning with a visit to a giant sculpture of President Eisenhower's head...

One might think that this sculpture is a bit strange, but wouldn't you know, we felt right at home...

On our first summer road trip to Texas back in 2012, we visited the backyard of the studio of sculptor David Adickes and about a gazillion of his president heads, that were literally just being stored right there in the parking lot...

That parking lot is actually what drove our first family road trip all those years ago. At the time I found out about the quirky pieces of art, I knew that I HAD to get our 6 year old lover of all things presidential to that studio!

So, there you go! Today it was kind of like coming full circle back here in Texas!

Next, we visited President Eisenhower's birthplace home...

I've always seen photos of this charming little house and thought to myself, "How quaint!" Today we learned more about the actual reality of living here. Train tracks ran literally through the front yard, and our guide shared that up to 15 trains passed through each day making the home constantly covered in soot both inside and out! Now, that doesn't sound very "quaint", does it?

This was President Eisenhower's very first home, but he didn't live here very long. Most people think of him hailing from Kansas, and that's where his family moved back to when he was only 2 years old.

When we left Denison, we headed south to Dallas, Texas hoping to visit the 6th Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, overlooking the spot where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, but tours were sold out for the day...

Instead, we grabbed lunch at the Texas institution, Whataburger, on the way to our hotel...

and enjoyed a pretty laidback afternoon playing UNO, reading books, and watching ESPN coverage of the College Football Playoff!

We ventured out to dinner at the local dive sub shop, Dino's Subs, and EVERYONE approved...

It was delicious! Judging by the line that was about 15 people deep as we left, the deliciousness of this place is no secret!

After dinner, we capped off the night with a successful Target Run for more car snacks...

Hubby should be arriving shortly (just in time, I might add!), and we will be complete yet again...

We can't wait to cheer on our Clemson Tigers in the Cotton Bowl tomorrow!