On the Road: Easter Weekend

Easter weekend found Jim and me on the road to Austin to spend some time with our son, Robert, and to celebrate Jim’s birthday. From Saturday afternoon until Monday night, it was a whir of wheels, meals, and allergy pills. It’s springtime in Texas and it might be helpful if we were to post signs at the borders and the airports asking visitors: “Got Kleenex?”

Shortly after we arrived at Robert’s apartment, we were back in the car and off to Austin’s Oasis restaurant. The Oasis is a three-story, Tuscan-style structure perched atop the cliffs over beautiful Lake Travis. Sprawling decks on the lake side provide diners with a spectacular view; inside there’s hardly a bad table in the place, especially considering the restaurant can seat over 2000 people. The menu is predominantly Tex-Mex, and the service is fast and friendly. The courtyard entrance hosts multiple kiosks, giving it the feel of a mercado, while inside there’s live music and dancing. You don’t need a reservation for dinner, but on Friday or Saturday night during warm weather months, be prepared to wait in line for your table.

Sunday morning we attended Easter Mass at the contemporary, friendly St. Albert the Great Catholic Church on the north side of the city. After the service, we dashed downtown to Congress Ave for Easter brunch at the historic Stephen F. Austin InterContinental hotel. We sat on the balcony where we enjoyed a view of the Capitol building, great food, and gracious service. Right after brunch, it was barely a five minute drive to the east side of I-35 to visit the Texas State Cemetery, number 62 on the Texas Monthly “Bucket List.”

Texas State Cemetery, #62.

Texas Monthly did not overstate the significance of this beautiful 21-acre cemetery. The first grave we visited was that of Stephen F. Austin, with its bronze Coppini statue. We saw the graves of authors J. Frank Dobie and James A. Michener, Governors John Connally and Ann Richards, and U.S. Congresswoman Barbara Jordan, the first black woman from a southern state to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. Also buried there are two American Revolutionary War veterans, fifteen signers of the Texas Declaration of Independence of 1836, nine Confederate generals, and a host of other Texans whose lives helped shape the state and our nation.

Among the many monuments and memorials dedicated to Texans, one stood out above the rest for me: the September 11, 2001 memorial. An open circle of granite invites you inside where two unaltered steel columns from Ground Zero stand like sentries. Visitors are encouraged to enter the memorial and to touch the steel columns. On the inner walls of the granite ring, engraved plaques remind us of the times and places that each plane went down. The memorial honors all Texans who died in the 9/11 terrorist attacks and in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, #51.

We left the cemetery, heading west and then south, arriving at the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center, number 51 on the “Bucket List,” about 25 minutes later. By then, poor Robert, who had begun suffering while walking through the tree-lined cemetery, was deep in the throes of an all-out allergy attack.

The Wildflower Center was abloom in Texas bluebonnets, Indian paintbrush, and a multitude of other native flowers, plants and trees. Large, whimsical sculptures of giant insects are tucked here and there throughout the center; there’s even a sculpture of a Texas Longhorn made entirely of hand tools. The Center, a research unit of the University of Texas, is one of five U.S. groups participating in the Millennium Seed Bank Project.

Robert was such a good sport about indulging me and my “Bucket List” goals. The poor guy held paper towels over his nose and mouth in order to escape the pollen. He had to blow his nose so often he began to sound a little like a Canadian goose. Since his allergy medicine didn’t seem to be working, we hurried through the Wildflower Center and drove back to his apartment where he could shower and dress in some non-pollinated clothing.

Back to Grapevine.

The rest of the weekend was much more relaxed. On Monday Robert met us for lunch, and we presented Jim with his birthday presents in the parking lot outside Dave and Buster’s. Then we hugged Robert goodbye and hit the highway back to Grapevine. We love Austin, so the weekend was a perfect start for my Texas Road Trip. I must admit I hadn’t really expected to be so wowed by the Texas State Cemetery or the Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center. And I definitely was not expecting the sudden awareness and understanding of the pride that Texans feel for their state. I was feeling a bit of pride myself.

Donna