November 8 - ELECTION DAY - Drove 473 miles today - 35.2mpg
Left the hotel at 9:30am. First must-do stop of the day. Yes, we had a full breakfast...but this is STARBUCKS! One a day keeps the doctor away (or so Pam sings as she heads in the door).
Here we are at the State Capitol in Austin, the only tourist stop we made on the way to Oklahoma. The building was completed in 1888, constructed of Texas red granite and is purposely taller than the Capitol in Washington, D.C. In a poll by the AIA in 2008 it was ranked the number-one state capitol. The architectural style is Italian Renaissance Revival. The statue on top of the dome is the Goddess of Liberty.
SQUIRREL ALERT!
Statue on the left is Sam Houston, on the right is Stephen Austin. Norm is walking into the rotunda, the "money shot" in most capitols.
The dome seems to just go up, up, up.
Even the elevator doors are finely detailed.
Those small dots around the star actually spell "TEXAS". The AIA award notwithstanding, while this an attractive building our taste goes more toward the ornately elaborate, with lots of brass and variegated marble. Too gauche? Perhaps.
Detail of stonework in the center of the rotunda floor.
Our blog yesterday misstated that Kit Carson died at the Alamo. He actually died of an aortic aneurism in Colorado. While the blog error will be corrected for posterity, it is noted here in the event any history buff read it and snickered. Herewith is Davy Crockett, an actual Alamo hero.
Another rotunda floor detail.
Surprise!
The "treasury room" on the first floor is where the money was kept. This is how it still looks today, sans money.
Very white - where is the gold and "flash" that we've seen in other Capitol buildings on our trip?
There are numerous monuments on the Capitol grounds. The actual count is 20, plus 16 interpretive plaques such as this. The grounds, the building, all free for the wandering. What a deal.
The Great Walk. Pam is facing the Capitol.
To the Texas Rangers.
We thought "this is great - a tribute to Abe Lincoln" and a Civil War reconciliation memorial" as installed here in 1903. The largest monument on the grounds.
Closer examination revealed this to be Jefferson Davis flanked by four bronze Confederate soldiers.
It's all a matter of viewpoint.
Norm moved easily among the Texans wearing a San Antonio T-shirt that Pam bought for $5 on the River Walk.
Lots of construction, traffic AND rain as we drive through the Waco and Dallas areas. So far, it's pretty much always rained when we were in the car. With such an unbelievable run of great weather, a bit of rain is fine with us.
Postscript: we awoke the next morning to find out that the TRUMP name will be with with us all, in spades, for the next four (eight?) years. It's magic, pure magic!
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