George W Bush Presidential Library And Museum, Dallas, Texas - Part 1

                                Friday 5/17/2013

On this day we drove our Honda northeast to the suburb of Rowlett. In this picture, we were crossing Lake Ray Hubbard to get to Rowlett. In the distance we could see I-30 that dissects Lake Ray Hubbard. 

Rowlett has a population of 56,199, and gained international notoriety in 1996 when a local resident Darlie Routier was convicted of murdering her two children while they slept. She is currently on death row waiting execution by lethal injection.

We had driven to Rowlett a few days prior to find out how long it would take us to drive there and to figure out the procedure of purchasing tickets to take the train (Darts system) into Dallas.

The drive to the train took only about 10 minutes. The Rowlett station is at the end of the line for that route. After missing the train by one minute, we sat on the bench to wait for the next one. Luckily the next train arrived 5 minutes later, and left the station, 5 minutes after that. Parking at the station is free. As we went along the route, we picked more riders.

We got off at the Mockingbird Station which took about 25 minutes on the train. We took an elevator from the station up to the street wondering where we would catch the bus to our next destination. This station is in the Highland and University Park area. I heard a women on the elevator tell another person that she was a professor, so I figured she would know where to catch the bus.  I quickly asked her where we would find the bus to the George W Bush Presidential Library and Museum. She gave us the needed information and I then asked her where we could find some lunch.

As we wondered in the direction that the professor guided us, we found the Mockingbird Taproom.

We walked into the restaurant and checked out the menu, before decided to eat there.

I ordered a chicken and a brisket taco and Joe ordered two brisket taco's. They were delicious! For dessert we ordered the bacon donuts holes with ice cream. Yum!

Joe noticed this sign on the wall as we ate.

Another sign in the Taproom.

After lunch we walked up the stairs and over to the bus stop and caught bus route # 743 to the library.

The George W Bush Library opened just about 2 weeks prior to our visit, so it was very busy with visitors that day.

The internet and visitor center told us that advance tickets were needed, so we had purchase tickets for a 2:30 PM visit at $16 a person.

The parking at the museum charges $7. Our fare to ride the train and bus to the museum was $10 for both of us, and it was much more relaxing. The $3 extra dollars was well worth it!

We didn't know it, but there was a cafe at the museum named Cafe 43. I am sure it would have been much more expensive than the $6 a piece for our taco's plus our dessert that we paid for at the Taproom.

As you enter the library/museum, you see a wall with the names of million dollar or more contributors.

We saw Gerald J Ford Family Foundation was one of those contributors.

You must go through security, just like if you were boarding a plane. After security, you come to a large auditorium that has a large desk to buy tickets (yes, you can buy tickets at the museum) and to get the free I-Pads that has 90 minutes of  recordings to listen to as you go through the museum. On the outer edges of the auditorium there are windows of gifts given to President Bush and the First Lady, and the American People from different countries.

This Sapphire and diamond jewelry set was presented to Mrs. Laura Bush by King Addullah of Saudi Arabia.

As we began to go into the library/museum., I took a picture of the auditorium ceiling. The four walls just below the ceiling turns into a movie of pictures of our Great America.
To be continued: