Thursday, April 23, 2009  A Texas-Sized Capitol  The Texas
capitol in Austin is the largest state capitol in the US, but
not the tallest. Louisiana has it beat by a lot.  I was there
back in 1996 and wanted to revisit it. One thing I was impressed
by then was the old Treasury Office, with all the old machines
in it. It's now the start of the free tour, but amazingly you
can wander around on your own without going on the tour.  The
inside of the dome is beautiful. Those tiny T-E-X-A-S letters at
the top are actually 18 inches high.  The floor under the dome
is a mosaic that depicts the six nations that have governed
Texas.  The Senate Chamber, where 31 senators meet when they are
in session.  Even the door hinges are big here.  We haven't been
too lucky at finding Bluebonnets in bloom, but the Prickly Pear
Cactus were out in force in the Austin area.  Later, we checked
out the Broken Spoke, the most famous Honky Tonk in town. The
Derailers were playing, who've actually had a couple songs just
barely on the cou