March 15-16, 2026
Lake Somerville State Park is near College Station, TX, home of Texas A&M’s campus on which sits the George H. W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum. It is also on the way to Austin, TX which was my next stop.
Ever since I kind of stumbled upon the Eisenhower Museum I decided to make it a point to stop at Presidential Museums if they were near my travels.
Lake Somerville it was for two nights.
And here’s the lake.
It was really a pretty nice camp ground for the two night stay.
George HW Bush Library and Museum
Like the Eisenhower Museum the Bush Museum starts with a history of the man (and wife Barbara). No doubt he was born into wealth (unlike Eisenhower) but there were bits I found interesting and some that I probably at one time knew but had long ago wiped from memory.
I though this quote was nice:
He entered WWII as a pilot at the age of 17. Was shot down in the Pacific and while his two crew members perished at sea George was rescued. Here is the type of plane he flew.
There is quite a bit about war in Iraq but did not take any pictures worth uploading.
I liked this display of the Oval Office. George HW Bush did not use Resolute Desk in the Office, he is one of the few who did not. He used the C&O desk, the only President to do so (Trump used it briefly while the Resolute desk was being refurbished) – there’s a history to this desk you can read on the innerwebs. This display shows the desk as it was on the day Bush left office, including the letter he wrote to Bill Clinton.
The Bush’s and their daughter that died at age 3 of leukemia are buried on the Campus.
On to Austin.