Big Sky National Monument - Stonewall, TX

Lyndon Johnson is not a president often associated with the Antiquities Act. In his term, he enlarged four existing national monuments and established another two, most of which he did only at the behest of others. The exception to this is Big Sky National Monument. Set close to his ranch in Stonewall,Texas, Lyndon used to load VIPs into the back of his Lincoln Continental and go careening across the open prairies that would one day become the monument. He’s quoted saying that he loved seeing the faces of those unfamiliar with the Texas sky, crushed under the weight of it. And admittedly, there is something magical about the skies over the Lone Star State, something countless have commented upon. It’s in every song and story the state has to offer, the wide panorama of open sky that ensures storms can never sneak up on you, that teaches you from an early age how small you are in the world. It’s only fitting that a state obsessed with size would be blanketed by an equally big sky. Previ

Lady Goodnight and the Goodnight Castle - Amarillo, TX

 

The original Charlie Goodnight left behind three legacies: beef, buffalo, and one of the most quintessentially Texan names ever. You can see his effect on the cattle industry everywhere in the state, and you can see his work in preserving the American Bison at Caprock Canyon, but to see the lingering ghost of his name, you need to head to Amarillo, to the aptly named “Goodnight Castle.” Mr. Charlie Goodnight had no hand in building the castle, living most of his life on his ranch east of Amarillo along US 287. The castle is purely the effort of his granddaughter, the equally named Charlie M. Goodnight Jr. “Lady” Goodnight, as she likes to be known, considers herself to be Texas royalty, a height she attributes only to the Bushes, Johnsons, and the few remaining Austins and Houstons of the state. She is humble enough not to hoist herself to the height of a Texas Queen, letting anyone who asks know that she is at most a Duchess of the Lone Star State. 

She erected her castle in the 1960s with the remains of her grandfather’s fortune in order to further accentuate her claim to some kind of peerage, and has given tours of her “palace” for the past few decades. Today, Lady Goodnight is in her eighties, and while still giving tours, only manages one or two a day. Despite this, Lady Goodnight proclaims herself the best tour guide in the state, able to spit at an instant any fact about her, her castle, her grandfather, his business, or the state they both call home. Such a talent is part of her exciting wit, a wit that does not prevent her from kicking rude and disrespectful guests out of her house in the middle of tours, threatened with curses and a beating with her cane.

You will see advertising for the castle all around Amarillo and the surrounding counties, though the ads in question are the same ones that Lady Goodnight first requisitioned sixty years ago. The posters, postcards, shirts, hats, and shot glasses all feature the young Lady Goodnight, lovely, sultry, lounging in the yard in front of her castle, doing much to unintentionally obscure it for her own focal point.

Practicalities:

Tours should be scheduled a day in advance by calling Lady Goodnight’s granddaughter Ava, whose phone number appears on ads and on the castle’s website. Tours are free, and though Lady Goodnight mocks those who attempt to hand her donations, there is still a well-displayed collections box in the castle’s foyer that requests them. If you ask Ava, she will tell you how much the donations are needed and cherished despite what her grandmother says. Know that though many request photos with Lady Goodnight, she does not allow any photos of herself to be taken. Those caught taking photos of her have been known to meet the end of her cane. Though the castle itself lacks a gift shop, most of those downtown carry souvenirs for the castle. Photos of Lady Goodnight and the castle can be bought at any of these.


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