India, April 3 -- My first memory of Johnson City, Texas-the small town in which President Lyndon B. Johnson grew up-is from when I was about 11 years old. I was trailing my mom and our out-of-town visitors through LBJ's estate, known as the "Texas White House," and in all my preteen wisdom, I declared the experience "boring to the max."

But during my childhood, Johnson City remained our family's go-to spot for spring wildflower pictures and a dose of presidential history. When Texas wine tourism took off in the nearby town of Fredericksburg in the 2010s, I started visiting the region again as an adult, this time with my husband, once more making the occasional side-trip to Johnson City. And yes, I've since led my own children through th...