Saturday was a beautiful, sunny, 70-degree day here in southeast Texas and none of us wanted to spend such a pretty day inside, so we loaded up the car and headed out on another weekend adventure. This time, we went northwest of Houston to Washington-on-the-Brazos, the birthplace of Texas. Gene went there on a school field trip back in the seventh grade, but it was new for the rest of us.
First stop, Independence Hall where the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed on March 2, 1836.
Then we walked around the old townsite. Henry is a true independent reader now and read every single sign we came to!
Overlooking the Brazos River
This is the oldest La Bahia pecan tree in the state. It likely grew when a nut fell from a traveler's saddlebag in the early nineteenth century, though one legend claims that La Bahia pecans were planted to signal a safe river crossing.
So pretty!
We hiked around the townsite
and climbed a tree.
I love this shot. There were so many birds -- cardinals, wrens, vultures, hawks and crows.
After our hike, it was time to break for lunch
and play on the playground until it was overrun by a bunch of Brownies.
After lunch, we stumbled upon a group of pre-American Revolution reenactors.
Gene talked to everyone who had a musket, as they are similar to his ancestor's musket that he just inherited.
The boys mostly ran.
We walked to the Star of the Republic Museum, which was a lot of fun. Will kept busy doing the museum's scavenger hunt and found the answers to all the questions.
Steering the ferry boat in the museum.
After our museum visit, we walked down to Barrington Farm, which belonged to Anson Jones, the last president of the Republic of Texas. We saw the reenactors on the way.
Barrington Farm
We saw lots of farm animals.
The farm house is a true dog-trot and it takes advantage of the breezes.
Slave cabins out back.
The boys found some stick horses to ride.
They were the cavalry, of course.
By this time, we had been at the park for over five hours and the boys were looking forward to getting back to the Visitors Center for some Blue Bell ice cream.
We heard gunfire as we approached the reenactors' camp, so we stopped to watch them.
Henry didn't like the loud gunfire, so we found a bench away from the noise and played Henry's version of "Would you rather?" In his version, he quizzes me about himself. It's fascinating and informative!
We enjoyed our ice cream, and drove back to Houston just in time for dinner at Antonio's Flying Pizza, which Gene remembered fondly from his youth.
It was another full day, but we spent it doing what we love: exploring outside, learning about our state, and being together as a family.
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