For "Travel Tuesday", let's visit the Glen Rose area again, it is in the Texas Prairies and Lakes region.
Glen Rose Top Ten Fun Things To See & Do
We love Glen Rose and have spent a number of weekends there in our RV - to learn about one of the trips, read this Thank God For Weekends article.
Here is our list of favorite things to see and do in Glen Rose.
- Golf - Squaw Valley Golf Course is located at the north eastern edge of town and they have 18 holes of very good golf. 17 miles to the north is another great golf course in Granbury - Harbor Lakes which is ranked in our Top Twenty Favorite Texas Courses. You can read a review of each of these golf course on our Golf Course Reviews Page.
- Spend the Night - if you really want to enjoy Glen Rose and all it has to offer, you need to spend a couple days exploring. You have a number of excellent choices for for overnight lodging:
- there are some excellent B&Bs and we can recommend Country Woods Inn, a rustic farm that was voted Top Family Vacations and Best Kid Friendly this rustic farm
- stay at Rough Creek Lodge an upscale and excellent resort with excellent food, fine accommodations, and lots to do enjoy an exotic overnight stay at Fossil Rim's Lodge or Foothills Safari Camp
- Camp at Dinosaur Valley State Park which is an fun State Park and has some great tent and RV sites. Tres Rios River Resort at the other end of town has over 200 sites for RVs or tents, cabins, swimming pool, volleyball, and it is on the banks of the Brazos and Paluxy River.
- Visit a Nuclear Power Plant - Comanche Peak has a very informative information center with an exhibit of a nuclear power plant control room, a film, and more.
- Enjoy a Special Event - plan your trip around one of the special events at Texas Amphitheater (The Promise, a musical drama of the reenactment of the life of Jesus in the open air amphitheater, is excellent) or horse shows and more at the Expo Center .
- Hike, Bike, and Explore - Dinosaur Valley
State Park is a great place to spend some time: hiking or biking the trails; leaning about dinosaurs and checking out their tracks or visiting the exhibits; playing in the Paluxy River; or just enjoying a picnic.
Visit the Museums - Somervell Country Historical Museum depicts local history, fossils, and relics; Creation Evidences Museum includes artifacts and fossil displays, dinosaur footprints and bones, and more; and Barnard Mill and Art Museum is in one of the first structures built in the 1860's and houses art, primitive artifacts, and bronzes.
Tube the Brazos or Play in the Rivers - a few miles north east of Glen Rose on 67 there are canoe and tube outfitters (Rhodes Rentals 254-897-4214) for riding the Brazos (not the most thrilling ride but a fun way to spend a few hours) or fish, swim, or relax in the
water.
The kids will enjoy the water and rocks at Big Rocks Park which is close to downtown.
- Listen to Some Good Music - Glen Rose is known as the Blue Grass Capital of Texas and throughout the year TresRios and Oakdale Park have bluegrass concerts with some excellent bands and musicians.
- Stroll the Downtown Area - Glen Rose has a quaint downtown square featuring shops,restaurants, a museum, and the historic Somervell County Courthouse or go play in the Paluxy River at the park.
- Feed the Exotic Animals - Fossil Rim Wildlife Center features some of the worlds most endangered animals like white rhino,
cheetah, and Grevy's zebra plus over 60 species that roam on the 2700 acres. You can drive your vehicle through the park and view the animals, some of which will stick their head in the window; stop at the top of the mountain for food, souvenirs, the museum, nature trail, picnic area, and petting zoo; or enjoy the park on one of their special bike safaris."
From: http://www.texasoutside.com/topten/glenrosetopten.html
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Travels with Grandma...
Preserving the stories, legends & history of Texas for generations to come...
From Dinosaurs to Indian Country and beyond...
This story begins over 100 million years ago. It’s a story about dinosaurs wandering wild and free, clomping down the river in a land untouched by man. All that remains are the tracks the three types – acroncanthosarus, pleurocoelus and an unidentified one, left behind. They must have been huge! The tracks range from 12-36” long and 9-24” wide. There are seven sites at Dinosaur Valley State Park where you can see them, and a museum in downtown Glen Rose that tells their history. We’ll stop by the park & take a look, maybe even take our shoes off and go wading in the river and walk in the tracks.
In the time before the white settlers started moving in around the mid 1800’s these lands belonged to the Indians. Like the dinosaurs, they roamed free, hunted buffalo, fished in the Brazos and Paluxy rivers, raised their families and celebrated life and death as free men. The Caddo and the Tonkawa, and sometimes the Apaches and Comanche called this area home.
Then, in 1849, that’s more than 150 years ago, a man named Charles Barnard and his brother George showed up. Charles built the first Indian trading post, a Torrey house, near Comanche Peak. George settled the area nearby. You may have seen the signs on the way to Cleburne - George’s Creek. The Torrey houses and trading activities were an important part of settling this area and an important part of Sam Houston’s peace policy. They did a fair trade business and it is said they also recovered stolen horses and captives from the Indians.
The post was located at Fort Spunky, built near a spring and tribe of peaceful Indians. It was near well traveled Indian highways and a one day ride from Comanche Peak. The Indians used Comanche Peak for a rallying place, campground and lookout. By the 1850’s the Indians had been moved to Fort Belknap and an agricultural center with a cotton gin, gristmill, general store, blacksmith shop and feed store remained. Fort Spunky, was given its name because of the fistfights that broke out, is gone now, but we’ll drive out and see where it was. Quite possibly the roads we’ll be following were the old Indian highways leading the Indians and settlers who traded there to Comanche Peak and Glen Rose.
Charles Barnard moved his trading post to Fort Belknap and returned to the Fort Spunky area in 1859 and built the first store in Glen Rose. A year later he started building a flour and grist mill and called the town Barnard’s Mill. The mill was a busy place. It served as a meeting hall, a dance hall, hospital and gathering spot for the settlers. It is in the process of restoration now and the hospital now hosts an art collection and some beautiful antiques. Barnard sold his mill in 1871 and the wife of TC Jordan wanted to name the town Rose Glen, but in 1872 the residents agreed to call it Glen Rose at a town meeting.
It grew slowly, but a few interesting stories from the times before Fossil Rim, Dinosaur Valley and the nuclear power plant are:
Another story that I like is about the moonshiners. The laws changed and by the end of the 1800’s the moonshiners moved in, building stills, cooking and selling moonshine. During the Depression (1929-1940) the cedar brakes became known as the “whiskey woods capital of the state” and during the 1920’s it was reputed to be the “Moonshine Capital of Central Texas”. In 1923 the sheriff and county attorney, along with 38 other men, were arrested when the Texas Rangers decided to clean out the moonshiners.
These days Glen Rose has a bustling town square and “modern” development along Hwy 67. We’ll take time to visit the square and see the shops, and historical museum. It is home to the Warm Country Heart Theatre.
Well, that’s enough rambling for now; I’ll tell you more along the way. Put your shoes on and we’ll go exploring. We’re going to head west on Hwy 377 to Tolar, then take a left onto Hwy 56 on our way to Glen Rose. So let’s pack a picnic, load up the kids, fill up the gas tank, buckle up and we’ll be off…
Just as you get to Tolar take a left and go south on FM56. Tolar was settled in the 1890’s and a trade center for local farmers by the turn of the century. We are going up the winding hills towards the back of Comanche Peak – Indian country. Look on your right and you will see all that remains of an old family homestead…a chimney, leaning a little with age.. Stop and look out across the countryside and think about the times when the settlers first came and settled all alone out here, far from friends and family in this strange land with Indians all around.
We’re continuing down Panther Branch Road another few miles and taking a right on to Hwy 51. Look to the right and you will see a barn. On the left you will see the remains of an old family homestead. It once stood proud on its hill – house and barns and outbuildings. Now you can see the sky coming through the buildings, but it still stands as a reminder of times gone by.
At the fork in the road we’re staying to the left, back on to FM 56 towards Glen Rose. Another old homestead is on the right a few miles down…with its windmill standing tall, remains of the piping that once led to the cisterns just to the south of the house. They’re overgrown now, but stop & listen you just might hear the laughter of children skinny-dipping the summer heat away in them.
Watch out the right side as you go up the hills. At the tops of the peaks you will begin to see Seven Knobs – count them. There are seven cone shaped, cedar covered knobs about 2 miles south of Glen Rose. They distinctly rise above the tops of the distant hills.
Take time to wander the Mill grounds, wander under the huge old trees and look up top and see the rifle slits that were used to protect the settlers from Indian raids. The mill used to be a busy place and was the gathering place for local settlers. If you find the mill open you can go inside and see the furnishings of the time period.
Leaving the mill, turn right and stop at the Glen Rose square. It’s a bustling place full of unique shops and antique stores, but that isn’t what the girls enjoyed the most; it was the Somervell County Historical museum, and the farmers on the square.
The museum is full of antiques from early Somervell County history and fossils and dinosaur history. It’s a “must see” on any trip to Glen Rose. The staff is warm and friendly and loves to answer questions.
You can’t leave the square without stopping to buy from the farmer’s trucks. The best watermelons, peaches and homegrown tomatoes can be found there. Not to mention a story or two. Mr. Murray (sorry I don’t remember his last name!) comes all the way from Eulogy and has been for over twenty years, carrying on a tradition that has brought farmers and their wares for decades.
Back on FM56 go south through Eulogy, left on CR 1175. When you’re on Hwy56 just outside of Eulogy be sure to keep an eye out for the deer grazing under the trees. There are new babies that are fun to pull off the road and watch a while.
Heading straight off the bridge, back on CR1175, will take us winding through the countryside (it turns into CR1119) and dead-ends into FM200. We’ll drive north a while and stop at the Nemo post office and take in the view. All that remains now are a few churches and a post office, but it was a thriving community around 1858 when it was settled. When the people gathered to name it, they wanted to name it Johnson Station, after Jimmie Johnson who found the area, but someone from the post office suggested a shorter name. One man stood up and said “Nemo” the Latin word for “no one” because if Jimmie Johnson’s name wasn’t good enough no one’s was.
We’ll turn around here and go back to FM 199, take a left and, if you haven’t had enough of the countryside, cross Hwy 67 and head into Fort Spunky country. If you want to see it, you better go soon; like a lot of the countryside around here it is quickly disappearing. The fort was located approximately at the intersection of FM 199 and FM 2174. To view the land as it used to be and have a beautiful view of the Brazos valley, turn right on FM 2174 and follow it all the way to the end. Keep going when it turns to a gravel road (CR 326). Once a simple one lane road, it’s wider now and the gas trucks are beating a path to the well at the end of the road. For us, it was worth the trip to stand at the end of the road and look out across the valley and take a few minutes to talk about what life would have been like if you lived when this was Indian country and the settlers were moving in, and what it would have been like to live as far away from anyone as the barn roof top in the distance.
After you’ve taken in the view (or if you didn’t make the trip), go west on HWY67 to FM200, take a right and cut through Rainbow on your way back to Hwy144 and home. By the 1890’s a community had developed here. Rumor has it the day the community gathered together to choose a name, a thunderstorm blew through and the residents were so struck by the rainbow that followed they named the town after it.
Till next time…Love, Grandma." From: http://www.texasoutside.com/twg/2.html
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I hope you enjoyed our second visit to Glen Rose, here is the first: http://pennys-tuppence.blogspot.com/2012/06/glen-rose-and-granbury-tx-dinosaur.html . PS: Binkie was picked up by a relative of her owner and found a better home.
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On This Day:
First U.S. presidential election, Jan 7, 1789:
"On this day in 1789, America's first presidential election is held. Voters cast ballots to choose state electors; only white men who owned property were allowed to vote. As expected, George Washington won the election and was sworn into office on April 30, 1789.
As it did in 1789, the United States still uses the Electoral College system, established by the U.S. Constitution, which today gives all American citizens over the age of 18 the right to vote for electors, who in turn vote for the president. The president and vice president are the only elected federal officials chosen by the Electoral College instead of by direct popular vote.
Today political parties usually nominate their slate of electors at their state conventions or by a vote of the party's central state committee, with party loyalists often being picked for the job. Members of the U.S. Congress, though, can’t be electors. Each state is allowed to choose as many electors as it has senators and representatives in Congress. The District of Columbia has 3 electors. During a presidential election year, on Election Day (the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November), the electors from the party that gets the most popular votes are elected in a winner-take-all-system, with the exception of Maine and Nebraska, which allocate electors proportionally. In order to win the presidency, a candidate needs a majority of 270 electoral votes out of a possible 538.
On the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December of a presidential election year, each state's electors meet, usually in their state capitol, and simultaneously cast their ballots nationwide. This is largely ceremonial: Because electors nearly always vote with their party, presidential election are essentially decided on Election Day. Although electors aren't constitutionally mandated to vote for the winner of the popular vote in their state, it is demanded by tradition and required by law in 26 states and the District of Columbia (in some states, violating this rule is punishable by $1,000 fine). Historically, over 99 percent of all electors have cast their ballots in line with the voters. On January 6, as a formality, the electoral votes are counted before Congress and on January 20, the commander in chief is sworn into office.
Critics of the Electoral College argue that the winner-take-all system makes it possible for a candidate to be elected president even if he gets fewer popular votes than his opponent. This happened in the elections of 1876, 1888 and 2000. However, supporters contend that if the Electoral College were done away with, heavily populated states such as California and Texas might decide every election and issues important to voters in smaller states would be ignored."
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Clinton impeachment trial begins, Jan 7, 1999:
"On January 7, 1999, the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton, formally charged with lying under oath and obstructing justice, begins in the Senate. As instructed in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution, Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist was sworn in to preside, and the senators were sworn in as jurors. Congress had only attempted to remove a president on one other occasion: the 1868 impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, who incurred the Republican Party's wrath after he proposed a conservative Reconstruction plan.
In four hours of closed-door testimony, conducted in the Map Room of the White House, Clinton spoke live via closed-circuit television to a grand jury in a nearby federal courthouse. He was the first sitting president ever to testify before a grand jury investigating his conduct. That evening, President Clinton also gave a four-minute televised address to the nation in which he admitted he had an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky. In the brief speech, which was wrought with legalisms, the word "sex" was never spoken, and the word "regret" was used only in reference to his admission that he misled the public and his family.
Clinton, the second president in American history to be impeached, vowed to finish his term. On January 7, 1999, the impeachment trial began. Five weeks later, on February 12, the Senate voted on whether to remove Clinton from office. Clinton was acquitted on both articles of impeachment. The prosecution needed a two-thirds majority to convict but failed to achieve even a bare majority. Rejecting the first charge of perjury, 45 Democrats and 10 Republicans voted "not guilty," and on the charge of obstruction of justice the Senate was split 50-50. After the trial concluded, President Clinton said he was "profoundly sorry" for the burden he imposed on Congress and the American people."
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Yesterday:
It took until about 10.00am for the power to stop blinking, but even though it was inconvenient having to restart the computer every few minutes, at least we weren't without heat for all those hours. As cold as it was here, that would have been awful.
There wasn't much anyone wanted to do outside, and I just stayed pretty close to this computer researching different things.
Misty didn't protest when she had to wear her coat when we went out. Each time I checked to see if the wind had blown the covers off my thousands of aloe plants. I clipped some hair off Misty as her face was getting shaggy, but I didn't cut her hair short, or bathe her, not with the temperature in the 20's most of the day.
2 comments:
I have been down south too long, this feels really cold to me but when I lived up north it would be a balmy day, for sure.
Hi DD,
When I moved to WA state, I couldn't stay there long. The rainy, cloudy, cold winter days sent me scurrying back to TX, just so that I could see sun again.
Happy Tails and Trails, Penny
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