Festivals and Ice Cream

I am sitting outside at Lake Somerville as I write this.  It is Saturday afternoon and a very pleasant 72 degrees with a slight southerly breeze.  A lot has transpired since the last blog post and so I am trying to condense the events and remember details, as there is a lot of activity around me today.  With nice weather it seems this campground at Yegua (pronounced Yay’ wah) Creek Park is quite a draw.

There are a number of families gathered here this weekend.  This is quite a change from the norm during the week which sees mainly fishermen launching boats and only a few campers in the campground.  It is really buzzing today with bicycles, conversations and campfires.

We visited and toured the Brenham Creamery now known as the Blue Bell Ice Cream Factory.  This was a tour we really enjoyed and are unable to share any photos with you as cameras are not allowed to be used during the tour.  We learned how the milk is brought into the factory and turned into ice cream while we were introduced to the various stages of production and watched the production lines filling continuous cartons of ice cream.  Not all flavors are made all the time.  There are seasonal flavors and rotational flavors in addition to the standard flavors made at the factory.  You can find these listings on their web site.  Of course, at the end of the tour, we were served a generous scoop of our choice.  A very nice way to end a tour in my opinion.

We had some rain this past week and so outside activities were somewhat curtailed.  We did manage a drive early in the week to explore the countryside.  We decided to take a southerly route to see what we could see.  Again we were not disappointed with the results.  We found ourselves on a highway through Round Top.  Matt and Rikki were down here to go to the annual antique show a few weekends ago.  Rikki mentioned it was big and she found out about it on one of her DIY type shows she likes to watch.  I asked her if they found what they were looking for and she told me they found some things but did not even begin to see everything.

I had a hard time understanding her statement, because every time I have attended these type events, I was able to see pretty much everything at the show.  After making the trip through Round Top, I now fully understand and believe her.  I don’t think you could see everything if you had two full weeks to look; it is that big.  Of course, it was all shut down when we rolled through but you could see the various venues, buildings, tents and display areas.  I cannot imagine the traffic jam and swarm of people that would show up at the annual event.  This will probably be a future stop for us and definitely is in the bucket list to revisit when the event is held again.

When driving through the area, we noticed the smallest church building we have ever seen.  Of course, this means stopping to get a photo.  So here is the "World's Smallest (Active Worship) Catholic Church."  The name is St. Martins and visitors are welcome. (That is what the sign has printed on it.)

After leaving Round Top, we found ourselves in La Grange.  Another place we have not been or seen before and was pleasantly surprised.  We found some very large older homes in the town itself and drove around looking at them.  The other surprise we had was when we turned the corner to see this tree growing in the middle of the street.  There was no explanation or plaque giving the reason why the tree was left and the street built around it.  There were only some warning signs located on each side of the tree that would illuminate at night when headlights shined on them.  Just one of the curiosities of life we find in our travels.

You thought I was kidding, didn't you?

View from around the corner.

Later in the week, I took advantage of our location’s proximity to visit Elgin, Texas.  The ‘g_i_n’ in Elgin is pronounced the same as in the word ‘begin’.  The reason for the visit was to do some genealogical research.  My second great grandfather, James Madison Quinn, moved from Tennessee after the War Between the States to take up residence in Texas.  He is the first Quinn in my direct line to make his way to Texas between 1865 and 1869.  Beverly and I spent part of the day in the local library, visited a historic train depot museum (that houses local historic documents and photos) and toured a couple of cemeteries.  The day was quite productive and fun for me as I learned new information and got to walk some of the same ground my ancestors walked.  I remarked to Beverly that doing genealogy research is a lot like a detective.  As you find information and answers to your questions, it invariably brings up more questions.  Oftentimes, these are questions that will never be answered.

Saturday found us sampling some local Bar-B-Que and then visiting a local festival.  This festival is located in a town of just 300+ people.  The town is Burton and the festival was the Cotton Gin Festival.  When we got up this morning, we had no idea we would see and tour a Cotton Gin that actually still bales one bale of cotton each year during this festival plus see an antique tractor pull.  Yes, you read that correctly, an antique tractor pull.  The only thing we missed (much to my dismay) was a performance from the Shiner (as in Shiner, Texas) Hobo Band.  We heard a little of the music as we passed by the tent when we first arrived but were drawn to the vendors, the cotton gin tour and the tractor pull before circling back around to the tent.  By the time we made it back, we saw them breaking everything down and storing it back into their buses.  Yes, two buses as there were probably two dozen band members.  Oh well, that goes into the bucket list too; to make a future performance of the Shiner Hobo Band.  (If this keeps up, I'm gonna have to get a bigger bucket.)

This year's 500 pound bale of cotton produced by this historic gin.

Hooking one up! ...And here we go!

Now I am back at the campground enjoying the ambiance and reminiscing over the previous week’s activities and sharing them with you.  Until next posting, keep on adventuring, for we will.