~ Out and About with Christine n Mike ~: Making our way to Paris; with a stop or two in-between

Who doesn't love a face like this? At the Wagon Master RV Park the owners raise them...they even have a hand-out describing each one, their personalities, names/ages...and how you can hand feed them. So sweet..

We spent a day in Denton, TX, which is a major suburb of the DFW area. Considered a college town, anyone interested in rodeos, or the arts/jazz festival in April, should visit as well. These two events draw in roughly 300K visitors a year.

My love of old theatres continues to expand...especially in the historic districts of the towns we drive through. For the most part, the locals have renovated the buildings, to some degree and yet manage to keep the old marquees. This is now Denton Fine Arts Building.

Denton Co. National Bank across the street from Denton County Courthouse - extraordinary building that is currently used by the county commissioners and as a museum by the historical society. At some point in the next year the historical society will receive the building entirely for museum space. Currently, the Courthouse-in-the-Square museum is located inside and was really interesting and fun.

Built in 1886, it was renovated in time for the Sesquicentennial in 1986 - which in turn resulted in a revitalization of the historic district of Denton. All the interior doors have these brass plates displaying the restoration date.

The entire ceiling is made of stamped tin. During the restoration, they were able to get the original design and molds from the St. Louis mfg...so while some of the ceilings are newer they were able to use the original mfg in the restoration process. (This photo does not provide for the beauty and luster that is visible to the visitor.)

The railroad had a huge impact on the county, hence the museum uses this as a major focal point in depicting the history of the area.

A miniature train takes up the center of the main room....for your 9 sec viewing pleasure - enjoy.

Museum offerings include some really interesting antiques; like this blanket loom...

making blankets from fabric strips.

This is a taper candle mold.

And this is a corn sheller...

This cherry desk was designed to hold 'secrets'---cubbyholes hidden behind the drawers, the center panel pulls out to reveal a hidden back section...it was really fun to have the docent reveal all the hidden places.