Road tripping to Angels Camp

Soooo, we left our Oregon home 30+ days ago to road-trip our way to Arizona, where we will spend ‘winter 2015’ kayaking the Colorado and other to-be-determined outdoor adventures.

As expected, we took a side road-trip on our road-trip south. Heading out from a stop in Tracy to see family, we drove east and parked our rig on the shores of Modesto Reservoir. Not only is it beautiful but visiting Canadian geese welcomed us. This county park is massive, with lots of RV hook-ups, boat launch, separate tent camping area, swimming, archery and fishing. The surrounding area is awash in groves of trees…almonds or some other variety of nuts. Regardless, it is quiet, beautiful and only 8 rigs were staying here, it is off the beaten path, but we like to be out of the noise and bustle - even small towns can be noisy if a train rumbles through.

We headed out to Angels Camp, approximately 90 miles on the back roads of Stanislaus and Calaveras counties.

Not 20 minutes later we were in the small town of La Grange, which is French for "the barn" or "the farm" and was primarily a farming community until someone found gold.

  









The historic La Grange Saloon replaced in 1897 after a fire burned the adjacent hotel was re-built for $13,000. Miners and river dam workers purchased the 86,670 shots of whiskey, at $.15/shot; helping the owner pay off the debt in just one year.

Another small town on the back road is Coulterville, another historic landmark, and one of those small towns that comes alive in the summer as travelers make their way to Yosemite Park.

Wood burning railcar outside the museum.

Coulterville was a mining community in the late 1890's

Magnolia Saloon Californias Oldest Operating Saloon

Jamestown National Hotel 

[In case you can't read this door sign "Hotel Registration in the SALOON"]




Wild game jerky is all the rage in Jamestown...

One of our destinations to Angel's Camp was to follow Mark Twain's footsteps. He got his inspiration for  "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" (1865) during a period when he was camping with friends in the Angel Camp area, where off Jackass Hill a replica, with the original chimney and fireplace, of his cabin has been installed there. Jackass Hill is so named for the animals, were used to carry supplies to gold miners.

 

 

See you soon on the back roads of America.
~Ciao











































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Touring the Big 'RED STICK'

We spent just a couple of days in the Baton Rouge area...don't miss the Louisiana State Museum...it's both informative and beautiful. It's also located very close to the state capitol buildings and downtown BR. The first floor is in a historical layout, covering the state as a whole.



 

                    Calaboose slave door (jail) Fairview Plantation below.     

<and from Huey Long's home an interior door.

As part of the state history of slavery, is this collection of "Uncle Tom's Cabin" book covers.                                   

 
 

 

 

John James Audubon,

 ^ the naturalist, 

spent time drawing some 167 birds while living on a plantation in the 1820's.

Upstairs, the 2nd floor is designed to inform you on the 5 distinctive cultural districts that make up Louisiana. It's more about the food, the arts, the music, and the social aspects of  each cultural section of Louisiana. Mardi Gras is well represented, as is the music scene.  Pete Fountain's clarinet is just one of the many instruments you will see here.

 

Not far from the museum is the beautiful and massive St. Joseph Cathedral. I am not a catholic, but I love the architectural of old churches and am always a willing photographer once on the grounds. Both inside and out I am, one of those gawkers, and will sit down to take in the beauty, peace and grandness that each holds.

 

 

 On our way out the front door, I happen to turn around and looked up ^ where I saw these organ pipes. That made me want to attend a service here, just to hear the sound of the organ, especially during this holiday season.

My fascination with all things southern began with first reading 'Gone with the Wind' as a young teen, living in the PNW. Like most teens, I lived in my head much of the time and was enamored with the romantic side of well-to-do life of the "southern belle" (the realities of the harshness of that life were not recognized until much later)...which answers the question about 'why' touring yet another plantation. This one is state owned/operated and there is a small fee to do so, but frankly, just the 28 acres of gardens would have been tour enough...go in the spring when all of it would be in bloom. We did see camellia, roses, gardenias in bloom - spring would have been a more desirable time for the massive hydrangea, magnolias, roses and other shrubs that form the gardens. The house has been restored to it's 1850's origins.

Built in 1834, the owners actually planted the live oak allee in the 1820's in anticipation of the house to come. The photo below is from the carriage drive, approaching the house.

 The entrance into the front hallway is beautiful - the walls are covered in a hand-made/hand-painted linen paper, depicting a French countryside theme. It is the original wall covering, and 90% of the furnishings are original to the home time period.

 This photo (below)  is of the butler's pantry, where slaves brought in prepared food to plate for meals and served in the dining room just beyond.

This is the children's room, complete with toys that were discovered in the attic during the restoration of 1956 - 1964.

 Four unmarried granddaughters of the original home owners lived out their lives here. The house was never updated with modern conveniences, like running water, heat, indoor toilets or a kitchen.

The last, Miss Nina, died in 1955 and used this 1850 created indoor shower by her grandfather. Rain water was collected and piped into the large overhead container, the rope pull dispensed the water into a tub (the one here was put in during restoration in 1956). This "shower room" was added to the master bedroom (right) when the addition to the house was done in the 1850's.

Miss Nina and her sisters cooked in the kitchen house out back (right) and used oil lamps and utensils, shown below.

>The stairs go up to the slave qtrs. and down to the butler's kitchen>
both steep and narrow.

Now to the "historic" formal gardens of the plantation.  Mrs. Turnbull began to design them in the planting of those live oaks back in the 1820's. Working each day on the design, acquisition, planting and upkeep; with meticulous notes and journals, her records were used to renovate and restore the gardens in the late 1950's to the original design. Three summerhouses, like the one in the photo below grace the gardens. One had climbing pink roses covering one side of it.

Hydrangeas line the walkways, pecan, magnolia and camellia trees cover the grounds. In the more formal areas, hedges line the walkways...it really is lovely to stroll through and admire, even in December.

Rosedown did have a doctor-in-residence after  a son died of yellow fever in 1843. There is no family cemetery or church on the property...those are in nearby St. Francisville, a few miles down the road.

 

Lastly, we didn't tour this building as we discovered it just the day before we left...the Old State Capitol Building which is now the Political History Museum. Looks inviting.

~ Ciao

 

 



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.

 

 

 A section of the freeway with a lovely mural is below.

 

Next stop....gay Paree!
~ Ciao