Stepping back in time...

New to Yuma? Passing through for a few days? On your way to another southwestern city or town as you escape the increment weather (read freezing cold and/or snow) of your hometown? Been here before but haven’t yet fully explored the surrounding areas? Bored? Looking for something interesting to do in other than watch broccoli grow? Interested in local/state history? Old cars and farm equipment?  

Just outside Yuma about 10 miles, in the midst of broccoli, lettuce and cabbage fields is a unique collection of autos, farm machinery and a small assortment of earlier transportation methods. Plus a whole slew of old radiators, hubcaps, car parts and old glass jars and the odd bicycle or sleigh.

 Welcome to the Cloud Museum -10 miles north of Winterhaven (Exit 172 on I-8).  “ situated on over 2 acres, affords visitors a unique opportunity to tun back the clock and view real American that includes over 120 Model T’s and Model A’s…”

Admission is a $5/pp, it’s open 7 days a week and if you call in advance you can have Johnny Cloud, Owner, provide you with a guided tour. Jack and Jill, friendly Border (mix) Collies were never far behind him, while looking for a head scratch from visitors too.

Hours can be spent wandering the buildings and discovering hidden treasures, including extensive old glass bottles, cast iron skillets, meat grinders, kitchen tools, and small applicances. There is even an entire section of farm machinery.

Take a tour of the property via the short film and enjoy a step back in time.

Ciao~

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

 

 



Shreveport, art and gambling

LA State Exhibit Museum

Our first glimpse of a paddle-wheel riverboat casino on the Red River.










Shreveport, Louisiana on the edge of the Red River...named for the steamboat captain, Henry Miller Shreve, who opened the river up in 1839 - from a logjam called "The Great Raft" - 150 miles of logs clogging the Red River and leaving it virtually un-navigable.

 

We spent a couple of hours touring the Louisiana State Exhibit on the state Fairgrounds. Built in 1939, it is a Smithsonian affiliate and was really beautifully done, with these dioramas that present “Louisiana in Miniature", covering the history of  people, industry and economy, culture and natural resources of this state. From the Caddo natives to the present day oil and gas exploration, the displays captured our attention.

 

Along with the state history there is a large area devoted to original letters and documents "Autographing History" from the 1700's (Lewis & Clark) to the 1800's (T. Jefferson) that have been donated by the collectors Charles E and Gloria B. Meyer.

 

 

Sitting bull and General Custer above.             Daniel Boone above.

 

 

The sunken, circular map, which measures 49 feet in circumference, was created by internationally noted sculptor Duncan Ferguson, is located just inside the entrance.

 

If you find yourself hungry, as we did and having asked for a recommendation, we ventured into the "depressed" industrial area to eat at Herby K's....managed by his granddaughter, this 'diner' has been in the same location for 77 years. We had the house specialties: gumbo/etouffee and jumbo shrimp.

The diner has been "expanded" by enclosing the patio. The original space

here, has 9 counter stools and 4 booths -- that in a pinch will seat 24.

The food was very good, the staff friendly, service was good and we would willingly go back.

 Next up...an art museum. We checked our GPS and were directed to one on the campus of Centenary College -

Meadows Museum of Art

Really exquisite art on display...
"Our permanent holdings includes Indochina Collection of Jean Despujols. This comprehensive Collection represents the aesthetic achievements of a variety of world cultures and includes works by George Grosz, Emilio Amero, Mary Cassatt and Alfred Maurer. Additionally, the Meadows Museum of Art has received a copy of The Triumphal Arch of Maximiliian I by Northern Renaissance artist and engraver Albrecht Durer." (from http://www.centenary.edu/meadows)

 

and some of whimsy.

Marion Davis "Games On" 2011

 

 Gambling in Louisiana, for the most part, must be on the river. Hence the casinos are on riverboats and all the other services are built adjacent and on the river bank.  My total outlay = $0. By obtaining a "players" card with $5 to spend from the management, I was able to parlay that into winnings.

 

 YES! <cough>winner<cough>

 

 Hey, it helped pay for lunch.

 

~ Ciao

 

 

 



 

 

Keeping History Alive....museum tramping in Quanah and Crowell

I am not a good, loving-it-all camper. Oh, I have camped since childhood, backpacked 10+ miles into the Cascades more than once (when I was much younger) and was willing to sleep on the ground sans air mattress enough times to really appreciate the comforts of a good pillow-top. I want the creature comforts of a hot shower, food cooked inside a dry RV-without the added nutrients provided by sand/ash/bugs. The best part of our RV life is seeing places I would never take an airplane or a car trip to visit...it's the history of my ancestors, both Native American and the Europeans that came over on the Mayflower. It is the museums in small towns, monitored by volunteers in most cases, lovingly chronicled and displaying the local history that appeals to me. So this post is about the local museums with some history thrown in.

This is the Quanah Historical Museum building. Once the Quanah, Acme & Pacific Railway depot....
built in 1908, a historical landmark
and part of the Hardeman County
 Jail museum
(located behind this building > )









Quanah, TX...named for the last Comanche Chief - Quanah Parker....2010 census pop. 2642. The town went into decline when the Quanah, Acme and Pacific Railroad left town in 1982.

 

In addition to the Chief Quanah and railroad history, Astronaut Edward Givens - killed in a car accident while training for Apollo 7, Lane Frost - 1987 PRCA World Champion Bull Rider, cotton production, US veteran's and the Masonic Lodge histories are included within it's walls. It's a two story building packed with history, admission FREE.

 

We were lucky to visit on Thursday, the volunteer informed us "had we come on Friday the museum would be closed as she had a funeral to attend." If you go, go early - she closes at 3pm to gather up grandchildren after school.

 

This mural is attached to the building adjacent to the museum. Sadly many of the buildings are so old, they are crumbling and so while we were visiting the old hotel was demolished and there were visible signs that more of the more dangerous buildings would also be taken down. The brick street is directly behind the museum....gorgeous really.

 

Quanah is the Hardeman County seat and this courthouse was under restoration (so we couldn't go up to the cupola)

  

 This is the dedication marker for Chief Quanah on the grounds of the courthouse.

 

Onto Crowell's Firehall Museum (2010 census pop. 826)....20 miles from Quanah...it's museum is located on the main drag in what was once the Firehouse....while we were here one of the locals, a 80 y/o (he said so, although he didn't look much older than 70) informed us that "we had to work real hard to get to Crowell". What he didn't know was we were glad we did.

 

 



 

The Sante Fe Depot, built in 1908, is home to the Crowell Public Library (below) and Museum. The museum educates visitors on the local history and has an extensive collection dedicated to Cynthia Ann Parker who was kidnapped by Comanche Indians and eventually lived with them for over 25 years. The depot is open Monday to Friday, and library hours Noon - 5pm. Cynthia Ann Parker was the mother of Chief Quanah. 

 

 

 Sweet Cream Suds proprietor Carli, local native, raises her own goats out on the Pease River. Hand-milked, hand-made soap, lotions and body butters can be found here in her retail outlet in Crowell or on-line (click on the link posted within the shop name above. You can find her on Facebook as well.)

She also carries a few artisans products like the pottery and yarn pictured below.

I appreciate the ingenuity and creative efforts of small town businesses to keep and build on their history so we support them by supporting their businesses whenever we can. Marlow Supply, Tater's Café and Gentry's Grocery and Supply (the oldest surviving business - 69 years - in town)

 

 Gentry's was a surprise, and a bit scary given the rather large hole in the floor at the back part of the building...but Mr. Gentry was really sweet and we found the insect (death bomb) spray that we needed. It is a must see if you are in the 'hood.

 

 See these feet....?

 

 That's a "hitching ring", along with several others on E. Commerce (just down from Marlow's and in front of the drugstore). 

 

The feet however, are moving on....see ya.

 

Thanks for your time...next up is the National Wild Hog Cook-off post.

 

~Ciao!