Spring Break 2012

Spring Break 2012 - Our trip to Brenham, TX

When we were driving home from our two-night vacation in College Station this past summer, we went through Brenham. I fell in love. It was such a cute little town, and there was so much to do. I begged Dustin to let us stay the night. (I always pack an extra set of clothes, so we had the supplies). While Dustin didn't exactly match my enthusiasm, (instead of turning around in search of the nearest hotel, he kept driving toward home) he did promise that we'd be back. "Fine," I had said, "then I'm planning a Spring Break trip to Brenham." And I did!

We drove up on Monday afternoon. I was driving so we took the windy, single-lane highway route through towns. It was shorter milage-wise than taking I-10, but it would have been about the same timewise if we could have gone close to the speed limit the whole time. It wasn't our lucky day though, as we got stuck behind multiple cars doing well under the speed limit (I'm talking 45 in a 65 mph zone). So by the time we got to Brenham, it was late.

We checked into the motel and headed out to find someplace to eat. I was starving, so we went for something close. Casa Ole`! I hadn't eaten in one of those since high school, so I enjoyed myself. Dustin was a little disappointed with his menu choice, but mine was good. After filling our bellies, we drove around the town for a bit. We came across a walking trail that was lit, so we stopped there. We put Remington in the stroller and took off. Southern and I raced a couple times, we made a loop, and then we were back in the car to head "home" for the night.

Southern was really tired after the big day, so he went off to sleep easily. Remington was more of a challenge. We ended up staying awake until around 1am. And since Southern had gotten off to sleep much earlier, he was ready to go bright and early that next morning. He was in our bed jumping around by 7:30am. We soon were all up and dressing to go to breakfast downstairs. It was really good - waffles, scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, sausage, yogurt, cereal, etc. So we all had our fill and then were off to explore Brenham.

Our first stop was the antique carousel. We loved it! It was only $1/person to ride for 5 minutes.

Southern decided he wanted a brown horse

Remington rode on one of the benches with Daddy

Then we hit a nearby playground.

Southern was having a lot of fun sliding and climbing

Remington also enjoyed himself - leaves are fun!

Then we moved to the downtown area. We window shopped and went in a few stores. The kids scored at The Book Nook with a couple used books. We took in the sights at the historic Toubin Park.

Very pretty place to learn about history

Next, we headed over to Bluebell.

The boys and I were excited about ice cream - Southern even had a wardrobe change before this stop

Little did we know, but the busiest week for tours at Bluebell is during Spring Break. Apparently we were lucky to make it before they sold out of tickets for the day. We arrived a little after noon, and after waiting in a looong line, we got the first available tickets - 2:20pm. We debated on whether or not to leave and come back or to wait there. Remington pretty much made that decision for us. He fell asleep in the stroller so we decided to let him just take his nap there. We dug out some sandwiches and drinks from the cooler in the car and snagged a bench outside. After our impromptu lunch, Southern played tag and football with some other waiting kids. The time went by quickly.

Here we are right before our tour - no cameras were allowed beyond this point!

And here we are enjoying our free scoops. Yum...

I got their newest flavor - Strawberry Banana Pound Cake (maybe my new favorite). Dustin got Mint Chocolate Chip (an old reliable). Southern got Strawberry (or "pink" as he called it). It was all so good that we decided to go back for more. Our second scoops (which were more like 2-3 scoops each) were Dessert Trio for me and Coconut Fudge for Dustin. Delicious!

Our only family photo from the trip. A lady offered to take it after Dustin offered to take one of her with her family. As you can tell, it was a little bright outside.

Our next stop was Washington-on-the-Brazos in the neighboring town of Washington. It was Southern's turn to miss out on the fun. He had fallen asleep on the car ride over (I guess running around in the sun for an hour followed by a belly full of ice cream will do that to you) so we stuck him in the stroller.

Exploring the museum while Southern napped

Little brother made up for his missing out on the ice cream by riding a "horse".

This place was really interesting. Learning about Texas' Independence from Mexico was fun! Right, Remington?

"Look, here's Sam Houston!"

We were able to explore outside as well. We learned that the Brazos River forms a confluence with another river in this spot, which is why they decided to cross there. And so the town of Washington was born. We went out to see this and other outdoor landmarks by walking and then driving.

Where the declaration was signed

As Dustin said, "just think of what all these trees have witnessed..."

We splurged on supper Tuesday night

After a very good supper and a not-so-good night's sleep (the boys were really wound up that night), we started the last day of our vacation. We had another great breakfast and then loaded up the car. We stopped by some local shops. Southern got a pair of ostrich boots at the Brenham Saddle Shop. (Interestingly enough we were chased by an ostrich the weekend previously... but that's another story.)

He was so proud of his new boots!

We toured one last museum - The Brenham Heritage Museum. It was an interesting mix of things. One of the people working there was an older lady who took an immediate like to Southern. She spent most of our visit there talking to him. She would lead him around by the hand and show him things and tell him about it all. She even read a book to him from the gift shop.

We got there right at opening time on Wednesday.

After one last drive through Brenham, we headed out of town for the airport. Why were we headed to the airport? Well, I had seen a brochure advertising a 50's-style diner at the airport so we were headed there for lunch. It was great! I got a patty melt. Dustin got a grilled chicken dinner. And Southern had a hot dog with a side of corn casserole. Yum. And after we ate, we got to watch the planes fly in and out.

I was suprised at just how busy this little airport was. And some of the air traffic was just because of that diner. One man and boy exiting a plane said they flew in "because my son wanted a milkshake." Awesome.

      
We continued on our way to the town of Independence, the original home of Baylor University (It started as co-ed, but soon split. Then the women's side of it moved and merged with what is now Mary Hardin-Baylor in Brownwood while the men's side moved and merged with what is now Baylor University in Waco). We took the local self-guided tour and saw ruins of the college and dining hall along with old houses and other buildings.

Southern in front of one of the first public schools in Texas

We ended our trip with fishing at Lake Somerville.

Dustin fishing while Southern "fished" with a stick (he was actually very entertained and happy doing just that for more than an hour). When we were leaving, we asked him if he wanted to take it with him or leave it there. He said he would leave it there so more little boys could fish with it. Aww!

And those of us who weren't fishing...

Remington and I camped out while the "older boys" fished. He snacked on Chex Mix while I read a book.

And that's it folks. After fishing til nearly dark and making a potty stop in the town of Somerville (thank goodness for those small town Dairy Queens!), we drove back home. Dustin was driving this time so we took the "long" way home on I-10. Needless to say, we made pretty good time.