Peggy Crandell
What marvelous treasures are right here in our home state of Texas! Early on October 15, 33 Road Runners departed The Ranch for a three-day trip to the marvelous and inspiring Painted Churches. After arriving in Brenham we lunched in the downtown area at several delightful restaurants before we headed out to the famous Blue Bell Creamery. We all donned our ‘soda jerk’ hats and proceeded to their famous ice cream parlor, Must Be Heaven, where scoops of Blue Bell were served. One amazing tidbit we learned is that it takes 60,000 milk cows giving milk every day of the week to keep Blue Bell Creameries in production. Now that’s a lot of mooing!
With our sweet tooth satisfied, we then toured the Star of the Republic and Independence Hall at Washington on the Brazos. Our group actually sat in one of only two spots in our country where a Declaration of Independence was signed (Philadelphia and Washington on the Brazos). Although all of us enjoyed this tour, it was especially meaningful to our history buffs.
A local tour guide joined us and shared many historical, interesting and humorous facts and tidbits throughout our second day of touring. Our itinerary included four of the seven Painted Churches in the Schulenburg area. But because these are active congregations a funeral was in progress, which kept us from going inside of one of the churches. From the outside, these early 1900s churches seemed like spare, whitewashed, clapboarded country churches, some barely bigger than chapels, nestled in the rolling hills. But inside a gaily colored explosion of folk art bursts forth. We stood in awe inside the churches as we marveled at the intricacy of the hand-painted designs and the vibrant colors. We all agreed this had to be a labor of love for these German and Czech settlers to create these ornate altars, complex designs, frescoes and stenciling.
We topped off our second day with dinner and wine tasting at one of the oldest operating wineries in Texas, the Texas Star Winery. The Winery was filled with laughter as we asked questions about the wine and enjoyed our great catered meal.
On day three we started our busy schedule with a visit to the Antique Rose Emporium. Many of our green-thumbed travelers knew all the right questions to ask the owner; some brought rose bush plants back to The Ranch.
Off to College Station/Bryan for lunch at J. Cody’s, followed by a tour of the George H.W. Bush Presidential Library for again, another history lesson/review. We experienced “Aggie spirit” as we made our way through the big-game-day sights of tailgating and pre-game celebrations on our way to the Library.
By the time we arrived home we reflected and agreed it was a fun-filled trip but also how filled it was with Texas history and wonderful sights.