When
Dad had his major heart issues in 2023, we remained on our leased lot in
East Texas for most of the year and did no traveling with our RV. Instead,
we took day trips or long weekend getaways to Texas locations within a 5-hour
radius of home, traveling predominantly via Maximus the Trike. We toured Tyler, Nacogdoches, Fredericksburg,
and visited several Texas Revolution historical areas, just to name a few.
Now that Dad is feeling better, we revived this plan of getting out of Livingston
during Dad’s “off-treatment” weeks.
Hence, we loaded into my Rambling RV Rat Pack Rubicon and headed to Beaumont, a port city along the Neches
River.
With
free parking and modest admission of $5/adult, the Texas Energy Museum was a
great place to start our tour of Beaumont.
The interesting and informative displays tell the history of oil—from
geology, to production and refining. I
learned 50% of every barrel of oil produces gasoline for vehicles, 40% goes to
kerosene, heating oil, diesel, jet, and other fuels, and 5% creates greases,
asphalt, and lubricants. The last 5% is feedstock for petrochemicals used to
make a variety of items including aspirin and carpeting. I was surprised to learn that Beaumont started
as a farming (rice was the predominant crop) and lumber town. But the Spindletop boom of January 20, 1901,
where oil gushed for 9 days, up to 150 feet in the air, changed the course of
Beaumont’s economy. (We visited the Spindletop site a few years ago. You can read more about that here: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/7416354527052845038/8056816545793712313)
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| Look at all those fossils! |
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| Everything in this plastic tube is made from oil! I see lots of items that we ALL use on a regular basis! |
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| This exhibit depicted Spindletop. |
Next
door to the Texas Energy Museum is the Art Museum of Southeast Texas. This is a very small exhibit hall. But it has free admission, so what the heck,
in we went. And I was glad we did! All of the exhibits were truly amazing.
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| Tree of Life with Adam and Eve. |
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| The exhibit featuring the works of Felix "Fox" Harris was my absolute favorite. Felix, born in 1905, could neither read nor write. But after he retired as a foreman from a construction company, Felix had a vision from God to make "something from nothing". Hence, his creations that epitomize the "reuse, restore, recycle" mantra of the stewards of our environment. |
My
tummy was telling me it needed some grub.
So, we walked to the Crockett Street Entertainment District, which is
home to several restaurants and historic buildings. We elected to dine at Riverside Grille. Great ambiance, an extensive menu, delicious
food, top-notch service, and a chance to meet some aquatic friends. It was an excellent choice!
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| Some of the historic buildings along Crockett Street. |
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| This turtle is one... |
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| ...of my new aquatic friends at Riverside Grille. |
Afterwards,
we walked to further explore the city.
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| Artwork sure does beautify electric boxes. |
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| Statue of George O'Brien Millard, a prominent Beaumont community member during the late 1800s. |
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| The inscription on Millard's statue. |
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| Exterior of St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica. |
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| Interior of St. Anthony Cathedral Basilica. |
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| Performers were dancing to celebrate the feast day of St. Anthony. |
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| Huge fire hydrant statue outside the Firefighters' Museum. |
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| Coming from New Jersey and having known several victims of the tragedy personally, we are always touched by 9/11 memorials. |
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| First Baptist Church built in 1903 is now a public library. |
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| City Hall Auditorium for the Performing Arts. |
It
was a great day of fun and a wonderful escape from life at medical facilities.
On
another day we drove for about 2 hours along several scenic secondary roads to
Bellville, TX. We stopped to say hi to
Steve Austin.
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| "The Father of Texas" stands in Bellville, the seat of Austin County. |
But our destination was
Newman’s Castle, a unique rural home built by the very quirky Bellville
resident, Mike Newman.
Mike
was one of those free-spirit types. In
his early 20s, he was a potato chips maker.
But he got bored easily and didn’t like "working for the man". Hence, he became a jack of all trades, master
of some.
In
1983 Mike opened Newman’s Bakery, despite knowing little about baking. But he was successful in turning it into a
profitable business for himself. He
eventually sold the bakery, but it still bears his name and is well known
throughout this region of Texas.
In
1985, he purchased 20 acres of land to build his rural retreat. But he had a difficult time deciding what
style of architecture. Then a friend
used that adage, “A man’s home is his castle” and the light bulb went off!
With
work commencing in 1998, Mike built this unusual home that contains 4,200 square
feet of living quarters, a moat, chapel, and even a dungeon! Though he moved into the home in 2006, Mike continued to add to the structure.
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| Mike sketched himself in sand and then built a castle turret that could accommodate a tub to fit his body size. |
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The oldest part of the structure...
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...is this cozy circular room.
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| Chapel. |
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| Dungeon. |
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| No castle would be complete without a throne for its king! |
Mike
built this place almost single-handedly.
Initially, he would hire a contractor like a plumber or an electrician. Like a studious apprentice,
he would watch what they did. Then, he
would fire them and do the balance of the work himself.
Though
Mike had several marriages (and subsequent divorces), he had only one
child with his first wife. Yet when Mike
died in 2024, the task of Castle Keeper fell to his nephew Chad. Chad and his wife Amanda do not reside in the
castle; instead, they offer event space and overnight sleep accommodations for
rent.
Chad,
who narrated our tour, was interesting and entertaining, beguiling guests with funny
stories of the antics of his uncle. The
$12/adult ticket price is well worth it.
Remember, though, you must make reservations online in advance for
tours—no ticket sales allowed on premises.
We
had a deluge of rain right as our tour was ending, so we didn’t have an
opportunity to hike the few trails associated with the property. But the rain did not stop us from visiting Newman's Bakery to savor some sweet treats.
We
stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at Joe’s Italian Grill in Navasota, Texas
(which is operated by the same proprietor as the Joe’s Italian Grill in our
hometown). The calzone was tasty,
and the pizza was thin crusted and baked to perfection, with a cheese “bubble”
for me on every slice.
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| Mural in Navasota. |
Our
final visit that day was to Fanthorp Inn State Historic Site in Anderson,
Texas.
Henry
Fanthorp emigrated from England to the U.S.A. in 1818. After arrival in Texas in 1832 (when Texas
was still part of Mexico), he purchased 1,106 acres of land for
$76.61. Two years later, he built his 2-room home, placed strategically on the road that crossed his land. Hence, with the addition of a second floor in
1840, he was successful in transforming that small homestead into a 17-room
resting place for stagecoach passengers and other travelers.
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| The natural cedar wood is ORIGINAL, as are all floors, doors, and lead windows within the building. And there is an area where you can view graffiti dating to 1840 that was found during the restoration work. |
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| The costumed docent was glad to see us--business was slow due to rain. |
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| The bedroom utilized by Mr. Fanthorp and his wife. |
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| Mr. Fanthorp utilized slaves on his premises. Some slaves were tasked with pulling the cords to move the "fans" above the table. |
Though
technically the tour was “free”, we made the “suggested donation” of
$3/person. We didn’t take the buggy ride
since it was raining and muddy.
As
you can see, there is loads of fun stuff to do within a few hours drive from Livingston. Next up, I'll tell ya about our trip to Austin.
In the meantime, how sick is this: Independence Day decorations were no where to be found by July 6 but Halloween yard decorations were on display--on July 24!
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| Lowe's is rushing the season a bit--These were already on display by July 24! |
And, once again, we thank all who have been reaching out and praying for us. It means the world to us.
I'll talk to you again soon!
