Moody Gardens Festival of Lights

Moody Gardens, Galveston, TX
Festival of Lights

During the holidays, Moody Gardens wants their share of visitors as well so they have a one mile walking trail with over 100 light displays calling it their 'Festival of Lights'. There are also hit-and-miss live characters (we saw a Nutcracker and a Chipmunk) and live music (we didn't hear any) as well as a ice skating rink and, on Friday, SNOW. Each additional activity is only $5 after the $5.95 Festival of Lights ticket.

We chose to view the Aquarium pyramid and the Festival of Lights.

Main Street Bethlehem

Main Street Bethlehem, Burnet, TX
1st two weekends in December

This was much more than we had anticipated. The First Baptist Church of Burnet hosts this event. These are 'permanent' structures to simulate what Bethlehem could of looked like when Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to register for the census (and there was no room at the inn and Jesus was born in a stable manger). I counted about 27 (?) structures including: a well, a jail, a synagogue, an inn (with no rooms available), basket weavers, loom, tax collector, tavern, oven (free samples of "Bethlehem bread"), an open air markets with fruit and vegetable sales people, a corral with camels, another with donkeys, another with sheep, a chariot, a rope maker, jewelry maker, a candle maker, campers, geese/duck sales people, dried fruit sales people, gallows, a typical Bethlehem home, and a cave used as a stable, etc. Very in depth.

And First Baptist Church has 50 - 75 period-dressed actors going around asking if you came to town for the census, did you come far, did you hear a child is born this night, etc. Very interesting. It's free (donations accepted). The line is LONG. But worth it. At the exit, there is free cocoa and cookies for everyone as well. Impressive.
On the first two Saturdays, the Austin Train Association has a train that departs Cedar Hill for Main Street Bethlehem as well. Reservations are needed in advance as early as possible.

We really enjoyed "Main Street Bethlehem".

Bastrop State Park and Lost Pines Golf course

I almost hate to mention it because we love it so much. Spent the past week there and the weather was fabulous, golf was enjoyable, even worked some. So delightful here! Here's Buster dog drinking from a 1930 CCC water fountain:

Halloween 2010

Halloween 2010

We only had 63 Trick-or-Treaters this year. Down from 120 last year. Could it have been that the Rangers were playing Game 4 in the World Series?? How many Trick-or-Treaters did you have??

Best and Worsts of Fall Foliage Anniversary Trip

Fall Foliage Anniversary Trip
Best and Worsts

Best RV Park - Baileyton RV Park, Baileyton, TN (I-81 at exit 36)

Worst roads - Arkansas on I-40! Very uneven concrete pours made for massive jostling

Worst road construction - Pennsylvania - probably 15 construction areas and some down to one lane and most times no one working

Longest Drive Day - October 16th Day 30, 530 miles in 9.5 hours from AR to home

New Favorite Food - lobster rolls!

New Favorite microbrew - Bar Harbor Real Ale!

Favorite upper end restaurant - Jordan Pond House, Acadia National Park

Favorite restaurant - Thirsty Whale, Bar Harbor, Maine

Favorite pub - Learys Landing Irish Pub, Bar Harbor, Maine

Something new we liked: Explorer Island Shuttle sponsored by L.L. Bean. Handy!

A new concept: Buying new clothes instead of doing laundry

Favorite New Recipe: Jordan Pond House POPOVERs -
2 large Eggs
1 cup Whole milk
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Baking soda
1 cup Flour, all-purpose (Important! Sift before measuring)

Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Beat the eggs at high speed with an electric mixer for 3 minutes, or until the mixture turns lemon yellow. Slow the mixer to a crawl and dribble in about 1/2 cup of milk, taking about 20 seconds to pour it in.

Into another bowl, sift the flour and measure 1 cup as exactly as you can, sift some of the flour then add salt and baking soda and sift again.

With the mixer still running on its slowest speed, add the dry ingredients to the eggs and milk. Turn the mixer off and use a rubber spatula to make sure that all of the flour has blended in with the liquid.

Set the mixer to medium speed and dribble in the remaining milk. Blend for 1 minute. Turn the mixer to its highest speed and beat for 10 minutes (or 5 minutes if you have a Kitchen-aid style mixer that uses a wire whip for beating). Extra beating can't hurt.

Filter the batter through a fine-mesh screen strainer to remove any lumps, then pour into well-buttered popover cups or custard cups. (If you must use a muffin tin, fill only the 4 corners.)

Bake at 425 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Without opening the oven, turn heat to 350 degrees F. and bake for 15 more minutes (20 minutes if your oven door has a window). Serve immediately, with fresh jam and room-temperature butter.

Overall: Impressed with the variety of hardwoods in New England. In one stand of tees there would be several different kinds of maples, oaks, conifers, evergreens all mixed in a bunch making a splendid display of fall colors.

Summary of Fall Foliage Anniversary Trip

Fall Foliage Anniversary Trip
In Summary

Total days - 30
Total miles - 4984
Total people - 3 (Doug, Laura, Buster dog)
Total $ - $86/day
Total states - 17
Total photos - 2242
Average fuel (diesel) cost - $2.99/gal

October 16th - Day 30
Thought we only had about 420 miles left but GPS says more like 535 miles! But we are going to try to get home today. Day 30.

Arkansas's trees look like they were in a drought. Brown leaves. Not that much foliage color turning yet but lots of dead brown leaves. Can see how low the Arkansas River is in this picFoliage has hardly even begun to turn in Arkansas along I-40 and I-30. The sides of the road are all brown and dried up grasses (like we'd see in Texas in the heat of the summer).

Yay! Texas.... and Texas is actually more green than the part of Arkansas we saw. For October, that's pretty amazing. We're glad to be back in the land of the flat lands where the eye can see for miles.
Home Sweet Home after 9.5 hours of driving and a fabulous 30 day vacation!