Interesting day touring Huntsville Texas.

Where are we today ?

Trinity Texas

         Hey its another great day and our plan is to travel into Huntsville Texas only about 30 minutes away. So about 10 am hit the road, heading that way. 
         Guess what? Got pulled over by a State Trooper for speeding. Ken had warned me too, but kinda sneaked up on me. Nice 4 lane highway, speed limit 75 mph (120kph) then changed to 55 mph (88kph) real quick. Missed the sign, next thing I know a state trouper has his lights flashing pulling us over. Driver's licence and insurance, tell me I was doing 67mph in a 55mph zone, oops got caught. To make a long story stort he chatted with us for a while, gave us a verbal warning and told us to be careful. (Whew! sure pays to be nice to these guys just doing their job).
        Now carried on to Huntsville (watching the speed limit carefully) and found the Visitor center (Chamber of Commerce) to get advice on things to see here. Already knew what we wanted to see but always nice to talk to real people too.

        Not far from here was the Texas Prison Museum you can read all about it here. This is an real worth while visit to see what this is all about. Capital punishment and it's history over the years and the Texas prison system. Sure is an eye opener!

uniforms worn over the years

map of Texas Prisons

"Sparky" the electric chair, removed from service in 1964.

woodwork done by prisoners on death row

wonderful craftsmenship

guns used by the guards over the years

guard tower

Suzie now has me under control

the working prison across the road

         After here stopped by Wendy's for a light lunch, $5.00 for the two of us, love their .99 cent specials.
         Then tru downtown and the town square, nicely decorated buildings and such. All those touristy "Antique" stores and art shops to look at. (Sorry not for us).

nice murals

amazing painted buildings (not real architecture)

        Now down the road to Sam Houston Museum. And another great place to explore. More History of the area where Sam Houston was from. You can read about him here if you wish. Senator and politician back in the 1800's a very important part of American and Texas history.

         We toured the grounds and were intrigued by the design of these houses. Know as "Dog Trot" or "Dog Run" houses. Essentially two small log cabins under one roof with a breezeway type connection between them.

" Dog Trot"house

"Sam Houston's Office"

Blacksmith shop

cooks kitchen

garden

hunting lodge (dog trot design too_

construction

dovetails

         After here a couple miles down the road to check out the Sam Houston Statue. Gotta see it while we are here ! Why not ? It is the World's tallest staute of an American hero. Check out the chart below. You can read about it here.

yep it is huge and impressive!

        Now on the way back home passed this sign below, that really caught my eye. Discounted "Used Homes" !!!  Have seen used car lots but never a used home lot. But here it is you can browse the lot looking at used homes and have one delivered to your lot!

take your pick good used homes

       Now that's enough for one day, gotta get back home. Put up our feet, relax for a few minutes with our books while the weather is good.

       Then fire up our Weber, grill a nice salmon fillet tonight with some spanish rice and steamed broccoli for a very tasty supper.

on the grill

so tasty

         Another fun day, seeing a few of the sites in the area and learning a lot of local Texas and American history in the process. Who would have thought? I hatted history is school. But this is fun and interesting!
         Was fun for us, hoped you enjoyed it too. The weather today was awesome by the way.
         Thanks for dropping in for a peak.

Check out the map below to see where we have been this winter

View Winter 2012-1013 in a larger map