WeekEend Road Trip - Part III

I spent a lot of time roaming around Jefferson, TX with my camera. I wanted to show you a few of my favorite shots. These flowers were in front of an antique store. I don't know what they're called, the ball shapes are the buds that open into these gorgeous flowers.

 I just happened to catch a beautiful sun flare in the window of the museum.

Lately my eyes keep catching doors, windows and reflections. I worked hard to get this shot where the flag is reflected in the window and is unfurled. The wind was blowing very hard and I had to take a lot of shots before I got one I liked.

I thought this was such a pretty window with shutters and a window box.

Isn't this a pretty basket hung between these two doors. It makes me think of a May Basket.

Another thing I'm fascinated with is fences. Any kind of fences. I love the work in this wrought iron fence.

These fences were covered in beautiful roses. Old fashioned climbing roses.

Roses that smelled wonderful. A lot of the modern roses don't have a smell, but these smelled wonderful as I walked by.

Beautiful Roses!!!

 

Of course I had to sneak a shot in of my favorite house. The House of the Seasons. Read about it here.

I was cutting through one of the allies to get back to our group when I spotted this gate.

I got closer to have a look. It was a garden, a beautiful garden. I realized it was a behind one of the historic hotels. As I was looking in, a lady who worked at the hotel asked me if I would like for her to unlock the gate so I could go in. Of course, Yes, Please!!

 In the center was this lovely fountain. The post of the fountain has three women with they're water vessels.

It's quite large, there are gold fish and even a turtle in the water.

The walls of the garden were brick covered with ivy. There were small alcoves with statues and lovely wrought iron chairs, benches, and tables. These statues were of children.

 This view shows the back of the hotel! I would love to stay in one of the rooms over the garden!

 another fountain

I was so excited!! It felt like I had found my own Secret Garden. This is my third trip to Jefferson and I've never seen this gate before. You'll never know what you'll find when you walk a different path! Try it, go a different way or path this week and discover something new!!

Hope you enjoyed the trip to Jefferson with me!

Weekend Road Trip - Part II

When you attend a car show, the first thing you have to do early in the morning is wash the truck!! Got to get those bugs and dust off before the show!

 The downtown streets are closed off  for the show. We had a great spot, the sun really shined on his truck all day!

 These are our friends vehicles, from the gray truck down to our red truck.

 Just a different view of our group. Notice the license plate on the front of our truck. It belonged to Mr. H's dad. Mr. H wanted to display it to honor his Dad who loved old trucks so much.

It's always fun watching the people come by looking at our truck. You know we are a little proud of it. And that bright red catches a lot of attention! I can't tell you how many times we've heard, "Wow, now that's a red truck!" or "you don't happen to like red, do you?" or "what color red is that?"

a shot of one of the streets

This is some of our group. (LtoR) Becky, Loretta, Vicki, Jack, Larry, Jimmy and Linda.  Standing is Jerry and Delbert. The last two people seated weren't in our group.

Here's the rest. Earlanna, Charlie, and Jerry. Standing is Lewis, who we bought our truck from, and Delbert again. Obviously Jerry and Delbert can't be still!

I had to show this guy. He came roaring down the street a couple of times. His motorcycle had a horn like a police siren. You have to look really close and see his mustache. Just to the left of his cigar you can see a long curled handlebar mustache. He really fit his part well!

And then it's time to gas up and head home. 

 Car shows are always such fun trips. Lots to see and lots of fun with friends!

I'm going to do one more post about Jefferson, because I found some delightful things I want to show you!

House Of The Seasons - Jefferson, Texas

Now, let me show you why The House Of The Seasons is so remarkable. Yes, everything in it was beautiful, but this is breath taking. The home takes it’s name from the cupola where each wall contains a different colored stained glass that creates the illusion of the seasons of the year. I wonder what inspired this man to build such a beautiful home.

This picture was taken at sunset. The sun reflecting through the windows shows the beautiful red windows. We heard on our last day that they do leave a light on at night and you can see the colors on each side. I'm sorry we didn't know about that until it was too late.

You look up from the first floor right above the flirting chair through a well-like opening. You can see to the very top of the cupola. If you look close you can see tiny stars painted on the ceiling in the cupola. Stars, of course, because we are in Texas you know! We were told that the young men in the house liked to jump over this railing onto a mattress on the bottom floor. The girls would hang onto the railing and drop. Several lower points of the railing are broken. I hope it was a huge feather mattress, because these were at least 12 - 14 foot ceilings!

Look at this isn't it gorgeous. The dome features hand painted murals depicting four maidens holding baskets of fruit and flowers representing the seasons. The colored glass can play tricks and give off different color illusions, so the artist who did the restoration, had to work for weeks in the middle of the night with a lamp.

About this time we were told that we wouldn't be able to go up into the cupola area. The steps were very narrow and dangerous. We were so disappointed. But, after touring the second floor the lady who was leading the tour said that if we promised not to fall down the stairs we could go up. We couldn't believe we would really have the chance to go to the top. Excited does not adequately describe how we felt. More like ecstatic! As we climbed the stairs every few minutes, our guide would yell back down, "please duck your head, hold the rail and don't fall!"

It was more fabulous than we could have imagined!! This bench sits around the opening. Look how all the colors reflect. Can't you just see someone sitting there in a beautiful gown reading a book or daydreaming.

 

The very top of the cupola. There stars are not very big, just a couple of inches, but they show all the way from the first floor. It's hard to tell, but it's painted blue, with darker blue in the center area and yellow stars.

THE WINDOWS

blue for winter

green for spring

amber for summer

red for fall

And looking down from the the cupola.  GORGEOUS!!

My pictures really don't do it justice. The colors were so vibrant and alive. I felt like I was in a dream world with color swirling all around.

See that Widow's Walk around the copula. We actually got to go out there and wall around. One of the stained glass windows raised. So we just had to duck our heads a little to walk outside. So exciting!!

On the front lawn is the largest magnolia tree in the state of Texas over 200 years old and 90 feet tall. Such a majestic tree for such a grand home

 

My sister and I had the very best time there. We will always cherish the many memories we made on this trip.

Good Bye Jefferson.

Random Photos of Jefferson, Texas

I hope you're not bored with Jefferson, Texas, because here's some more random photos. There is just so much history in the homes, businesses and people. And to think that the residents today are taking the time, money and effort to reconstruct their town. Amazing!

 

We took a ride down the Big Cypress Bayou one afternoon on the Turning Basin Riverboat Tour. Remember it was very hot and humid while we were there, so this was a welcome relief to the heat. It was so beautiful, so peaceful and quiet. John Nance who is a noted historian in Jefferson, was our guide. He told us about the history of the riverboat business along the Bayou, stories about the town, and information about the plants and wildlife of the area. We did get to see several deer in the woods and turtles and snakes in the water.  Too many snakes for me! The boats for touring have history themselves. They were bought in 1985 from Six Flags Over Texas.

We also took a mule and wagon tour of the town. Our guide gave us a wonderful history of the homes and town. I wish I could remember her name she was great. But, I did find out the names of the mules - Pat and Ida. The white house out the front of the wagon is the Schluter House, built in 1856. After the death of several of their children in the house, the family moved. Then, the Schluter house became a boarding house for the wives of riverboat captains. They could see the river from the widow's walk and know when their husband's boat came into town.

Have you ever seen a stop sign like this? It's dated 1926. They are bolted in the center of the brick streets. The back side is raised about three inches so you can see the words as you approach. The back side says "keep right."  I tripped over these several times when crossing the street and not looking down.

There are so many gorgeous homes that have been restored in Jefferson.  You'll find over one hundred buildings in Jefferson that have been awarded historical markers, and there are over forty bed and breakfasts, along with two historic hotels. The restoration began as early as 1940. The Jessie Allen Wise Garden Club began looking at tourism as a way to preserve and promote Jefferson. Thirty-six women belonging to the garden club bought their first house, restored it, and then sold it. They have continued to do this and have restored over 150 homes. They were also helpful in getting a law passed that any new buildings in the historic area would be built to look old.

I wanted to show you a few of the different styles of homes.

Old Presbyterian Manse/Roger's House

It is considered to be the oldest home still intact in Jefferson, Texas. It was built by General James Harrison Rogers, a prominent lawyer in the town. Rogers made his law library available to East Texas lawyers and students who read law in his office.

This is an example of the gardens in Jefferson.

This one is behind the Roger's House.

French Townhouse - 1861

This house has the original tin roof. You can't see it very well, but across the point of the roof the tin is scalloped and decorative.

The Plantation House - 1854

The double staircases leading to the front door were build so the women went up one side and the men the other side. Therefore men could not see the ladies ankles.

Beard House - 1860

Noble A. Birge, one of the first settlers of Jefferson, and a prominent merchant and civic leader built the Beard House.

Captain's Castle

The Captain's Castle, also known as the Rogers-McCasland home, was so named by Captain Thomas J. Rogers, a Confederate officer and local pioneer banker. In the early 1870's, he combined two older houses, one already located on the present site (the back part of the existing structure) and the two story front portion. He moved the front portion across town on log rollers pulled by oxen from down on the river front. The moved portion, built in the 1850's, is said to have been one of the town's most elaborate bawdy houses during its riverboat heydays.

We saw several of these rock homes in town. One of the early citizens wanted to build a home for his son using rock out of a farmers field. The farmer said he could have the rock he wanted, but he would have to take all the rocks in the field. He built a house for his son and then several others. They are beautiful rocks making such pretty houses.

Captain George Todd House - 1893

Capt. George Todd (1839-1913) was a Confederate veteran, ex-district attorney, former state legislator, and senior member of East Texas Bar. He built this home for his family. Descendants still own and preserve the structure.

There were so many homes. I took lots of pictures. But, I'll quit here. There's one more home I want to share, but it will take a whole post because it's the best!!