May 17 – “Harry Potter-ed”

In the midst of all the craziness yesterday I forgot to mention that we have a new addition to the family.  A genuine stuffed alligator.  Miniature.  Very rare, I’m told.  Not to be confused with his cousin the crocodile, which I might add, I am constantly prone to do.  I do thank Andrea for the name suggestion.  Calvin the Crocodile would be an awesome name.  This guy, however, will be henceforth and forever (or until I forget) be known as Argyle Archimedes Alligator … Vaughan, of course, but we didn’t want him to forget his roots.  Argyle is a town somewhere north of Fort Worth.  Maybe we’ll go there someday.  I just like how it sounds.  Archimedes was arguably one of the world’s greatest scientists.  And it’s always great fun when great scientists argue with one another. 

We started our full day of sightseeing in Nacogdoches with a hike.  Well, we wanted it to be a hike.  We were promised waterfalls and a giant sculpture.  We followed the instructions, however, and ended up at a very nice little family park with a large Doggie Park sectioned off and a bus full of school children playing on the playground.  Oh there was a trail, and we walked it.  Took about 10 minutes.  We were passed four or five times by an ex-Marine who was jogging back and forth.  Back to the car for a re-check and we found an “alternate sight.”  There it was.  Complete with a waterfall of at least a foot, maybe a foot and a half.  But the absolute highlight of the trip was Ab’s Chair.  It was a gigantic sculpture of … a lawn chair.  I crawled up into it for a picture of course.  I can go home now …

But we didn’t.  We went to downtown and the visitor’s center.  There we got directions to the Fire Museum in the NFD administration building.  I was recognized by Fire Chief Kiplinger.  He spoke at a pinning ceremony in Galveston and we met then.  Great memory, Keith.  He introduced us to their version of Trish, and she showed us the museum. 

Next we walked down to City Hall.  Larissa, a young lady who was a mere babe when we knew her parents back at South Oaks Baptist Church in the 80’s and early 90’s, is now a bigwig in city government. So we stopped by to say hi.  Her parents now live in Galveston.  She gave us a good recommendation for lunch.

Next we went to the house where Sam Houston was baptized and where Davey Crockett spent the night a few times.  It was named after the two owners – the Sterne-Hoya (pronounced Hoo-yah) House.

Then we did some driving. 

Zion Baptist Church.  Beautiful old building with a pattern of triple trinity symbols all over the architecture. 

Oak Grove Cenetery.  Couldn’t get in there.  They were working on the entrance gate.

Old University of Nacogdoches building.

Then we stopped at the second oldest house in town.  The oldest was that Sterne-Hooyah place. 

Then it was The Old Stone Fort on the campus of Stephen F. Austin State University.  We parked in a restricted area, but school was out, so apparently no one cared.  That was just a replica, but the museum inside was pretty impressive.  I gotta say, though, that the two docents were pretty creepy.  Both young men were college students.  They just followed us around, lurking in case we had questions. 

Then we went back downtown to do some shopping.  We went to a few antique stores.  One old guy had his shop set up just like they do on TV.  Ever watched the TV show Hoarders?  He should be on it.  Stuff piled everywhere.  We would have stayed longer, but it was just unbearably hot inside. 

Out of all those shops not even one stuffed animal needed to come back home with us.  It was sad.  Chris did find something she has been looking everywhere for.  A wooden rolling pin.  Should I be happy about that?

We finally headed back to the hotel.  Even took a short cut, and it worked (of course).  We crashed for a while, then went for a bowl of soup at Chili’s.  We thought that cleared us for the evening.  Nope.

I turned on ESPN to watch some baseball highlights and realized my glasses were all smeared.  I pulled out the special cloth for cleaning, and the glasses proceeded to … break right in half.  Yep.  Right in between the lenses.  I don’t have a spare pair of glasses, either.  We got back in the car and drove to the local WalMart optometrist.  They might have had a frame that would fit, but the lenses wouldn’t cooperate in coming out of the old frame.  The lady refused to force them because that would make her liable.  Of course it would.  So I did what any self-respecting young wizard trapped in a Muggle world without magic would do.  I bought some adhesive tape and Harry Potter-ed them together.  Here’s hoping they last until we get home and I can get to our frame guys.  That’s enough, OK?  On to Diboll for the funeral tomorrow.

Psalms 62:11-12 says, “One thing God has spoken, two things have I heard: that you, O God, are strong, and that you, O Lord, are loving.”

Father, keep us safe for the rest of this very strange adventure.  Thanks.  Amen.