HOMESTEAD HERITAGE AND ARMSTRONG BROWNING LIBRARY

Wouldn't you know that my camera's battery went low when I got to Homestead Heritage, located in the town of Brazos de Dios which includes a 510-acre working farm. The best way to describe this attraction is as if it were one of those "living history museums" where people are dresses in costumes of that era and you go hopping to different buildings. The difference is that it's in the present and people are not in any costumes, but more simple clothing to do their crafts.

I began the tour with the barn, where I met Howard Henderson for a tour. The barn houses the main gift shop of wares crafted by the employees at the other buildings: woodworking, where they made furniture, instruments, walking sticks, etc.; pottery, where I was taught to craft a vase; heritage forge, which had silversmiths making items such as wrought-iron tables; gristmill, grinding wheat to make flour for baking and mixes; fiber crafts, where they break down and spin fiber for fabrics; and a restaurant and bakery. You can purchase items from each of the buildings as well as the barn.

I'm not sure where they make cheese, but that is one of the many courses taught here. Imagine being out of a job, changing careers, or retired and wanting to learn crafts. Learn homestead skills to include farm animals, growing herbs, raising poultry and gardening. Kitchen skills such as bread making and soap making. Workshop crafts include pottery, basketry, blacksmithing, sewing, knitting, spinning and weaving.

It's the visitors center that houses the cafe. Normally I would not order a hamburger. The meat comes from the cattle on the premises. They are making their own cheese. Any veggies are grown on the property. The bun is made from the wheat at the grist mill. I had their fresh made ice cream for dessert.

I got that they open Monday to Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

It was an early start the next day as I got a tour of the Armstrong Browning Libary and Museum located in the campus of Baylor University in Waco. It's renowned for its Robert Browning and Elizabeth Browning collections. The biggies are the great bronze door depicting themes from Robert Browning's poetry, 62 stained glass windows and antique furniture that reflects the lives of the two poets.

You can view some of the poetry on the stained glass windows, check out the Austin Moore-Elizabeth Barrett Browning Salon.

What does Browning and Italy have in common? Guardian Angels, the patron organization for the library. It is in reference to Robert Browning's poem, "The Guardian Angel: A Picture at Fano." He was inspired to compose the poem after viewing Guercino's painting of the same name that hangs in Fano, Italy a town and comune of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region. You can view this stained glass window and if you go to Fano, you can view the painting.

CAMERON PARK ZOO

There is this wonderful park in Waco called Cameron Park. Along with lots of areas for playing the park has a zoo. I had the opportunity to do a behind-the-scenes tour here and loved it. So did Esther and Eunice. After seeing this beautifully marked tiger, we got to watch an orangutan being trained and not necessarily to do tricks. It was more for the trainers to be able to inspect the health of the animal. Onto dragons. This one was small compared to the size that they grow to.

Next came some cute meerkats, a lion and then onto my feeding and petting a giraffe. From there it was a leopard and tortoise. There are loads of king vultures all around that even mingle with the bears. Also an island of lemurs.

AWAKEN TO WACO, TEXAS

It never occurred to me that a city such as Waco would keep me occupied for a few days. I think of larger Texas cities such as Dallas and Houston to keep me busy. Waco, as it turns out, is about an hour plane ride from the Dallas/Fort Worth airport.

That Dallas airport is huge and just getting to the next plane to Waco was a trip in itself. Arriving, I checked into the Hilton Waco that looked out upon the Brazos River. I had use of the VIP lounge that gave me access to breakfast, snacks, refreshments and a spread of some pretty good food during the early evening.

Rather than "dine" there, I opted to eat at Diamond Back's restaurant, located within walking distance from the hotel. In fact there was a shopping center of restaurants and the River Square Center's Spice Village on the second floor of what was previously a set of warehouses.

A tower of tuna was the opening to my meal. Chopped raw tuna atop rice and guacamole with seaweed salad. Needless to say, I had to have a steak for my entree. Steak stuffed with crab meat and a few large shrimp.

The next morning I was off to Uncle Dan's BBQ to see how they make both their delicious smoked meats as well as their famous potato salads. They have two of which they are most known for their "White Potato Salad". I not only watched them make six batched but hand tossed one of them. The Idaho potatoes are cooked, pealed and then sit for a bit to cool before the process. Rather than sliced, they are put into a machine that sort of chops it. Placed into large pans, the ingredients are added in a particular order. If I remember correctly, it included chopped onions, garlic powder, salt, mayonnaise, parsley and one special ingredient that really makes the taste.

As for the meats, the secret to the taste and juiciness lies in the oven, which looks more like a huge rotisserie. The meat is placed on the rack and as it goes around, the juices fall upon the other meats. BBQ sauce is added afterward.
I later returned for lunch to taste test all. It was truly the best BBQ I've encountered anywhere and as for the potato salad, it was addicting-ly scrumptious. I dare to find a restaurant to top this one. There was also a yellow potato salad which basically differed in that mustard and some other ingredients were added.


A tour is the Texas Ranger Hall of Fame and Museum was next on the list. The Texas Rangers were used to deal with law breaking that involved more than one county in Texas. Yes, there was a thing on the Lone Ranger as well as Texas Walker Ranger. History, exhibits and photos of current rangers could be viewed that included three women.