It dawned another lovely day today, just right for our trip to the Park.
We set off after a leisurely breakfast, the park is about an hour's drive away! I had to ask Mr Google for help as Mudjie was not quite sure which road to go down. The roads had changed since she was last there but we finally found it and parked at the visitor Centre.
We wandered round the gift shop and I purchased a couple of fridge magnets. We then went outside and as we walked we saw many Texas Bluebonnets and Indian paintbrush flowers. 
We were heading for the replica of the building where 59 people signed the Declaration of Independence from Mexico thus making Texas a Republic, this occurred on March 2, 1836. At almost the same time, the outnumbered force of Texians was defendng the Alamo from the Mexican Army and on March 6 was finally defeated. Instead of filling all Texians with fear, this defeat along with the cruelty of the Mexican commander, saw many Texians and Americans, flock to join the armyon April
The history around the Alamo, what led to the battle and afterwards can be found at the following link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Alamo
I find it very ironic that the Mexican Army came into the area (Texas), which at that time officially belonged to Mexico, due to the increasing number of illegal immigrants from the US!! Oh my, how the worm has turned!!
The museum is very interesting to visit as it contains many artefacts from the mid 19th Century. These show clearly what living conditions were like, various tools of different trades, and so on. 
There was also a large collection of maps dating from the 16th century and drawn by explorers from different countries. They showed the different boundaries over the centuries.
As we walked up the ramp to the second floor we saw a line of plaques that give a historical perspective to many events. 
Each of these plaques has a logo in the top left corner, the outline of Texas, the outline of the USA or a Globe. Thus one can events that happened in certain times across all three areas.
There is a very interesting twenty minute video about the Republic, well worth watching.
Texas was a republic for over nine years until it became the 28th US state at the end of 1845.
In all, there were 6 presidents of the Republic of Texas, one of whom, Sam Houston, served for two different terms.
The last president was Dr Anson Jones and his original home, that was moved to the area in 1936, forms the centrepiece of the Barrington Living History Farm!
We drove to the farm and walked round, it was very quiet and we only saw two people dressed in clothing from the 1850's.
As we walked round the farm we saw cattle, turkeys and more chickens we then passed the Corn and Cotton Crib, Barn, Slave Quarters and Hogpen. 
A few of the field crops were starting to show some green shoots but it is a bit early for much more than that. All the outbuildings have been built as replicas of the times and the notes Dr Jones made were very helpful
The house is built of pine, oak and cedar and is of the dogtrot design. This means it has a large walk through area in the middle of the house covered by the roof and, in the summer, people basically lived out there.
it was designed to catch the breeze to cool people down!
The large master bedroom, which also housed the two youngest children, and a smaller second bedroom were on the left with the parlour and dining room on the right. 
The bedroom for the older children was on the upper level with very steep steps leadnig to it so it is not deemed safe for the general public.
Walking through the dogtrot and out the other side we saw the kitchen which was a separate buidling, there was also a washing line, smokehouse and chicken coop along with a kitchen garden.
it was then time to head home and on the way we stopped for a coffee at the Classic Rock Cafe and Kitchen in Navasota. it was very cool inside and they have a rock festival in the town every year. The coffee was good too!
We arrived home to the sight of a large branch that had fallen from a tree and it was blocking the upper drive. Mudjie rang her daughter, Heather who was coming round for tea, to see if she had a chainsaw but hers was broken! She pulled the branch round when she arrived so it was not blocking the drive.
Robert cooked us a great tea of ham, scalloped potatoes and peas. We sat around and chatted until Heather left to go home. It was time for our Bailey's and ice before I headed off to shower and bed.
Saturday
Last night, Ziva, came into my room, she investigated my luggage and clothers. and then we played for quite a while with her partly under the bed.
It was a cloudy day today, Robert and Mudjie went out to the Home Depot to buy a chain saw, lol, I did some packing! Other than that, Mudjie took us to a Starbucks for a coffee and we got caught in a thunderstorm with very heavy rain and strong wind gusts. We finally managed to escape, lol, and drove home, a wee bit damp!!
It was still heavy rain when we arrived home and for a while later but it eventualy cleared and it was a pleasant evening. We went out for tea to a Chinese restaurant and the food was good, I had Sweet and Sour Pork, and it was served with the sauce separate!
Afterwards, they gave us Fortune Cookies, Robert had one about travel and I had one about new adventures, lol!
Mudjie and I enjoyed our last Bailey's before I went up to bed and finalised my packing before heading to sleep.
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