Tag Archives: Texas

The Butterfly Garden at Acton Nature Center

The Acton Nature Center of Hood County is a very special place and today I visited their butterfly garden. I did come here last year, but the summer was extra dry and the butterflies were limited. But this year there were a ton of butterflies in the garden. They looked like Monarch’s to me at first, but now I’m pretty sure they were queen butterflies and maybe a couple of monarchs and some smaller yellow ones. While I was there I also caught sight of some brilliant cardinals and a little grey hummingbird. Also some huge grasshoppers and dragonflies. And while it was cooler than last year (just in the mid-90s) it was still too hot for me to take the longer walk. Someday I’ll do that.  Admission is free.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

 

Acton Nature Center

image

I suspect I visited the Acton Nature Center when it wasn’t at its best. The weather was that special hot that it gets in Texas in the summer and many of the plants were suffering from a long dry spell. But it was still great! The Acton Nature Center is located at 6900 Smoky Hill Ct., Granbury, TX 76049 and has been around for more than a decade. Because of the heat, I didn’t explore the entire center, but I did venture to the butterfly gardens which was lovely. There were a couple of butterflies and a huge lizard, as well as an air conditioned structure used to view birds (that day it was cardinals and hummingbirds).

The volunteer was very welcoming and informative and suggested walking the loop down near the pond, which was wooded and a tad cooler. Sadly the pond wasn’t there! I’m sure it will be back after some rain.

I’d love to go visit in the Spring when the wildflowers are blooming and it is cooler. The volunteers that have created this center should be very proud of their efforts.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

image

Veteran’s Memorial at Holly Hills Memorial Park in Granbury

image

I was out traveling around and found this Veteran’s Memorial at the Holly Hills Memorial Park.  I can find absolutely nothing about it! But its striking memorial and I’m glad to have seen it. The flag photo is from somewhere else (now where was I?)image

image

John Wilks Booth may have lived in Granbury, TX

imageCatching up from the Texas trip

There is some debate on the fate of John Wilks Booth. Most say he was killed by Federal soldiers who had tracked him down at the Garrett Farm.

But the more interesting theory is that the wrong man was killed at Garrett Farm, Booth escaped to Granbury, TX, changed his name to John St. Helen and tended bar in what is now the Nutshell Cafe. While extremely sick, St. Helen made a death bed confession, but then he recovered. Since his story was then out there, he needed to leave town. He went to Enid, Oklahoma where he committed suicide. A book, Escape and Suicide of John Wilkes Booth by Finis Bates, was written about this (that part is for sure true). Bates later gained control of St. Helen/Booth’s body and exhibited in carnival sideshows.

So, that explains where there is a mural featuring John Wilks Booth next to his wanted poster and near a picture of Lincoln. The mural also features the Lady in Red, who was suppose to be the love of Booth’s life. And on the other wall is Davy Crockett. The Nutshell Cafe is reportedly haunted by the Lady in Red with her boyfriend, Booth, supposedly haunts the adjacent Granbury Opera House.

On a lighter note, I found the coffee to be good at the Nutshell Cafe and would be glad to go back to try the ice cream.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Jesse James Grave (maybe)

image

Catching up from the Texas trip.

A dear friend of the family and I had a summer goal of finding the alleged grave of Jesse James in the Granbury Cemetery. We had tried last summer, but had no luck in the approaching dark. This time we set out in early evening and found Jessie’s grave, as well as Granbury’s grave and the burial site of an amputated arm.

Granbury (sometimes seen as Granberry) is the namesake of the town. As far as I can tell he never lived in Granbury, but his body was exhumed (for the second time) and buried here. There is also a gravesite for his wife, Fannie Granbury, though she isn’t buried there. She died at the young age of 25 and is in an unmarked grave in Alabama which is where she died of natural causes.

The buried arm is that of W. H. Holland who lost his arm in a childhood accident on November 16, 1895. The rest of Mr. Holland died sometime later and is buried elsewhere in the cemetery. The photo that shows that is of three above ground tombs. The arm is in the middle and there are infants to either side.

History tells us that the outlaw Jesse James was killed by a member of his gang in 1882 for the reward money. However, relatives of James say that his death was faked and it is really somebody else buried in Missouri in a grave labeled Jessie James.  The story goes that James was even a pallbearer at his own funeral! James took the alias of J. Frank Dalton and settled in Granbury eventually passing away in 1951 at the age of 103. Apparently toward the end of his life he even confessed. At the bottom of his headstone (look hard!) it says “supposedly killed in 1882”.

Haunted Granbury by Brandy Herr is full of interesting stories and well worth reading.

 

 

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Texas Longhorn

imageI was on my way to get milkshakes at Sonic (1/2 price after 8 pm) when I came upon this handsome fellow. He let me snap a couple of photos and then moseyed along to find better plants to nibble on. The Texas Longhorn can have horns that go up to 7′ across.

I went on to see if there was a nice sunset and found a crane. And that was my night.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Granbury’s Sink Hole

imageOn Mother’s Day 2015 the parking lot next to Brookshires collapsed into a sinkhole and athorities have been working on the repair ever since. The incessant rains that month were the cause of the 8′ storm drain collapsing, which in turn caused the sinkhole which drained into Lake Granbury/Brazos River. To see the sinkhole was it was and other photos of the flooding problems caused by the rains, check here. The Google map capture below shows the site before collapse. I suspect that Brookshires is no longer using their drive through pharmacy.

image imagesink

Storiebook Cafe, Glen Rose

14732961299_4eb2b1ff8e_kFlashback! I realized that I never published this lovely summary memory of Storiebook Cafe where mom and I had lunch one hot summer day. Their Facebook Page is here.

Storiebook Cafe in Glen Rose, TX is a delightful combination of two of my favorite things, food and books.  Mom and I went for lunch, a cub of soup & a turkey/avocado wrap for me and a Reubin & soup for her. Both were really good. We shared the blueberry cobbler for dessert.

14919289382_ffecd119ce_k 14732980460_1059a37f92_k 14919937915_c24165fe9d_kmenu

The Sunset Over Lake Granbury

14725599120_d3f93e9119_bIt took me a while to find a place to shot the sunset over Lake Granbury, but in the end I found two, one from the Irby’s Restaurant parking lot and the one from the parking lot of a near by apartment complex.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.