Santa Land

November 18th, 2010

As the Holidays are just around the corner one of the biggest attraction off of I-20 will open its gates November 1st. Santa Land is a drive thru display of Christmas lights. As you enter the magical land you are asked to turn your radio to their channel and listen to the music matching the light display.

Every time you drive thru Santa Land you discover something else. Santa Land has all different displays; your kids will love the tunnels of colorful lights, mermaids, elves, reindeer, and Santa’s workshop.

Santa Land has become a huge tradition for many families in East Texas. There is nothing like seeing a little kid’s face light up with excitement when they see the flashing, colorful lights. Many families will drive a truck out there, and after they park their other cars, their family will pile in the back of the truck with blankets and hot chocolate.

After you drive thru the first few light displays you will enter the displays of Precious Moments angels. Each “angel” is a remembrance of a child that had passed away. Santa Land has all different displays of the story of Jesus Christ from His birth, to His death on the cross, to Him raising from the dead.

You pay half way thru the display and pay either according to amount of people, or size of van or family car. After you have gone thru the light displays you can stop by the shop to find all different Christmas decorations and hot drinks. Santa Land is a great way to spend time with your family and celebrate Christmas together.

Tags: Blankets, Christmas Decorations, Christmas Lights, Colorful Lights, Drive Thru, East Texas, Elves, Excitement, Face Light, Hot Chocolate, Light Displays, Little Kid, Magical Land, Precious Moments Angels, Reindeer, Remembrance, Santa Land, Story Of Jesus, Story Of Jesus Christ, Tunnels, Tyler Texas
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The Goodman – LeGrand House & Museum

October 3rd, 2010

The Goodman – LeGrand House & Museum

624 N. Broadway Avenue

Tyler, Texas 75702

(903) 531-1286

www.goodmanmuseum.com

Hours: Tuesday – Saturday from 10:00am till 4:00pm

My wife has been wanting to visit The Goodman-Legrand House for years. We finally got a couple of days alone together to celebrate our anniversary. It was the perfect time for her to finally get to see that beautiful, historic old home. I’m glad we did.

Goodman Legrand Museum Tyler Texas

The house was built shortly before the Civil War in 1859 by Samuel Gallatin Smith. Smith was a well-to-do bachelor and attorney in Tyler. Smith built his “Bonnie Castle” on the highest point of the nine acres of land he had purchased. Back then it was just a one story, four bedroom home. When the Civil War began, Smith went off to war. Before he headed off to battle, however, Smith sold his beloved home to a man named Franklin N. Gary. In 1866, after the war, Franklin N. Gary sold the house to Dr. Samuel Adams Goodman.

In 1867, Dr. Samuel Goodman sold the house to his son Dr. William Jeffries Goodman. William Goodman bought the home to live in with his new bride. He had been a major in the Confederate Army as well as a general surgeon. He was not only a doctor, though. He was also a prosperous farmer. William and Mary had three children which they raised in this home. Their names were Sallie, Will, and Etta Goodman.

In 1893, the Goodman’s eldest daughter Sallie married James LeGrand and the two moved into the home along with William and Mary. It was Sallie who eventually inherited the house after her father’s death in 1921. Around 1880, a second story had been added to the house, and Sallie Goodman-LeGrand had the house remodeled again in 1926, changing it to a Greek Revival style with huge two-story columns, and rounded porticos. This was the final remodeling of the house. It has been kept to this day just the way it looked then.

Sallie and James LeGrand had one son, but unfortunately the child died at age two and the couple was never able to have anymore. When Sallie Goodman-LeGrand passed away in 1939 she left her home, the nine acres it sat on, and all the home’s furnishings and belongings to the city of the Tyler. It was her wish that the house would be turned into a museum to be enjoyed by future generations of Tylerites, Texans, and tourists.

The house is now a time capsule. The curator of the museum and her assistants have worked hard to recreate everything the way it would have been in Sallie’s day. Fortunately, Sallie left detailed journals for posterity. You can see photographs and paintings of the Goodman family and the house after the second story was added in 1880 and following its remodeling in 1926. The house is filled with beds, tables, chairs, glassware, clothing and mementos from the Goodman’s seventy-three year residence. The medical tools of Dr. William Jeffries Goodman are on display, along with Civil War documents and artifacts, keepsakes from Etta Goodman’s admirers, and a baby bottle from London which belonged to Sallie Goodman LeGrand’s baby. Sallie’s ancient wheel-chair where she spent the last years of her life is located on the second floor. The many balconies on the house provide wonderful views. The house is lovely inside and out. The fact that it has retained its furnishings etc. make it a treasure trove for lovers of history and vintage items. The grounds are also lovely and well maintained. My wife and I took a little stroll through the rose garden after our tour of the house. Well, not really a stroll. It was one hundred degrees outside. We hurried past the parched rose bushes and metal benches. But I am sure it is quite a lovely spot when it is not so hellishly hot out.

One other fascinating thing we learned about the house is that many of its treasures have yet to be discovered. There are still quite a few items in the attic of the house which the curator has to go through. One of the paintings of the house was just recently discovered. When the curator found it, the painting was covered in so much dust that she couldn’t tell what it was of. Now they have carefully restored it and prominently displayed it in one of the first-floor rooms. Who knows what they will discover next.

The house is available for group tours, presentations or meetings, bridal portraits and other special events. Just call ahead to (903) 531-1286 to schedule your visit. Also, every Christmas season, the house is fully decorated and opened to the public. Cider, cocoa, and cookies are served. Carols are sung. It sounds like a lot of fun. If you have any interest in history and the romance of the past, I highly recommend checking out the Goodman-LeGrand house and museum. Officially, admission to the Goodman-LeGrand house is free; however, they do suggest that everyone give a $2.00 donation to help with the restoration and upkeep of the home. Two bucks is nothing for a treasure like this. So don’t be a cheapskate. The house is open from 10:00am till 4:00pm on Tuesday through Saturday. The grounds and garden of the house are open to the public from 8:00am till 5:00pm.

Tags: Bachelor, Bonnie Castle, Civil War, Confederate Army, Couple Of Days, Dr William, Eldest Daughter, Farmer William, Goodman Legrand Museum, Goodman Legrand Museum Tyler Texas, Greek Revival Style, Legrand, Nine Acres, Perfect Time, Prosperous Farmer, Remodeling, Samuel Adams, Tyler Smith, Tyler Texas, Tyler Texas Museums, William And Mary, William Goodman, William Jeffries
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HAMMs Hangar Dance

August 26th, 2010

The very first article I wrote for Tyler TX Directory was a piece entitled World History is Down the Street, and It featured Tyler’s Historical Aviation Memorial Museum (HAMM).

In the past year and a half or so that I’ve been writing for the Directory I’ve referenced the museum a couple of times, including this past July when I covered a visit my son and I made to the museum’s annual static air show.

Well without meaning to write ad- nauseam on a particular topic I thought I would offer a little more free publicity to one of the HAMM’s upcoming fund raising events.

Obviously, the Aviation Museum is a favorite in my house. We usually visit every couple of months or so, and that’s not counting the evenings we’ve spent sitting on the car while parked in the parking lot watching the planes take off and land.

Well it seems this September the museum is holding another event to help raise money for museum improvements and expenses. It’s called a Hanger Dance and features big band swing jazz of the 1940s courtesy of The Tyler Big Band, as well as period aircraft and other vehicles as a backdrop to the evening.

Guests are encouraged to dress in theme although it’s certainly not required. In the interest of full disclosure, I do like jazz, history, and airplanes but dancing is just not something I tend to enjoy.

In fact I reserve the activity fairly exclusively for weddings. But for those who do enjoy the activity, I can only imagine that this would be a really great event! Combine terrific music with the romance of the 1940s and the Second World War and you’ve got a really neat event.

The Dance will be held on Saturday, September twenty fifth, at Tyler Jet Center, right next to the Museum, and will be catered by the Skyline Café, which is also housed in the Museum building.

The evening begins at six pm and runs until about ten. Admission is not particularly cheap at forty dollars per person, but proceeds go to a good cause. This is not the first such dance the HAMM has held by the way. In the past events like this one have helped to raise much- needed funds for museum improvements.

For more information, on either the Museum or the Hanger Dance, visit their web page at http://www.tylerhamm.org/. To read my other articles on the Aviation Museum and its events simply click on the following links: http://www.tylertxdirectory.com/1236/world-history-is-down-the-street/, or http://www.tylertxdirectory.com/3027/celebrating-the-4th-in-tyler-tx/.

Tags: Ad Nauseam, airplane museum, Aviation Museum, Band Swing, Evening Guests, Free Publicity, Full Disclosure, Hangar Dance, Historical Aviation, Jazz History, Jet Center, Museum Hamm, Other Vehicles, Period Aircraft, Second World War, Static Air, Swing Jazz, Terrific Music, Tx Directory, Tyler Jet, Tyler TX, tyler tx dance
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Grapeland Drive thru Safari

July 22nd, 2010

Texas has always been land rich! Given the size of our great state I guess it was inevitable that we would be on the lookout for unique ways to use the land that we have. In the past few months I’ve investigated and written on a number of people’s imaginative uses of our area’s rolling hills and sprawling country side. I’ve read about balloon races, zip-line tours, water parks, big game preserves, and drive-through wild life parks. Among the latter is the Cherokee Trace Drive thru Safari Park. My impression of this park was very positive, but little did I realize that there is another such refuge in Grapeland.

The Grapeland Drive thru Safari boasts three hundred fifty animals including: zebras, buffalo, llamas, axis deer, fallow deer, camel, kangaroo, and many other species. They are located a mile to the north of the City of Grapeland, on fifty nine acres of natural habitat. So how do the two area safaris compare? Well based on the reading that I have done, much smaller and the animals and exotic species less numerous. They do have a barrel train that visitors can ride around the park for only ten dollars a seat (or barrel). The train is pulled slowly around park by a mower or a four wheeler. This is great option for those bringing a group of The Grapeland Safari is actually quite a bit cheaper. Although it seems the park is school children or other youngsters. They also offer a bounce house to young visitors at the rate of a dollar for five minutes.

From what I can tell, Cherokee Trace is definitely a larger, more developed site. Visitors pay more but the experience seems more centered on the park itself as well as the animals. Either stop would probably be memorable and enjoyable for the kids, but I suggest paying a bit more for what appears to me to be a more educational experience. For those interested in Grapeland, or if readers want to compare the two parks the websites are as follows: www.grapelanddrivethrusafari.com, and www.cherokeetrace.org. Readers can also search this site for my original article on Cherokee Trace entitled simply Cherokee Trace Drive Through.

After revisiting my original article I found a reader wrote about a rather negative experience he’d had at Cherokee Trace. I’d be interested in the experiences of other visitors to either park. Is his experience unique or common? Hopefully others had better experiences than that of this particular reader.

Tags: Axis Deer, Balloon Races, Big Game, Bounce House, Cherokee Trace, Drive Thru Safari Texas, Educational Experience, Fallow Deer, Four Wheeler, Game Preserves, Grapeland Safari, Kangaroo, Natural Habitat, Nine Acres, Rolling Hills, Safari Park, Trace Drive, Water Parks, Wild Life, Zebras
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Four Winds Renaissance Festival

April 18th, 2010

My family visited the Four Winds Renaissance Festival yesterday and had a pretty good time. We went on Saturday as they are only open Saturday’s and Sundays. They stay open until 7 pm for a few months out of the year. When we drove in we were immediately impressed with how many cars were there. This place was packed and this was our first time at a Reni Fair so we really had no idea what to expect.

Once in the park a lady directed us to go up the hill where some medieval games were about to begin. We went up the hill and they were playing this Scottish log tossing game. You basically hold this 12 foot log post and run with it. As it begins to fall you fling it up and try to get it to hit the ground on the post end and flip over. I got to give it a try and mine hit the post end and then fell off to the side. Whaah!

After that we went all the way up the hill to this weird contraption called the Crow’s Nest. This thing is a long telephone pole anchored in the ground with a Mary go round looking thing at the bottom of it. There are at least 4 cables tied at the top of the post and threaded into 4 sides of the marry go round. A guy manually grabs the marry go round and cranks it around the pole several times.

I forgot to mention me and a 3 year old nephew got in it and were a little uncertain as it didn’t look like it would hold up and made a lot of creaking noises. The rickety nature of this ancient carnival ride really added to the experience and we came away dizzy but excited. The guy who encouraged us on and spinner us around offered us a free ride but we went ahead and gave him some money for his trouble.

From here we went further up the hill and found some very pretty horses in stables. We had the kids pet the horses and watched them for a little while. From the top of the hill we could see the entire park and decided where we would go from here.

We started back down the hill but took an alternate route. We bought some handmade jewelry and went in to an area where a fire spitter and eater was performing. After that show we watched some sword fighters go at it using real time period swords that had been blunted. Some of these people were part of the same family. I had a good time watching these guys sword fight and you could tell they really practice this art.

Afterwards the sword fighting leader had a history session around a medieval looking table where he discussed ancient medieval culture and history with a twist. He told some PG 13 rated stuff about medicinal type of things they used and some of this stuff was mixtures of things that many time had pot as an ingredient. The kids started getting bored of the lesson and so we left.

We left after this and unfortunately missed the jousting event. We recommend the Four Winds Renaissance Festival to those looking for something different to do in East Texas. There are things to do in Tyler and East TX after all kids!

On your way to the festival you will want to stop at Ribmasters for East Texas best ribs. I think you will find that i am not fibbing. Ribmasters is next to Brookshires grocery store off of 110 in Whitehouse. Bruce Brookshire died on Friday and our prayers go out to him and his family. The Brookshires family has a business with a solid christian family culture. There aren’t as many businesses like this anymore and we just want to say how we appreciate their family and what they are about.

Tags: 4 winds Renaissance festival, Alternate Route, Cables, Carnival, Contraption, Cranks, Foot Log, Four Winds, four winds Renaissance festival, Free Ride, Good Time, Grabs, Handmade Jewelry, Many Cars, Medieval Games, Nephew, Pretty Horses, Renaissance Festival, Reni, Several Times, Telephone Pole, Top Of The Hill, whitehouse Texas
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Recent Posts

Santa Land

The Goodman – LeGrand House & Museum

HAMMs Hangar Dance

Grapeland Drive thru Safari

Four Winds Renaissance Festival