In the Beyond: The Texas Civil War Museum

If you are ever in and around the Dallas/Ft. Worth Texas area please be sure to save time to go and visit the Texas Civil War Museum.  For us westerners it was the closest look yet we have had at some semi hands on experience with the Civil War.  And yes I know it pales into the experiences that we could have if went to visit some of the sites back East, but we have yet to make it that far.  We do hope to remedy that as soon as financially possible.  This museum also included gallery of women's clothing up to the Edwardian Era. 

You should have seen the look on Miss C's face when she realized what was making the dress form's bum so big.  She just couldn't fathom why any one would want to make their bum bigger or use a corset.  Especially after she got a good look at what a corset did to a person spine.  I could just imagine my chiropractor having a heart attack over that!
The rest of the style, the fabric, the lace and flowing gowns, was Miss C's dream come true.

A "behind" the scenes look at bustles.

The museum gave a heavy dose of Texas' involvement in the Civil war and putting views on slavery aside, it is one to be proud of.

As usual, the boys were drawn to imagining life with a musket and a change of clothes.

Miss C and I were drawn to the hand work of quilts, knitting and embroidery.

If it isn't guns for the boys, its swords.

We enjoyed learning about Prominent men and even a few women who lived their lives in this era and through the war.

A little boys dress up uniform of the era.

Drums and bugles.  High on the list of my scout boys.  We came home with a reproduction bugle.  The process has been slow to put out a bugle call with it.  I am making headway and the rest... are making a noise somewhat resembling a dying buffalo.

We liked that they had an interactive treasure hunt of sort for the kids to work on but I would love to see some more interactive things for children there. Thanks to Grandma L. for the great outing

Ft. Richardson State Park Part II, The Morgue

So the last part of Ft. Richardson we got to look at was the morg.  It was an empty stone room with 1 wooden coffin.  Yes... lets get our picture taken in a coffin....

Please don't close the door.

I can't believe mom is making me do this...

Goodbye Ft. Richardson... you were a great find!

Ft. Richardson State Park Part II- The Hospital.

Our next stop at Ft. Richardson State Park was the Army Hospital. It was by far the favorite of all their buildings. I could have spent a whole lot more time there asking questions and just examining all the items. I really appreciated how they tried to make things look as if it was in use and that the let us handle most of the items.
Even things like this urinal/bedpan!

Washing clothes the hard way...
Or pretend that we were housekeepers ironing linens fresh.

The civil war style uniforms.

The Dr.'s office was filled with unique specimens for inspection.

Imagining all the paperwork that a Dr. Must do and Mr. A was wishing for a desk like this to do his school work on at home.


The Mess hall was staged with pretend food. We appreciated him letting us cross the barrier line to get an up close look. Things like this is one of the advantages of being a homeschooler and coming during non-peak hours and being the only ones there. We either get lots of one on one attention or are just free to explore as we choose.
The pictures of the kitchen didn't come out to well, but I think I will let you know that in the evening when meals were done... it became the room where autopsies were done. I will never look at that butcher knife the same again.

The Apothecary was my favorite part of the hospital. I loved the jars... you know how much I love jars.

The room with all the beds... This historical site was so into the reproduction of this hospital they even stained the bed sheets to LOOK like blood and other stains...

Ladies and Gentlemen, the original composting toliet. And you thought it was just the really "green" people who thought that up! I would sure hate to be the housekeeping assigned to that. It makes me thankful for outhouses. Ok... I will admit.... for modern plumbing!

And of course... the bath. I would like to just have one of these to put some garden plants in.

Let's pretend... we are injured soldiers. Someone please nurse us back to health.

In The Beyond: Ft. Richardson State Park, Jacksboro, TX Part I

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Our trip to Ft. Richardson State Park in Texas was a blast. We got to tour several buildings and so I will have to break down each into smaller parts.
Up first is the Nature Center and the Officer's Quarters.

The nature center there was a small cabin jammed paced with preserved and taxedermied nature items
The kids could basically handle everything and get a view of what all kinds of nature could be found nearby. The bugs... were especially large and GROSS.

Our family has a soft spot for owls. It is sort of our family animal for nature school. We have a stuffed toy one that goes on all our campouts. Sort of like a state bird... a family bird.

The Officer's Quarters was in a nice house; it was sparingly furnished and decorated but there were some nice things for us to consider and examine.


The Crocodile rug was definitely something that caught our eye.


Uhm... yeah... we weren't prepared for that to be in the closet.

You guessed it.. Miss C loved the dolls. No idea why they would be in the Officer's Quarters.
I could enjoy a good meal here.

A US Congressional Medal of Honor. Mr. A had been taking a class on those (though more specifically the Vietnam War Recipients, so it was nice to see one in person.

The writing desk. Mr. A too a particular liking to this. He so loves to write in his own journal and was wanting a little writing desk set up like that. I had seen one at a craft show in CA in November. I think I see a perfect gift idea for him. They call them lap desks. Here's one on Etsy.
Oh... I guess I am including some from the little museum at the front. The kids enjoyed trying on the hats and imagining themselves as soldiers
I think Miss C. would love a pretty outfit from any era in history.

Here is the initial building.