Tag: family friendly vacations

One Perfect Spot for Kids- Lehnis Train Museum, Brownwood, Texas

One Perfect Spot for Kids- Lehnis Train Museum, Brownwood, Texas

Holly K. Ross

When thinking of perfect places to tote a trio of grandkids on a road trip, Brownwood, Texas might not be the first place that pops in your head. However, Brownwood does have a lot to offer. One of those cool offerings is the Lehnis Train Museum. Daughter #3 is in her last semester at Howard Payne University in Brownwood, Texas. She also just celebrated her 22nd birthday, so on a whim, Tony and I decided to take a road trip with the trio.

We were super impressed with the space and scale of this museum. The kids loved all the model trains and watching them speed along the tracts. The volunteers are fantastic. The fellow running the model trains was also building new cars and engines as he spoke to us. We learned a lot and will avoid a lot of mistakes when we start building a set of our own.

The museum offers a lot of interactive exhibits. The play area is quite large and offered a lot for the kids to build and interact with, the trio spent about an hour and a half in this area and cried when we said it was time to go. The time spent here was so fun. You could see their brains working as they manipulated the levers, latches, and physics demonstrations. No one asked for a video all day!

But, the highlight of the day was the mini train that we got to ride. The cost is $2.00 per person (4 and under are free) in addition to the entrance fee which is $4.00 per person (4 and under are free). And this was the best spent $2.00 ever! The conductors were fun and let the kids blow the horn at the end of the ride.

Brownwood, Texas offers a lot of fun, low key family fun. The train museum is not the only attraction in Brownwood. You can learn more about Brownwood and other great places in Texas if you look in the Texas Travels category over on the sidebar. I have been traveling with kids for almost 30 years, and simple is a good thing.

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What To Look At In Galveston

What To Look At In Galveston

Holly K. Ross

I have the pleasure of living in the East End Historical District in Galveston. This is the original spot where the city grew up first.

We even have ruins that a pirate called home.

With such an old place comes beautiful and diverse architecture. I walk about 20 miles a week with my husband and I never grow tired of looking around.

Here are a few of my favorites:

Think Southern Florida Is Just For Old Folks? Think Again…

Think Southern Florida Is Just For Old Folks? Think Again…

Holly K. Ross

While continuing on the Road Less Traveled we traveled south from Ft. Pierce a few miles and explored Bathtub Reef.  Located at the south end of Hutchison Island, Bathtub Reef Park is a must for snorkeling.  Tubeworms have built a reef by cementing bits of sand and shell creating reef rocks that look like honeycomb.  The reef creates a shallow swim area with very mild waves.  Which makes for a great day of just wading and looking at all the see life.  We picked up shells with our toes and took turns snorkeling out to the reef.  If it weren’t for the amazing sea life that we watched such as sea urchins, clown fish, and brightly colored coral, this would have just been a lazy day at the beach.  But the underwater world we got to be a part of made this no ordinary day at the beach.

Bathtub Reef Park, Florida

 

 

We were told to go early as the parking lot fills up quick- so we did.  We arrived about 8:30 and had the whole place to ourselves.

What happened next might have scared off the faint of heart- we watched a group of sharks feeding.

Here’s the thing- sharks don’t like to eat people they like bait fish.  Bait fish swim in schools that do not stay in one place for long.  We simply waited till the schools had moved on till we played in the sea.

Two sissy-boy fishermen walked past and were all freaked out telling us that we were crazy to swim there that day.  Whatever- any real fishermen would know that there are sharks in the ocean each and every day.  We had a blast and returned to our condo with all of our limbs and digits intact.

 

picnic at Bathtub Reef Park, Florida

We took along our lunch as this area is not jammed up with tourists and restaurants.  Dinning Alfresco is more fun, anyway.  Another thing this beach did not have much of was sea gulls- we have tried many times to picnic on the beach only to have to hide in the Excursion until we were done as the gulls would dive bomb our sandwiches.  But once again we thought it would be a good idea- I can’t explain why we kept thinking it would work but I guess it’s just that hope springs eternal in the human heart.  And this time it did work!  And it was just as great as we thought it would be.

Sierra Reading at the beach

Napping on the beach

Of course, after you eat you should definitely take a nap.

Bathtub Reef Florida

birds Bathtub Reef Park

There may not have been gulls, but there were lots of these birds.  They enjoyed the bread we tossed to them but were very polite and never approached us much less bullied us like the sea gulls would have.

We really enjoyed ourselves.  Dakota, Savannah, and Jonathan returned to the reef before we came home.  The snorkeled for hours and Jonathan got to break in his new gear that he bought with his spending money.

Surrounding the beach are some very nice homes, we were all discussing what it would be like to live in one and see this sight everyday- would it get old?  I doubt it , beauty is timeless.  I do think I would certainly be inspired to write a novel.  I just don’t see how you could resist.

This is a free park and it is so nice.  I can’t say enough about the fun we had and the unique little gem of a reef sitting just yards off the beach.  If you are looking for a great place for families this it one.