Tag: Wichita Falls

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Blogging Driving Travel

Collin County History Museum

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I spent 9 days and 9 nights with my family in Wylie Texas – about 30 miles northeast of the center of Dallas Texas. I arrived during the early evening of Wednesday November 20TH 2024. My direct flight from Sarasota-Bradenton to Dallas-Fort Worth arrived a full 45 minutes early, and my brother was there to meet me at the baggage carousel. My big Samsonite suitcase was actually one of the first to emerge, so that was another pleasant surprise. We ate our first meal at Jollibee. (It’s a new tradition for us.) For those in the know – you’ll know that it’s the # 1 fast food restaurant in the Philippines. It’s growing rapidly worldwide – with 1,600+ locations in Asia, Europe, and North America.

Fast forward to Day 3 (Saturday November 23RD 2024), and me and my brother drove to historic downtown McKinney Texas. The day before – I successfully convinced him to take me there so that I could visit the Collin County History Museum. It was originally on my schedule for Thursday November 18TH 2021, but I didn’t visit due to reasons that I can’t remember 3 years later. (I drove to North Texas that Thanksgiving Week.)

We entered the museum nonchalantly, and less than a minute later we were asked to sign-in on an iPad. I loved their modern technology at the onset. A friendly and informative docent then proceeded to give us an engaging and extensive (nearly 90-minute) tour of their Museum. Part of the tour was inside a small theater where we watched an approximate 10-minute video on Dallas Texas native Carroll Hall Shelby (1923-2012). He designed and raced cars. At one point during the video – the word “SEBRING” prominently appeared, and I shouted aloud – “SEBRING !”. I discovered that he and his cars raced at the Sebring International Raceway many times throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Carroll Shelby Road actually forms the southern boundary of the Sebring Raceway. What a surprise to discover a Sebring Florida connection inside the Collin County History Museum.

Towards the end of our tour – my brother revealed to our docent that I too am a docent. So – we started talking docent-to-docent. I then added that I’m on the Board Of Directors for the Sebring Historical Society as well as the Social Media Director in charge of our Facebook page. That led to another half-hour of discussing “museum business” with one of their directors. Overall – it was a wonderful 2-hour experience at their Museum, and I plan to stay in touch via their Facebook page and official web site. I also hope to visit again the next time I drive to North Texas.

We did a little bit of walking around and shopping and eating in the historic downtown area. McKinney has done a wonderful job creating a fun mix of shopping, dining, and cultural experiences.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about the second-half of my fun adventures with my family in Texas – as well as my return trip back home to Sebring. Let’s keep traveling together.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook. I usually post there on Mondays and Thursdays.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Travel

Wylie Texas

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I’m waking-up in Wylie Texas this morning – the home of my brother, sister-in-law, two nieces, and canine nephew. This guy adores me being around him:

Wylie is an old railroad town with origins that go back over 150 years. Today it’s an affluent and rapidly-growing northeastern suburb of Dallas Texas. Its population has quadrupled since 2000. My family moved there in 2019.

I’ve been candid about this over the years here on my blog. I’m not a fan of Texas. My favorite thing about Texas is my family that lives there – outside of both Dallas and Wichita Falls. After that – it’s a sharp drop to my 2ND favorite thing about Texas – the food – particularly steak.

My history with Texas goes back almost 40 years. It’s where my USAF career began – at Lackland AFB in San Antonio. I returned to Texas several times – San Antonio, Austin, and Fort Worth – during the first-half of my civilian career with the USAF. My brother and his girlfriend turned wife moved to the Dallas area for the first time in 2006. They moved back to Ohio in 2013, and then they moved back to the Dallas area in 2019. My Aunt, Uncle, and Cousins have lived in the Wichita Falls area for about 55 years.

My favorite location in Texas is the San Antonio River Walk. I’ve been there a few times – starting with a day of liberty during USAF Basic Training in July 1985 and most recently in July 2011 with my family. We stayed at a hotel directly on the River Walk, and we just walked around the River for a few days taking in the sights, sounds, and tastes. It was one of our greatest family vacations ever.

Next #TravelThursday in 2 weeks – I’ll write about some of my fun adventures here with my family in Texas. Let’s keep traveling together.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook. I usually post there on Mondays and Thursdays.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Astronomy Blogging Driving Food Geography History Travel

North Texas

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my Thursday afternoon in downtown Marshall Texas where I visited the historic Starr Family Home, the Harrison County Historical Museum, and finally – Pazzeria By Pietro’s. After that – I checked-in to my hotel for the night. It was very difficult to find, as it was hidden deep from the main thoroughfare (U.S. 59) behind a lot of road construction in an awkward location alongside I-20 eastbound near the dead end of a frontage road.

But I eventually found it, and it would be my 4TH and final night in a row in a hotel room.

The next morning – I arrived at my destination – my family’s house in Wylie Texas. After 5 days I had driven 1,216 miles northwestward across Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. I would not drive again for the next 7 days. My brother or sister-in-law did all of the driving to and from errands, stores, and restaurants. We also went to church on Sunday morning. (I wrote about that on a previous #SundayScripture.)

This is #TravelThursday – not #FamilyBusinessThursday, so everything that we did together for 8 days will stay private; however, I will write about one thing, and that’s the total solar eclipse on Monday April 08TH 2024.

Most people never experience one, as they are so rare at any given location. It was my first (and perhaps last) experience of total darkness during the daytime. It lasted for not quite 4 minutes. I wasn’t planning to look at the sun and the moon together, but my brother and sister-in-law each had special glasses to view the eclipse, so I used one of them to check it out for myself during the minutes leading-up to the big event. Once the moon completely covered the sun – we experienced darkness. It wasn’t like “Midnight darkness”, as it was more like perhaps “an hour after sunset darkness”, and then it was like “an hour before sunrise darkness”. It was like nautical twilight (the scientific term for it). My family lives right behind an elementary school, and I think all of the kids were outside experiencing it, and they were cheering loudly as darkness descended. It was quite eerie to see a few of the planets (especially bright Venus) and the stars out during this darkness. We had our family dog out, and he had no reaction to it. I think the birds flying around were confused. I may have heard some crickets chirping. No roosters though.

And then it appeared as if a bright flashlight were shining down on us from the reemergence of a tiny slither of the sun, and then it slowly got back to normal “two-in-the-afternoon daylight” after that. We had mostly cloudy skies during the event, but there was enough break in the clouds to see the sun and the moon in-between the clouds (with special glasses), and even behind the clouds (carefully – without glasses). What a spectacular event it was. I’m glad that I can now tell everyone that I’ve experienced this once-in-a-lifetime event (for me anyway). If I’m still around on August 12TH 2045 – then maybe I’ll get to see a 2ND total solar eclipse.

I spent Days 5 to 12 of my retirement road-trip with my family in Wylie Texas, and then early on Day 13 – I hit the road again to the Wichita Falls Texas area (about 155 miles away) to visit family there. My Aunt, Uncle, and Cousin have lived there since the late-1960s.

There are a few things that I like about Texas. (Food comes to mind.) But my favorite thing about Texas are my family and their pets. As long as family lives in Texas – I’ll keep visiting Texas. But I wouldn’t want to live in Texas. I just love Florida !

Next #TravelThursday – It’s off to Paris. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Food Geography History Travel

Henrietta Texas

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I revealed that I spent quality time with family in and around Wichita Falls Texas. It’s an annual tradition for me every late-September to visit for a few days, and celebrate the wedding anniversary of my Aunt (by blood) and Uncle. This year was their 66TH !

Following an early Lunch at a local Mexican restaurant (another tradition) we went on a short road-trip (another tradition). This time we headed 20 miles ESE along U.S. 287 into Clay County and the small city of Henrietta (the county seat and population center). A little over 3,000 residents call Henrietta home, and it’s one of the oldest settled areas in the region – going back to the mid-19TH Century.

We visited the Clay County 1890 Jail Museum & Heritage Center – presented by the Clay County Historical Society. For those of you who have been following my #TravelThursday posts for awhile – you’ll know that not only am I a big fan of local historical societies and museums that they run, but I also plan to be a member and volunteer at a few upstate here in Florida once I retire and relocate.

Me, my cousin, and her husband were treated to an excellent docent early on a Friday afternoon. The museum is only open for 8 hours per week (4 each on Thursday and Friday), and we exclusively occupied 2 of those 8 hours. The docent showed us everything in the museum. (There’s a lot to see inside downstairs and upstairs.) I was studying our docent intently. I hope to be as good as her when I resume being a museum docent. She definitely enjoyed her museum, and she absolutely loved to talk about it. That’s the type of docent that I like !

On this visit to the Wichita Falls area we also drove over to Archer City – the county seat of Archer County (south of Wichita County). We visited a church lot where they were selling pumpkins and gourds.

We also drove all around Downtown Wichita Falls – the county seat of Wichita County. There’s a lot of history downtown – much of it mere memories with the original buildings left behind vacated. There are plans to continue to revitalize it with new cafes, bars, restaurants, events, and opportunities.

This was my 11TH visit to the Wichita Falls area to visit family over the past 9 years (since 2013). Each visit brings family love, good food, and pleasant surprises. I always look fondly back – and forward to – my next visit.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll present a tribute to a place that I visited 9 times and spent 17 nights from 2011 to 2020. It’s an island that will never be the same again due to the catastrophic destruction of Hurricane Ian. I’ll look back at those fun times on #FortMyersBeach on the Southwest Florida coast. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp