Tag Archives: Texas

A Walk in the Park with Dr. Seuss in Abilene

In Abilene, Texas, next to the Abilene Convention and Visitors Bureau you will find a land of magic, imagination and rhymes. Everman Park is the place of wonder and the beginning of the Storybook Sculpture Project which holds major characters from Dr. Seuss.

As the story goes, the mayor of Abilene enjoyed reading “Santa Calls” by William Joyce to a group of children every year. This was a particular favorite as the book took place in Abilene. One year, Mr. Joyce was invited to visit and an idea was born. The following year, the National Center for Children’s Illustrated Literature (NCCIL) was established and a sculpture with children from “Santa Calls” was created. As time moved on, another sculpture was created and children continued to ask for more characters.

The Children’s Art & Literacy Festival (C.A.L.F.) was created in 2012. This first event was a celebration honoring Dr. Seuss. Six sculptures came which now rest in Everman Park.

In 2013, Walter Wick was honored at the C.A.L.F.. His “Can You See What I See” books expanded the sculptures hidden in town. To keep the wonderment alive, his six sculptures can be found in throughout town (including the Abilene Zoo, The Grace Museum and the Public Library). The mystery is for children to find them using hints from the Seymour Passport.

Over the years, the sculptures have expanded throughout town to include characters such as Santa, The Easter Bunny and Sandman. Currently, there are a total of 14 sculptures throughout Abilene. It’s really something to drive around downtown Abilene and see random sculptures from our childhood favorites and imagination. They’ve come to life.

For more information, including a map of the sculptures found throughout the area, see the below link to the Storybook Sculpture Project. What an incredible opportunity to explore Abilene with children, lots of imagination and your favorite books!

What is your favorite children’s book?

For more information:
Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau
Storybook Sculpture Project
Everman Park Admission: FreeChildren’s Art & Literacy Festival

All Western Parade, Fort Worth

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#FWSSR #AllWesternParade

For the past 120 years, the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo has been held in Fort Worth. On the first Saturday of the festivities, the All Western Parade is held in downtown Fort Worth. This is the biggest western themed and non-motorized parade in the world. In the world folks!

On Saturday morning, we lined the streets along with other eager (and cold) guests to take part in the parade. This event exemplifies the history, tradition and heritage found in Fort Worth. Known for the Stockyards, this is the event that meets the wild west, cowboys, cowgirls and the history and tradition that has made this city what it is today. This event is free although you can pay for reserved bleacher seats however I would say to grab a couple chairs and find a spot along the parade route. It’s free and there was plenty of space. Be prepared, the parade lasted over an hour and a half.

The parade was incredibly unique! First, when have you ever attended a non-motorized parade? I can honestly say this was my first. No vehicles – the means of transportation included riding an animal, be pulled by an animal (via a wagon) or your own two legs. There had to be well over a thousand horses. Participant’s included local organizations and community members, local public service organizations (such as the Fort Worth Police Department), out-of-towners (the El Paso Sheriff’s posse was one of my personal favorites as you’ll see with the pictures) as well as American and Mexican participant’s in traditional garb.

With the tradition that is exuberant in Fort Worth, this is one event that you may never find anywhere else. You’ll be entertained, the kids imagination will go wild – it’s definitely enjoyable for everyone involved. Welcome to the Wild West folks! Now, I’ll let the pictures do the rest of the talking.

This town is full of history, yesterday’s and today’s.
What is your favorite part of the Wild, Wild West?

New Years at The Ranch

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Last August, I may have found one of my top three favorite places in Texas. This ranch in the middle of the Hill Country is amazing. Beautiful, relaxing, peaceful. It’s my perfect getaway. I have way too many photographs to share in one post so I’ll start off with some of my favorites.

Cows. I have a soft spot for these herefords.

There’s also these African animals. Wildebeests, kudu, oryx… amazing.

The wildebeests and the cows, well it turns out they’re friends. They were hanging out peacefully. (I’m still trying to figure out if I should or shouldn’t be surprised by this.) Wildebeests are pack animals. Turns out you can be exiled from the group. We saw a solo wildebeest who was out on his lonesome.

The kudu (the animal with the twisty horns below) were terrified of us. It was hard to grab a photo of them up close. Maybe next time.

Its so amazing to see these animals roaming around. I’m pretty certain this was a day in paradise to photograph and watch.

Then there were the turkeys simply taking a stroll.

Now I’m really excited – the elk! (I’ve saved the best for last.) This past summer, I saw one or two elk from afar hanging out in a lake. This visit, I was in for an incredible surprise. Our tickets were front row and center. First off, there was no fence between us and elk. And they are so beautiful. We had stopped to take some photos of the African game and the elk followed us over. They were ready for their photo-opp and to photobomb. How many can say they’ve been photobombed (or taken selfies) with a herd of elk? I’m fairly certain that we could’ve just grabbed some chairs, opened a cooler and sat and watched them all afternoon.

I couldn’t have thought of a better place to be at the start of the new year. The perfect company, beautiful scenery and the best place to enjoy the outdoors.

Cheers for an amazing 2016 to you and yours!