Old Washington Jonquil Festival

Sunday, my wife and I visited Historic Washington State Park.  Every spring the park conducts a Jonquil Festival.  There is food, arts and craft vendors, and all of the historic buildings are open to tour.

Washington, Arkansas is a peaceful tree-shaded town and one of the most amazing historic places in Arkansas. The old town still looks like the 19th century with plank board sidewalks and streets that have never been paved.

There are over thirty restored historic structures including classic examples of Southern Greek Revival and Federal architecture, Gothic Revival, Italianate, and the oldest building built of hand-hewn timber.

From its establishment in 1826, Washington was an important stop on the rugged Southwest Trail for pioneers traveling to Texas. Frontiersmen James Bowie, Sam Houston and Davy Crockett all traveled through Washington on their way to the Alamo. Houston planned parts of the revolt strategy in a tavern in Washington during 1834.  James Black, a local blacksmith, is credited with creating the legendary Bowie knife carried by Jim Bowie at his blacksmith shop in Washington.

At the festival there were blacksmith demonstrations.  My wife enjoys watching blacksmiths at work. Her Grandpa was born in 1855 and was a blacksmith by trade in Stratton, Colorado. Her Dad said that when he was a boy, you could hear his anvil ringing all over town. When it quit ringing you better get home. It was time for supper.

Washington's history during the Civil War is fascinating.   Following the capture of Little Rock by the Union Army in 1863, the Confederate government moved the state government offices to Hot Springs for short time, then moved the state government to Washington, making it the Capital of Confederate Arkansas from 1863-1865. 

When the railroad was built that connected much of the state with Little Rock, it was eight miles from Washington.  Because it was no longer on the main travel route, Washington began a slow decline. The decline caused by most of the business moving to Hope, Arkansas, which was on the railroad, was the reason that Washington seems to stand still and lets modern visitors go back in time.

Garvan Tulips

Yesterday Gina and I along with my sister and her daughters visited Garvan Woodland Gardens in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The Gardens were the dream of Verna Cook Garvan. The site for Garvan Woodland Gardens was purchased in the 1920's. In 1956 Mrs. Garvan began to develop it as a garden and possible future residence. She was intimately familiar with the land and laid out each path, marking every tree to be removed. She also personally chose each new plant and selected its location.

When she died in 1993, Mrs. Garvan gave the property to the University of Arkansas Foundation. The Gardens are now an independent department of the University's Fay Jones School of Architecture and continue to flourish and grow.

The peak tulip viewing times at the gardens are March 15 through April 1. Garvan Woodland Gardens are beautiful any time of the year, but I think that the tulip season is quite possibly the best.

Garvan Woodland Gardens is the largest remaining undeveloped tract of land on Lake Hamilton, the Mid-South's most popular recreational Lake. There are over three miles of recreational trails.  This time of year many of the trails are lined with thousands of tulips.

We had a very enjoyable afternoon.  The temperatures were quite warm and the flowers were so beautiful.  This time of year the tulips are quite impressive, but there are other flowers in bloom.  The hyacinths  were very pretty but the sweet aroma was even better.

Garvan Woodland Gardens is an amazing place.  If you ever visit Hot Springs, Arkansas I highly recommend a visit to Garvan Woodland Gardens.

Shreveport House Concert

Last Sunday we attended a concert at the Shreveport House Concert Series at Fairfield Studios.  My son-in-law took us to the concert for my birthday.  The Shreveport House Concerts feature original live music, performed in a warm, intimate setting.  The artists we saw were James LeBlanc and Angela Hacker.

James LeBlanc was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. He picked up the guitar at the mere age of three years old, inspired by his father, James Sr., who played guitar on a daily basis around the LeBlanc household.  Throughout his teen years James started writing songs and playing in several bands. 

James moved to Muscle Shoals, Alabama where he signed his first publishing deal with Fame Music.  James first hit single was released by Travis Tritt. The song was entitled “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde. He also wrote the title cut on Jason Aldean's album, Relentless. His songs have been recorded by artists such as Rascal Flatts, Kenny Chesney, Thompson Square, Gary Allan, Sara Evans, and Martina McBride.  To close out the concert he sang "Where You Are" which was recorded by Rascal Flatts as the first song on their Feels Like Today album.

Angela Hacker first gained fame through winning Nashville Star, a country version of American Idol. She was born in 1978 in Muscle Shoals, AL. When she was 13, she entered a singing contest at her school and claims that she "hasn't quit since." She struggled with her singing career, but got an audition on the fifth season of Nashville Star. She was selected to be one of the show's ten finalists. On the finale of the show, she won against her younger brother, Zac Hacker.

Angela is a gifted songwriter in her own right, but she says her passion is for singing.  She did an awesome version of the song, "People Get Ready".



I really enjoyed the intimate setting of the concert.  It really was like listening to friends make music.  After the concert we were able to visit with James and Angela.  It was a special evening and a really great birthday present.

Ice

The ABC Wednesday Meme is a fun way to see some great blogs. This week the letter is "I". I is for ice. Ice can beautiful and it can be deadly.

Christmas Day 2000 Polk County and a lot of the surrounding area experienced a significant ice storm.  We lost more than ten trees, and one neighbor had their chimney knocked off of their house by a falling tree while another neighbor had a limb go through their roof and was through the ceiling of their bedroom.  We were without power for 6 days and we had friends who lived on a country road who were without power for 23 days.  Ice can be very powerful.

Ice can also be quite beautiful.  Here are a few ice pictures I have taken over the past few years.





















As beautiful as ice can be, I much prefer spring!