Today they were shearing the sheep at Fanthorp Inn. Unfortunately they were rained out this afternoon, but before that happened we learned that sheep look awkward without their fleece.
On a drizzly day, we took a wrong turn and found ourselves in Mumford, Texas. It's a near ghost town now, but Collier's General Store and Merchandise looks like it's still open on occaision. 
The Port Isabel lighthouse was constructed in 1852 at a cost of $15,000. Today it's owned by Texas Parks and Wildlife and operated as a museum. Is that a ghost we see in the window? Here are a few photos from our day trip to Little Rock, Arkansas.  This is 'the' little rock. It's the first visible rock as you come north along the Arkansas River. A little further north is the 'big rock', which is actually a large rocky cliff. During our impromptu trip to Virginia, we visited the Turning Point Suffragist Memorial at Occoquan Regional Park. There's not much to it, just a few signs with historical information and the ruins of a brickworks, but the memorial commemorates the turning point in the struggle for voting rights for women. As dramatized in the film Iron Jawed Angels, more than 70 women were imprisoned in the Occoquan Workhouse for picketing the White house. Below are a few photos (snapped with my iPhone and Instagram) of the memorial: 
We've driven past this statue a few times and wondered what it was, but this time we stopped by to get a closer look. It turns out that the statue is Sam Houston, the first elected president of the Republic of Texas, or "Big Sam" as they like to call him. There's also a very nice visitor center with a giftshop of Texas souvenirs, not to mention a porch to sit on while you eat your Bluebell icecream. 
Built in1834, Fanthorp Inn is a remarkably well-preserved stagecoach stop from the Republic of Texas days. The Texas Parks and Wildlife State Historic Site was formerly open throughout the week, but due to a recent cut in funding is open on Saturday and Sunday and staffed by a lone (but extremely knowledgeable) park ranger. One of the main highlights of the brief tour is the replica of an 1850 Concord stagecoach. Throughout the late 19th century, travelers crammed into the stagecoach for a long, dusty, bumpy ride from town to town. Visitors can take a short ride in the stagecoach, pulled by a team of mules, on the 2nd Saturday of each month.  We like boats, and we like projects, so a giant project boat is pretty much all we need to be happy for a few hours on a warm fall afternoon. The 1877 barque Elissa, by far the best part of the Texas Seaport Museum, definitely fits that description: after a string of different owners, the removal of one of her masts, and a considerable alteration to her bow, the ship was left for dead in a Greek scrap-yard. Fortunately a nautical archaeologist (who knew there was such a thing?) recognized her as a tall ship and began a campaign to restore her to her former glory.  She’s docked just outside the museum, where cormorants appreciate her lines as a convenient roost.
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