Wednesday, December 25, 2013

Denton Christmas Train


With all the fun holiday activities around here, it's hard to pick and choose which we will attend.  We can't possibly hit them all, so we choose different events each year, while still keeping our old favorites.  
This year we went to the Denton Country Christmas Train.
It was a hit!
The big boys were hesitant on going, but ended up having a blast.  The highlight of the attraction of course is the train ride, but there was so much more to the event than just the train.

We had to ride the train first though.
When Joey saw the train all lit up in Christmas lights, he was so excited!
We got seats right behind the engine so that we could watch the engineers as well.
He was in awe!



I believe it's a historic train, but we were so cold we didn't stop to get all the information.



The ride is 1.5 miles long and has music, light displays and information about the history of the area.


The park had lots of little shops and a wonderful old historic church.
We went inside to listen to carols and some old hymns.  
It was a lovely little Southern church with all the charm of yesteryear.
They also had a very large, lovely doll display.
I went to talk to the elderly woman that was there to answer questions and she was so informative.
I learned so much from her regarding the doll collection and the area.
Funny story though...she was talking with another couple and they mentioned coming back in the summer for the annual summer bluegrass festival.  They owned a BBQ sauce company.  She was pleasant enough to them, but when they left she said to me, "That's all we need in this state...another BBQ sauce!"
I almost peed my pants!  Here was this lovely, little elderly woman dressed in an embroidered apron  in a doll shop with a feisty mouth...she made me laugh.



Of course, no proper Southern festival or fair would be complete without pony rides.
We brought Joey on his first pony ride, he was thrilled!






We bought a ticket for Nicholas to ride the horse as well (Matthew didn't want to ride).
After he saw how excited Joey was on the pony ride, he offered his ticket to Joey.
He said it made him happier to see Joey happy on the horse than to ride it himself...I love when they show such love for one another...it truly warmed my heart.




They also had a lovely historic home on the property.  It had been moved their several years prior.  
It originally had sat on the Yadkin River and the family owned over 600 acres.  It housed a family with 10 children.  The couple sadly lost three of their boys in the Civil War.  Two in battle and one drowned while coming home in the Yadkin River.
We learned the history of the home as well as the history of the family.  It was such a lovely home, so cozy and warm.  They grew and raised everything they ate except for salt and sugar.  
They had several slave homes, an outdoor kitchen and a blacksmith shop.  Such a neat history lesson and as you can see from the picture, the boys were enthralled with the stories and asked several questions.  I love when history comes alive for them!


It was such a fun trip and we will be back another year!


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