2012-09-22: Nickell Cemetery
Throughout the park there were many old cemeteries such as this one. We wandered through several of them and found that they were generally a family cemetery. Most of the stones were from the late 1800's and early 1900's though we did find one that was from May of this year!
2012-09-22: Nature Station
At the Woodlands Nature Station we had the opportunity to see a huge variety of natural plants and animals to this part of the country. The animals, such as this great northern owl, were brought here because they were injured and cannot be returned to the wild.
2012-09-22: American Beauty Berry
I had to include this bush not only because the berries are my favorite color but also because of the unique way they grow on the stem. Going to check and see if we can grow them at home. We found this along with many other flowering plants in the garden area of the Nature Station. We were amazed at the number of different butterflies and birds we saw in this area.
2012-09-22: Fallow Deer
Although not native to this country, the fallow deer has been introduced into many states of the US. It sure is a beautiful animal.
2012-09-22: Picnic
Since this park has no restaurants, we packed a lunch and ate at a picnic spot on Hematite Lake. What great weather we had for a picnic.
2012-09-22: Center Furnace
Center Furnace operated 24 hours a day, 6 days a week. During a 46-week period in 1857, 2,140 tons of metal were produced here in Center Furnace.
2012-09-22: The Homeplace
The Homeplace is a living history farm that demonstrates the work, play and customs of a rural family from this area in the 1850's. It was interesting watching this woman hand-stitch a man's shirt. I asked if she had created the pattern for the shirt and she reminded me that in the 1850's patterns could be purchased!
2012-09-22: Plow
All the farm livestock are representative of those found on a mid-19th century farm. These guys were working a field that had recently been harvested.
2012-09-22: Tobacco Shed
The tobacco grown here is fire cured. Fire-cured tobacco is hung in large barns where fires of hardwoods are kept on continuous or intermittent low smolder and takes between three days and ten weeks, depending on the process and the tobacco. When I first saw the smoke coming out of the building, I thought it was on fire!
2012-09-22: Inside
Although it was really smoky, we took the opportunity to check out what the inside of the shed looked like.
2012-09-22: Off Road
There were many opportunities to do a little off-roading here. The "roads" are all numbered and we found it curious to all of a sudden see a sign that said "horse crossing". We wondered where the horses were coming from until we came upon a huge horse campground. It was fun being on the back roads
2012-09-22: Fawn
We were delighted to see this fawn and its twin feeding.
2012-09-22: Sunset
We ended the day with this beautiful sunset at Lighthouse Point. I think this is the first sunset we've had this trip.
2012-09-23: Mississippi River
We crossed into Missouri over the narrow Mississippi River Bridge. It was amazing to see the number of barges on the river.
2012-09-23: Soybeans
It was interesting to see the crops growing on this side of the Mississippi. We saw fields of soybeans...
2012-09-23: Sorghum
...sorghum (used for making syrup),...
2012-09-23: Cotton
...cotton and believe it or not, rice.