Days of Old

The 1836 Courthouse, setting for the Murder Trial re-enactment.

Love History? Enjoy antiques?

Recently invited by my friend Lenda Selph and husband Terry to join them for a re-enactment of an 1844 murder trial, I jumped at the opportunity. I've always enjoyed double dating! With husbands up front and we ladies in the back, our quartet headed to Historic Washington, Arkansas on a Saturday evening for dinner at The Williams' Tavern before the trial. Another couple from my Luncheon Ladies and Famished Fellers group, Louise and Richard Koiner joined us there!

  

The Williams' Tavern Restaurant was built in 1832, the year
my VOW UNBROKEN heroine Susannah took her cotton to
market on the Jefferson Trace.

Wow! Wow! Wow! I fell in love with the awesome little town, also designated as a state park. And since I 'accidently' left my new Verizon tablet on the bench in the dimmed courthouse--I took it out while digging in my purse for a piece of paper or business card--I had to return the next week!

That time I went during the day with two of the Luncheon Ladies, Louise and Patricia Abbott for lunch with the park ranger and interpreter, now friend Leita Spears (she played a part in the re-enactment. The murder happened at her house on her front porch! It turned into a great afternoon seeing even more of the town!

(L-R) Leita, me, Tricia, and Louise at the
836 courthouse.

I can guarantee you will not be sorry to take the time to visit Historical Washington. It's a fantastic destination for a family weekend! They have many wonderful events besides the trial, too. Today, February 19, is Frontier Days for Homeschools and tomorrow, Frontier Days at the Hill of Five Trails. Fun events like that and in March, the Jonquil Festival!

I'll be there that weekend for a WordWyse Author Event with some of my author friends to sign books as a part of the event! You can look for us at the Morrison Tavern right on the main drag! I hope you come for a lovely weekend!

The Morrison Tavern is a reconstruction of an 1830s inn built by the
Pioneer Washington Restoration Foundation in 1960 using a donation
from William and Lucille Hart King. Its look was based off an original
19th-century building that once stood at this same location.

Other events they have to delight everyone in the family are: 'Shakespear in the Park' Performances and Workshops, Knife-Making Class, Skillets, Griddles, and Fireside Cooking series, Basics for Knitting, Gardening Basics for Spring, Rug Making Workshop, Candle Marking, and a Medicinal Herb Program just to name a few!

I particularly loved the town because its buildings and fun setting are from the same time period as my Texas Romance historical Romance series set just a two hour drive away (in a present day car) in Red River County, far Northeast Texas.

My Texas Romance covers that came alive for me in a new way visiting Historic Washington State Park in Arkansas!

So here's the link in order for you to click and peruse for yourself all the great offerings Historic Washington Calendar of Events offers for your family! I give it a FIVE STAR ranking and highly recommend it! Also a few more photos :)

Meet one of  the many volunteers at the park who dresses the part of an 1800 woman and tells park visitors all about the hisotry of the buildings and area. This is Cynthia Wallace with me and Tricia and Louise in the old 1836 Courthouse.





Below is the school house built in 1914. The building served as the second public school building for the town of Washington. Today, it is available for rent by the public for various events and group activities. Bunk rooms are available for overnight lodging. 

Begin your tour at Old Washington here! This grand, circa 1874 building was the county courthouse for Hempstead County from 1874 to 1939. It was the last courthouse to be built in Washington. It now serves as the Historic Washington State Park’s  visitor center and gift shop.  

I'm also planning another WordWyse Author Event in the fall...a Writers' Retreat. Let me know if you'd like to participate. We'll be staying in the Schoolhouse in a dorm environment! Can't wait!

Bio: Caryl McAdoo is all about loving God! She currently writes
four series: the historical Christian ‘Texas Romance’; a contemporary ‘Red River Romance’; The Generations, her Biblical fiction, and the newest Days of Dread Trilogy for mid-grade readers. Known as the Singing Pray-er, she loves praising with new songs the Lord gives her and prays her story gives God glory! In 2008, she and her high school sweetheart-husband Ron moved from the DFW area—home for fifty-plus years—to the woods of Red River County. Caryl counts four children and sixteen grandsugars life’s biggest blessings believing all good things come from God. Besides glorifying Him, she hopes each title will also minister His love, mercy, and grace to its readers. Caryl and Ron live in Clarksville, the county seat, in the far northeast corner of the Lone Star State with two grandsons.

Author Links:  Website    All Books    Newsletter     Facebook     Blog    GoodReads  Google+     Twitter     Pinterest           

Review: When the Clouds Roll By

When the Clouds Roll By

by Myra Johnson

When the Clouds Roll By is a luminous story about a post-WWII love triangle. The delightful push and pull, twists and turns, keep the reader engaged and guessing how it will all turn out right up until the end.

When Gil returns from the war suffering from what we’d now call PTSD, Annemarie is shocked to discover her fiancée is not the same man she sent off to war. He returns with a friend in tow, an army chaplain barely hanging on to his faith after his own horrifying war experience.

The story takes place in Hot Springs, Arkansas, a location I had never heard of and certainly never visited. The small resort town plays a wonderful role in this story of love, healing, and life after war. The descriptions of this quaint town - especially the mountains and wildflowers - have placed it on my own map of places worth discovering.

I like that this book deals with the aftermath of the war because it seems like most WWII books work their way toward the happy ending which almost always is the end of the war. But there is much that happens after the treaties are signed. This story refreshingly addresses issues that crop up when soldiers return home.

Told from four perspectives, Johnson relates the stories of individuals striving to pick up the scattered pieces of their lives. Annemarie is a potter by trade and in one of the opening scenes, a piece she had just created is smashed irreparably. It’s a beautiful metaphor, which describes the internal strife of so many after war. But Johnson also crafts a beautiful tale of how faith and true love can piece together a life, which becomes more beautiful, having passed through testing fires.

What do you like best about "War Novels?" Leave us a comment!

The author of eight published novels, Myra Johnson is a two-time American Christian Fiction Writers Carol Award finalist and winner of the Romance Writers of America Golden Heart. Although Myra is a native Texan, she and her husband now reside in North Carolina and share their home with two very spoiled lapdogs. The Johnsons are the proud parents of two beautiful daughters, and are also grandparents of four rambunctious grandsons and two precious granddaughters. Myra writes full-time and is currently serving as president of ACFW-Charlotte Chapter (Carolina Christian Writers). Find Myra online here:

www.MyraJohnson.com

www.Seekerville.net

www.facebook.com/MyraJohnsonAuthor

Tweeting as @MyraJohnson and @TheGrammarQueen

review by Jennifer Fromke