149a. Chisholm Trail Days Festival

Our adventure October 1 took us to the Chisholm Trail Day Festival in Abilene. There was so much to see and do, this is going to take two blogs. This first blog will be about all the extra excitement outside the museum during the Chisholm Trail Days Festival. It really was like stepping back in time when you step through the museum's back door. There were all kinds of living history demonstrations. We were all fascinated with the cane squeezing and even took some marmalade home with us. We also enjoyed trying fresh squeezed cider and seeing all the other demonstrations. We did not make ropes again, since we had already done that, but did enjoy watching them being made. http://kansas150th-150thingstodoinkansas.blogspot.com/2011/06/86-prairiesta.html

The kiddos loved the Children's Activities which included balloon animals and a bouncy house.

The C. W. Parker Carousel is a must see. You do not have many opportunities to ride a real steam-powered carousel and actually watch them operate the steam engine. It was fun to read about why it was named a "Carry-Us-All." It is just too special for the name Merry-Go-Round. Regardless of what it is called or how it is run the kids just have a great time riding it. It was fun to watch all the kids on the Carousel and see their faces light up.

Antique Cars & Tractors

We even got to visit Old Abilene Town for a little while. It is not much to look at right now, but it is currently undergoing renovation and plans to be very exciting. The eventual plans are to make it a sort of cow town where you can experience living history all the time. We heard gunshots, but missed the gunfight this time. Guess it is because we were not in front of a saloon at high noon. ;) http://kansas150th-150thingstodoinkansas.blogspot.com/2011/09/129-boot-hill-museum.html http://kansas150th-150thingstodoinkansas.blogspot.com/2011/09/133-old-cowtown-museum.html