Out and About in Pulaski County

Last week was a good week.  The kids had swim lessons and reconnected with several friends they haven't seen all summer.  We went bowling a couple of times (yea for free bowling summers) and of course, hung out at the swimming pool.  We have one more week of swim lessons and then two free weeks before s-c-h-o-o-l starts!

On Saturday we wanted to get out, but we are paying more attention to our budget.  We went in hunt of free things.

We've driven past the Pulaski County Museum dozens of times, but it's always closed.  Apparently, we don't drive past on Saturdays.  The kids were quite impressed by the WWI era cannon sitting out front.  There was a civil war army soldier complete with musket wandering around who was able to tell the kids all about it.

The top floor of the museum was the old courthouse.  My kids were drawn to the power of the gavel!

We saw a couple of old American flags...this one had 48 stars.

It wasn't the most organized museum.  It had bits and pieces donated by locals sitting all around.

This was my favorite find of the day.  I have the same doll that belonged to my Grandma Molly sitting in my curio cabinet.  I asked the curator if she knew anything about it, but unfortunately all she knew was it was donated by a lady that's in her 90s.

After the Pulaski Museum, we headed around the corner to the Stagecoach Stop which is an old building that was just what it sounds like...a stagecoach stop back in the 1800s.  A foundation has worked very hard at restoring and preserving this bit of history.

Another American flag...this one had 36 stars.  The kids weren't too sure about the saws in the Civil War era doctor's kit. Yikes.  Thank God for modern medicine.

The kids learned about having fires in an oven and carrying in blocks of ice for the icebox.

Jaelyn got a kick out of the "pee pot" under the bed.

Last we headed to a natural spring.  Waynesville is sitting on a large hill and there are rivers underneath the hill.  If you look closely to the right of the picture, you can see the entrance to the underground rivers.  You have to get a special certificate to dive.  Those are some crazy people.

Of course, we could not keep the girls out of the water.  It was cold...they didn't wade far.  Our temps went from the high 90s and low hundreds just what seems like a few weeks ago to highs in the 80s and lows in the 50s and 60s at night.  It was 68 and windy at the pool for swim lessons Friday morning.  Everyone had blue lips when they got out.