Both Kendall and Ethan are leaving for Hawaii at the end of the month. Kendall completing her last semester at BYU Hawaii and graduation on the North Shore and Ethan finding a job and having fun for four months before returning to Utah for his technical school training. We wanted to visit with them before their departure from St. George. Kendall invited us to see the Cedar City Lantern Festival on the 14th, so we made it a long weekend driving out on Thursday and returning home on Monday. Friday was laid back with work schedules and kids returning to school. We enjoyed the family time in between those obligations. In the evening we went to The Pizza Factory for dinner. The entries were great but those breadsticks were HUGE and oh so tasty! Afterwards we all took up an entire row at the movie theater where we watched Disney's "The Jungle Cruise".
Saturday morning we ventured into downtown St. George to walk around the Farmers Market and Street Fair. It is in the historical Ancestor Square district. We parked by the Victorian designed 1901 Grundy House. In the front yard is displayed a historic fire truck from the era.
There were booths in the parking lot and also scattered through the grounds of the historical buildings. Ancestor Square is delightful to just stroll through. We really enjoyed it. We walked over to the newly opened record store to look through some vinyl selections ... both new and used.
In the afternoon, we journeyed down to Cedar City to have some new adventures. Eric had found on-line an interesting sounding place called The Red Acre Farm. When we arrived, Eric said it sounded like more when he read about it online than it looked in-person from the road when we arrived. He said that he'd look for something else that we could do. We all said as long as we were here, we should give it a try! We are so glad that we did ... it was a great visit and something different and really interesting. We had so much fun taking it all in!
As we walked up the path from the road the first building that we approached was a small shed-like building named the "Back Porch" which had open hours sign at the door.
As we entered we found that this was the farm's general store. It was large enough for all eleven of us to cram into at once, but no other room. It is packed with fresh vegetables, fruits, home-baked goods and breads, fresh cut flowers, home-made jellies, preserves, honey and more, sauces, pickles and all kinds of home canned goodies. Along with all of this there was also gift type items including hand-made brooms and T-shirts.
In a corner of the Back Porch sits a typewriter with a paper that says:
"Welcome"
"Pay Here!"
"This is an honor system. Cash, Check, All Cards, PayPal, and Venmo accepted"
Then directions follow for what to do for each type of a transaction. No one from the farm is around ... it really is the honor system. Hard to believe in 2021!!!
We are welcomed to the farm with this wonderful greeting:
"Be like the flowers: turn your faces to the sun."
Kendall, Jordan and Mikayla
Ethan, Evan, Ella and Taelor
Red Acre Farm had a great climbing tree with a rugged tree house that the kids loved. The tree had this whimsical brass chandelier which made for a great picture! There were also swings to have a great time enjoying the fresh country breezes! Fun, fun, fun!!!
There are beautiful flowers throughout the grounds ... but look at these beauties!!!
And Grandma at the old apple cider press
The farm house is surrounded by beautiful mini sunflowers and other flowers
The farm was being set up for an evening of "Burgers, Band and Bikes". There are bicycle paths on the property that locals come to for events like this. The band was setting up their equipment on their constructed stage, and the owners were preparing the grills and amenities for the burgers!
We are so happy that we did not pass up this Red Acre Farm. Everyone had a tremendous time taking in all of the many different and unique areas of the farm. We had the best time ever exploring, participating and enjoying!
Leaving the countryside and The Red Acre Farm, we reentered Cedar City and stopped by Southern Utah University. Ella had been on campus earlier this year for her robotic engineering competition. We were intrigued by their rendition of the Shakespearian Globe Theatre. To our delight, we parked by the entrance to the Shakespeare Character Garden. The garden features some of Shakespeare's most famous lovers, warriors, kings and scoundrels.
The Characters begin with the man himself ... William Shakespeare
King Lear
Lady Macbeth
Cleopatra
Bottom the Weaver from A Midsummer Night's Dream
Henry V
Hamlet
Juliet
As we continued our walk over to the campus theatre, there is another garden called the Stillman Sculpture Court which has several pieces of art that are displayed.
Threshold
Seedlings
"If you are thinking a year ahead, sow a seed. If you are thinking ten years ahead, plant a tree. If you are thinking one hundred years ahead, nurture a child."
Pastoral Dreamer
The Sower
Outside of the Shakespeare Theatre and the Gift Store is a memorial to Fred C. Adams, Founder of the Utah Shakespearean Festival, with a beautifully sculptured image of this generous man.
The plaza surrounding the theater has a wonderful sculptured bench with William Shakespeare relaxing. The details are astonishing. Some of them are on the back and ends of the bench hidden from sight unless accidently found. I believe they are from his works ... a maiden and an elf-like character are on the back, and on the ends are a small child-like figure with a lyre hand harp and on the other end, an old man figurine reading a book. The details are just marvelous!
All of the benches surrounding the theatre have Shakespearean inlaid scenes from various plays. No two are alike!
There are several more artworks throughout the campus with a large museum dedicated to student art as well. It would be a great place to revisit when all is open and also have time to explore all of the other outdoor artwork.
Eric had found Bowman's Cowboy Kitchen for us to go to for dinner. It was quite a way out in the country which was pretty surprising for us all. When the food came, it was really good and worth going out into the open countryside!
After dinner, it was off to the Cedar City for the family-friendly Water Lantern Festival. It is put on at The Lake On The Hill behind the Aquatic Center. We are all given floating lanterns to light and launch in the lake which is followed with the movie Raya and the Last Dragon. As we approached, many lanterns sparkled in the lake.
We set-up our water lanterns and took them to the launch point where a helper lit the votives and watched as the lanterns were put in the lake to make their journey.
We sat up our chairs and settled in to be delighted with Disney's "Raya and the Last Dragon". It was a superb evening that was thoroughly enjoyed. Thank you Kendall for arranging all and inviting us to share.
Sunday afternoon was our trip to Pine Valley Recreational Area and the Dixie National Forest. It is only about forty-five miles from St. George, but quite a different feeling and surroundings. We drive through the small town of Pine Valley and marvel at homes we see and the forest we enter.
After settling into our parking space, the kids grabbed their fishing poles and we headed down the path to walk to the other side of the lake. They were anxious to try their hand at fishing!
Driving into the park, there are several cattle guard crossings. In Dixie National Park there are several grazing cattle that allowed by law as a partner between private and the public. The herds are controlled by the Forest Service. We saw several cows as this one who went to the lake to get a drink of water!
We also spotted one of the many deer in the park.
Fishing, Fishing, Fishing!!! Fun, Fun, Fun!!!
No fish were caught, but many happy memories made. It will be a place that we will revisit. A great time was had by all. The rest of the day was game playing and dinner on the camping stove. Nothing like burgers and hot dogs in the open air of 7000 feet up in the mountains. This is the life!!!
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