Monday, June 29, 2009

Spend a year in Georgetown!

Melissa at Huckleberry Prairie is hosting The Great American Town Tour! This is going to be such a fun event. I'd like to share our little piece of heaven on earth, Georgetown Texas. Our little town was established by George Washington Glasscock in 1848. We have a beautifully restored town square, as well as numerous historic landmark homes. Georgetown has a wonderful sense of community. There are many events throughout the year, and boy do we love a parade! I think we have at least 5 every year, including the Red Poppy Fest Parade, the Sheriff's Posse Rodeo Parade, the Homecoming Parade, the 4th of July Parade and the Christmas Stroll Parade! Georgetown has also been named one of the best 20 towns to retire, one of the best 20 towns to live, and This Old House Magazine named Georgetown one of the best places to buy (and restore) an old home! Needless to say, all this attention has led to rapid growth. When we moved to Georgetown 27 years ago, the population was around 12,000. It is now estimated at approx 35,000! But we still manage to maintain our small town atmosphere and friendliness. Hope you enjoy your visit.
Driving into Georgetown via I35. We are located in Central Texas at the edge of the Hill Country. To the east is beautiful blackland prairie, to the West lies rocky, hilly terrain.
If you are lucky enough to visit in the spring, you will see masses of bluebonnets lining the roadside. It truly is a breathtaking sight!

Let's start by visiting some of our beautiful outdoor areas. This is blue hole park, a favorite swimming hole on the San Gabriel River. The park sustained heavy damage in a flood several years ago, but is slowly coming back to it's former glory.
Eden like scene on the river
Lake Georgetown is a great place to cool off on a hot summer's day
Georgetown is proud to be the home of Southwestern University, a premier Liberal Arts College. The campus is just beautiful!

Now we'll head into the "heart" of Georgetown, our beautiful courthouse square. The courthouse recently underwent a massive restoration. Isn't she a beauty!


Georgetown's new public library. When we moved to Georgetown, there was a very small library on the square. Several years later, a new facility was built. Guess what - we outgrew that one too! This is the most recent incarnation. A bond issue was passed several years ago to build this magnificent new library. DH joked that it would be cheaper for him to support the bond issue than to keep buying books lol. The library is an integral part of our community. Not only does it house stacks and stacks of books, it has art exhibits, lots of youth activities and several meeting rooms for local organizations. It even has a coffee shop!

Now I'm going to take you on a little virtual shopping trip to some of the antique stores on the square.

Isn't this sideboard gorgeous?

Just look at these quilts!

We can visit art galleries . . .

Chocolate shops . . .

How about a great cup of coffee? Although with the heat we've been having, perhaps an iced mocha instead.

We can visit the prettiest little church building. This was the original Grace Episcopal Church. When the congregation outgrew this gem of a building, they donated it to the Georgetown Heritage Society. It was moved to it's current downtown location and can be used to hold weddings and other events.
We could catch a play at the beautifully restored Palace Theatre. The community formed a non profit to restore this gorgeous old theatre. They have done a wonderful job, and plays are performed throughout the year.

On the second Saturday of every month, vendors take over the town square for Market Days.
And we know that spring is here when Red Poppy Fest rolls around! Georgetown is known as the Red Poppy Capitol of Texas and we have a festival every April to celebrate spring!

The Mighty Georgetown Marching Eagle Band! One of many parades these kids participate in throughout the year. Georgetown currently has one high school. That will be changing within the next couple of years as we add a second. It will be interesting to see how our little town handles supporting two high school teams!

Georgetown is blessed to have a school district that has an incredible fine arts department. Georgetown has been named "One of the 100 Best Communities for Music Education" two years running. The Georgetown High School Jazz band performing at the Red Poppy Fest. I have a soft spot for this group of kids, as my daughter was in the very first Jazz program that Georgetown offered.

Our festivals always have a great kids area. High school students man the booths and I'm not sure who has more fun! This is my precious niece begging Auntie Kathy for a snow cone!

Once spring is in full swing, we can stop by beautiful San Gabriel Park and visit the farmer's market. Every Thursday from 3:30 to 6:30 you can pick up some gorgeous produce, organic beef, pork, goat and lamb, wonderful bread, beautiful plants and local honey. Is this not the perfect place for a farmer's market? Sit by the river and cool off, nibble on some of that fabulous fruit you just picked up!

Now let's move on to fall. Every November, we have a ceremony at the town square welcoming the Christmas season. The Lighting of the Square is held on the Friday after Thanksgiving.

Caroling on the Courthouse steps.

After Santa "flips the switch". The kids just love this!

Finally, Santa winds up the Christmas Stroll Parade. We are in Texas, did you really expect reindeer?

I hope that you enjoyed your tour of our little town. Come back as often as you'd like, we love visitors! Now hop on over to visit Melissa at Huckleberry Prarie and take a tour of other great towns all across America! Click on the button on my sidebar and you'll be off on your virtual vacation!

28 comments:

Shellbelle said...

WOW! What a wonderful event you are taking part in and what a wonderful town you live in! I love waterfalls, quilts, parades, libraries and farmer's markets. Thanks for taking me along and once again, WOW!

Dawn said...

I'm so glad you had so many photos to take us throught the year. What a great community. Those shops are fabulous. Thanks for shareing.
Dawn

Marty@A Stroll Thru Life said...

Oh Kat, thanks for so many wonderful pictures and such great history of your little town. I love smaller towns, and yours is just wonderful. The rivers and lakes are so pretty. What a blessing to live in such a gorgeous place with such a wonderful community atmosphere. Most of all, they are blessed to have you there. Love ya, Hugs Marty

Blondie's Journal said...

Kat,

Your town is steeped in tradition~I love that. All those parades. They used to make me so excited as a child. The festivals sound wonderful as well. The expansion of the library and a new high school truly shows how fast your town is growing. I hope you will always have that quaint downtown shopping (would love to visit for that!!) and small town goodness.

Great post. Wanted to be in on this but was late as usual!

xoxo
Jane

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

OH Kathy my girl...I am loving this little town...so many wonderful thing to see and do..Thats why I love my little town very small but always something going on here...looked beautiful at christmas...you did a wonderful job doing this post my friend...thanks so much loved it all...hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

Jadehollow said...

Now that's my kinda town.. oh yes that sideboard is amazing... as is the chocolate goodies... mouth is a watering over here. What a beautiful Church.. a true dream setting for a wedding. Thanks so much for sharing your lovely town.
Have a safe and happy 4th holiday.
Hugs,
Debbie

Tammy said...

Ahh you made me miss Texas more than usual. We used to live in Wichita Falls and my best friend lives in Belton, TX. I spent many times shpping in Belton, Salado, Georgetown, Austin..
I also have pulled off on I35 numerous times to throw my kids in a field of bluebonnets to take their picture..it is beautiful- hot but beautiful.

~tammy

Melissa Marie said...

I love your town!! It looks like such a beautiful place to live...in every season. I had to map quest it to see how far of a drive it would be to visit. ;) I would definitely love to go during the spring to see all of the bluebonnets! And Christmas time, too... with all of the festivities. :) The courthouse, the river... the old church...everything is just beautiful. Thanks for joining in the town tour... I thoroughly enjoyed your post. :)

Sue said...

Wow!! What a beautiful town Georgetown is after seeing all of these beautiful places I can see why you all are experiencing such growth. I love the fact of all the parades you have and those antique shop, and the chocolate. beautiful and thank you for sharing. Have a most blessed 4th of July as you enjoy celebrating with family and friends, not to mention the parade!
Sue

Printersdevil said...

TFS. Georgetown is a pretty town. One of my former teacher friend's in-laws lived there. We used to always stop and visit them on our way to Austin for meetings. It has such charm for a town.

If you love Christmas and the holidays, visit my holiday blog and sign up for the weekly Christmas in July giveaways. This week is a silly elf costume for the car. The deadline for the first signup is Wednesday, July 1 at midnight. Since I just got this blog up and going again, there may not be much competition for the first giveaway.

Other week's items will be listed on the blog beginning July 2.
Come visit.
http://printersdevil72.blogspot.com

amariaf2000 said...

Love your tour! This totally looks like the All American town!!
~angela @ peonypatch

xinex said...

Thank you for sharing your hometown, Kathy! It is very charming. ...so many things to do. appy Independence Day!...Christine

Happy To Be/ Gl♥ria said...

GM Kathy...girl if I looked outside and seen that Bear I would have to mop the floor afterward...We do have Bears up here on the mountain top...but so far I have only seen their tracks and where they have tore my trees...however I do have a moutain Lion that walks around like a house cat here and could care less when it see me ha ha!!We had a phone gut here one day up the pole and that Lion laid down at the bottom of the pole...that poor guy was out there just screaming lol!! all I did was go outside and tell it to get away and it ran...now this BIG man comes now off the pole and tells me I'm his hero...I just laughed this Lion is more afraid of us that we are of him...May you have a great Fourth Kathy...Hugs and smiles Gl♥ria

joyh82 said...

what a fun event. It looks like a great town you live in. The library is huge.

Melissa Miller said...

I enjoyed your pretty town post Kathy. Texas is the BEST!

~Happy 4th! ~Melissa :)

The Stylish House said...

Thank you for the up close and personal virtual tour of Georgetown. It looks like a wonderful place to live, work and play. It is small enough to have a neighborly feel, but large enough to have good shopping, art and entertainment. You can tell your town values education by putting its resources into your new library. I was brought up using libraries and take great stock in them.
Cathy

Bargain Decorating with Laurie said...

I enjoyed my tour of your charming town! Sounds like the residents have a lot of fun throughout the year, and it sounds like the growth of the town has not affected the atmosphere. What beautiful scenerey. Thanks for the tour, and thanks for your post about this party, which took me over to sign up for the party too. laurie

DesignTies said...

I enjoyed the tour of Georgetown - thanks!! :-)

This is a great idea for a blog party. I'm going to check out some more towns on the Great American Town Tour :-)

Have a Happy July 4th!!

Kelly

P.S. You got it -- no way could I live in Kanata with its boring coloured doors!!!

And the ice cream IS yummy!! You'll have to come up here one day just to try it :-)

Lynette said...

What an excellent tour Kathy - loved it - felt like I was actually there!! Love the idea of the market thing - how cool!!

I hope I can come up with some goodies this weekend - I don't usually "see" things as good as some other's do when it comes to flea markets and yard sales!!

Happy 4th -

Kim @ Starshine Chic said...

I love your town!!! And who doesn't love a parade? Our town doesn't have any parades. Boo hoo. I'm so enjoying getting to see & enjoy everyone's home town. Thanks for visiting my blog & leaving me a comment. It really means a lot to me that you took the time.

Sweet Tea said...

How neat!
Hope you're not offended, but I have never heard of Georgetown, TX, course I don't get out much. But I think I would LOVE your fair city. It looks delightful and I KNOW the chocolate shop would be my favorite place to hang out. "Texas, it's a whole other country!"

Printersdevil said...

Thanks for stopping by and visiting me. One of the photos that was missing (there were actually about 16 that mysteriously disappeared from my first slideshow)was of your friend's gallery! Small world.

Its So Very Cheri said...

Thanks for stopping by my blog. Naples has some "great" deals as well right now. Places similar to my parents place were selling in less than a week and for @$360,000 just 2-2 1/2 yrs ago and they are now in the $200,000. It's all perspective as to what makes something worth that amount of money.
I have a give away on my blog starting today. www.itssoverycheri.blogspot.com

Confessions of a Plate Addict said...

Hi Kat! How did I miss this wonderful post? I love your town and it is so obvoius that you do, too! It is a real slice of America! I love the beautiful scenery and the fun activities...and of course, the shops!! I am glad you are back and hope you had a wonderful time!! Have a great week!...hugs...Debbie

Belle (from Life of a...) said...

What a great town! I believe you sent me some candy from that very chocolate shop when we did a swap last fall...am I right?

squawmama said...

Hey Kathy... Your town is so wonderful that your post has convinced me it is a town we would love to visit on our travels... I just hope you'll be home to show us around.. Maybe sometime this next winter we'll get there. Have fun my friend

(((HUGS)))
Donna

Robin said...

You lost me at "chocolate shops".......

LOL! It looks like ya'll had a GREAT time!!! Thank you so much for sharing!

{{HUGS}}

Robin :o)

Nancy said...

Bravo!!! What a wonderful tour of one of the prettiest towns in Texas. I love it when you talk about Georgetown - it always come through how much you love it. xoxo Nancy