All Aboard!!!

Last weekend, Brad and I did something that I have always wanted to do!! We took a trip on the Hill Country Flyer. This is a steam train that runs from Cedar Park out to the Hill Country. All of the cars are original and some of them are from as far back as the 1930's.

Our car was hosted by a funny man. He is a career railroad man and still works on the railroad in Minnesota during the non-winter months. He volunteers with Austin Steam Train during the winter months. He stuttered a lot and was kind of random with his streams of conversations... but he was very sweet.

I totally forgot to take a picture of the actual train and I am sad about that! We got some fun shots in between the cars though.

It was just over 2 hours to our destination, Burnet. We enjoyed the scenery and ate snacks. They entertained us with short talks about the history of the train cars and even staged a "train robbery"!! They did actually take our money but we were told it was being donated to a local children's charity! Carolers would even walk through occasionally.

If you look VERY closely on the left side, you can see the front of the train.

Once we arrived at Burnet, we headed to the main attraction- Main Street Bethlehem. This is done annually by the First Baptist Church and it has become quite an event. The doors opened at 6PM but the line began forming at 4PM!! By the time we had gotten off the train and grabbed a sandwich, it was 4:30 so we were quite far back by the time we took our place in line.

See the Star of Bethlehem over the "city" in the distance?

Many people make this an annual events with their families. As we chatted with those in line around us we heard stories of years when it was FAR colder than this year. More miserable weather with rain, sleet, etc. They never close down the event and the line is just as long on those days. Some people wait 2 hours!!

This is an amazing recreation of the city of Bethlehem the night Jesus was born. All of the people are in full costume and never break character. They each have a specific role in Bethlehem and there isn't a single detail overlooked. Even the quiet side conversations by the characters are about the town and the amazing thing happening near the Inn. You could feel the excitement and the "talk" about the Savior that was born that night.

Your chariot awaits!!

As you stroll through the town, there are merchants "selling" their goods, children playing, intimidating Roman Guards walking around and citizens lined up to pay their taxes. You were able to walk in and out of people's homes and they would have conversations with you about their families and how they made their living. Many times you would hear people say things like, "Did you hear about the baby?" It was very cool.

Citizens lining up to pay their taxes.

You could roam around and see all the sights of Bethlehem. No matter where you were, you could see the star.

This kind of reminded me of standing next to the British soldier outside Buckingham Palace.

 
After seeing all the sights and winding around, you make your way to the manger and could see Mary, Joseph and Baby Jesus. It is much quieter in this area.. the hustle and bustle of busy Bethlehem is left behind in reverence of the amazing birth that had happened.

I have to admit, I was very moved. I know they are just people portraying a part but it felt really awesome to feel like you were really there. As you left the city, there were signs with Bible verses that talked about the life Jesus would lead and the difference he would make. The final sign was this...

After making our way through, we were greeted by free hot cocoa!! We had some time to spare before the train left and we were hungry for dinner. We walked over to HEB and loaded up on Lunchables and snacks for the ride home. The ride home was much quieter and darker. We got home at about 10:30 exhausted but having thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The train does rides during wildflower season and they do murder mystery dinners, so I doubt this will be the last time I travel those tracks!