Mcfaddin House. Most homes don’t allow photos inside. This guy was very rich and it showed everywhere.

We left Austin on the 24^th at 3 PM and drove to Beaumont TX near the border. Our 94 Camry drives great. From the inside of the car, both appearance, handling and sounds from the engine and road we can’t tell that the car isn’t new. No rattles, no squeeks. The finish outside looks pretty bad, but we’re hoping that can be improved. We traded cars with Jordan, who got our Mercury with half the age and half the miles of the Camry. Still, we’re wondering who got the better of that deal.

The next morning we went to see the McFaddin-Ward House Museum, a 12,000 sq ft home built by a man who had bought up property in the area and then found oil on it. This was pretty spectacular, with a lot of interesting beautiful furnishings. These were the best money could buy at the time and still look it today.

The docent recommended Kathy’s about three blocks away for lunch. It was an upscale version of an order and fetch it from the counter restaurant. I guess that makes it a fast food place but it really seemed much more sophisticated and trendy than that. While we didn’t know anyone there they seemed to represent the more “with” it part of the Beaumont society.

Afterwards we were blocked by a train as we tried to get to the Chambers House just a few blocks away. The train was so slow and we waited so long that we finally drove in the direction the train was running and crossed ahead of it a few miles away. Chambers House was a middle class home known because two sisters lived there from 1924, kept everything and changed nothing. We were the first visitors there since the 16^th. With so few visitors the docent demonstrated everything in the house. We were surprised at how loud the old console Victrola was even though it had no electronics. All sound came from the energy produced by the needle on the 78 record.