Homestead Open House at LLELA

The Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area (LLELA) is a little secret tucked away here in the ‘burb. It is one of my very favorite places to explore with the kids. Pictured above is the Minor-Porter Log House in their 1860s homestead recreation. It’s a step back in time where visitors can learn what life was like on the frontier.   All the buildings present were relocated to LLELA from other places around the area and reconstructed with amazing detail.

She Is Dallas info: The Lewisville Lake Environmental Learning Area is hosting a Homestead Open House on Saturday, June 18, 10:00 am – 1:00 pm.   Volunteers will be on-site to guide visitors around the Homestead and other structures and answer any questions.   LLELA is located at 201 E. Jones St., Lewisville.   There is no cost for the Homestead Open House but standard LLELA entrance fees apply – $5 for ages 5 and up. For more information, please call them at 972-219-7980 or visit the LLELA website.   You can also follow LLELA on Facebook.

The easy trail (we had several 2 year olds that kept up with the pace) weaves through the acreage toward the 1860s homestead. Once at the homestead, we toured the buildings and learned about what life would be like if we had lived in that time period. There is a smoke house and house made of mud in addition to the full-size family home pictured at the top of this article. The guides taught us to make butter. The kids all participated in the butter making (and eating) while singing a tune from that era, “Churn, Butter, Churn”. There is more to do at LLELA than just visiting the Homestead.   You can also tour the rest of the property and explore on your own.   We came across antlers, animal tracks, snake skins, beaver skulls, and many other things that delighted the kids. This is a wild turkey track in a dried up puddle that was amid 9 other kinds of animal tracks. Reid’s favorite treasure was the turtle shell. “I don’t think anyone lives here anymore…” he said. We spent 3 hours exploring LLELA. On past trips we have spent between 1 1/2 hours and 2 hours. The nice thing is that there are porta-potties throughout the park and you are never very far from the car. There are covered picnic areas near the parking and benches to sit on in the homestead area.