Bethlehem Revisited

Last year we went to 'Bethlehem Walk' in Maryland. It was a recreation of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus' birth. As I recall we were somewhat disappointed by it. We had heard so much about it but it wasn't what we expected. First of all, it was inside. All of the animals were fake. As well as pretty much everything else. Well someone told us about something called 'Bethlehem Revisited' down in Waxahachie, TX (about 35 minutes south of us). They said it was really good. Damien was pretty skeptical, but I convinced him to try it anyway. Well, it was totally amazing. It was outside in a large field. There were actual buildings set up everywhere. I was amazed at how real they tried to make it. For example, there were people actually stomping on grapes to make juice. There was someone weaving baskets, someone making nets, a blacksmith, etc... There were different little shops with all sorts of things. The best part was that it was free - they took donations of course. They said it took about $25,000 each year to put it together. We'll definitely go back next year.

I think we petted the chickens about 10 times!
This lady and child were actually making bread in this hearth. Someone else was mixing the dough. There was a tray of fresh bread sitting out for us to sample and some rosemary honey to dip it in. Yum.
This was definitely the kids favorite part. We stayed there for 10 minutes listening to this guy talk about and play the instruments. We heard his entire spiel.
Orin petting the goats and sheep.
He was pretending he was baby Jesus lying in the manger.
One of the stops had different herbs. Orin was letting Caiah smell the rosemary.
Orin helping to mill the grain (or something like that).
Micaiah's favorite part.