A man's home is his castle

Or so the expression goes.  

During our New Year's Rally, the hosts typically try to plan for events to keep everyone entertained/busy.  We've done tours, shows, museums and the like.  This past weekend's rally had something different.  We attended a dinner show in a local castle.  Now, if I was over in Germany or England, visiting a castle wouldn't seem so out of place, but in a small Central Texas town of barely 4000 people?  Turns out that we do have a few, if you know where to look.  

Several years back, the owner of a bakery in downtown Bellville, bought 20 acres of land just outside of town.  He was going to build a house on it but nothing really struck his fancy.  Then one day, he came up with the idea to build a castle.  He spent eight years erecting a 3,400-square-foot castle - and then he moved in.  He surrounded the turreted structure with a moat and installed a working drawbridge, portcullis, and a trebuchet that can shoot big rocks about 100 yards.  He opens the castle for tours and various events (weddings, receptions, dinners).  In 2010, he began working with Murder by Chocolate, a Houston group that stages [dinner theater] murder mysteries on weekends.  There’s a mock siege of the castle, and someone is kidnapped and murdered.  People can participate and get into costumes and follow scripts.  For dinner, he serves a medieval feast with a whole roasted pig and all the fixings.

Newmans Castle

Was a very interesting/fun event, if not a bit cold.  It turns out that central a/c and heating were not part of the old medieval architecture.  I had taken a few pictures of the event but it was at night and many did not come out well.  Besides, I was knighted (Sir Cuss) to stand guard over the drawbridge.  At least I wasn't named Sir Circumcision.  Everyone got to play a part in the play and entertainment.  Kind of a campy play, but it was very entertaining.  

The royal couple

Fairy Godmother and Godfather

Just desserts