By Sally Sexton
STAY A LITTLE WHILE
Moo & Bray sits on 40 acres of natural landscape, surrounded by 80 acres of pasture.
Owner Shannon Biscan knew she wanted it to be a site for visitors, but didn’ t imagine it would grow to what it is today.
The property was originally built for family and friends of family to stay for the day or overnight, courtesy of the Big Red Barn apartment on site.
“ We’ ve got the cool AirBnB... everybody wants to come visit in Texas and I thought, well why not spread our wings a little bit?” she said.
Moo & Bray until that point had only hosted overnight stays, but after a wave of interest in day tours, Biscan made that an option as well.
“ When people are here and they want to go on the tour, we go out in the Ranger,” she said.“ We’ ve got the high seat, like for hunting, so all the kids can sit up there. It’ s more like a safari style and the cows come up to you and eat out of your hand. That makes it safer, too.
“ And it’ s just, we go on a whole adventure. It’ s pretty fun.”
Moo & Bray is full of other opportunities as well. Biscan has been known to host birthday parties, paint and sips, a bachelorette party and, most recently, a planned wedding proposal.
“ He’ s already talked to me and we’ re like, how can we do it?” she said.“ I’ m having fun and I still gotta go check the cows and feed the anyway, so why not? Let’ s just go have fun and do it.”
For those interested in the overnight stay, the Big Red Barn features a queen size bed and full sofa sleeper, comfortably housing three people, or two adults and two children.
A fully-stocked kitchen and bathroom are on the premises, along with all the appliances and a seasonal cowboy pool. There is also a fire pit, corn hole boards and a charcoal barbecue grill for use, and a front porch that provides the perfect sitting area for a Texas sunset.
“ And sometimes, we have layovers where people are traveling with their horses,” Biscan said.“ I allow that, too. But the AirBNB, I would say 98 % are people from the cities wanting to see Highland cows.”
Visitors should take caution that the overnight experience is authentic.
“ Look, you’ re on a farm. There’ s smells, there’ s sounds, so it’ s not just peace and quiet, like a hotel room,” Biscan said.“ I just try to warn people, you know, bring your play clothes because you’ re getting the real experience.”
Guests can sign up to help with barn chores at feeding time through the Airbnb listing: http:// www. airbnb. com / h / bigredbarnbed
“ He kind of saw what we had going on here and six months later, he called and said,‘ I think you need a yak at your farm,’” she said.“ I’ m like,‘ Do I? Well, can you deliver?’”
Biscan’ s husband, who works out of town and supports her passion for animals, isn’ t often surprised to come home to a new creature at the farm.
“ My husband doesn’ t know I got [ the Watusi ] yet,” she told me.“ I called and said,‘ I got you something to give me for Valentine’ s Day.’ He didn’ t even ask.”
The animals are a staple at the farm, but are for guest appearances in the community. The mini donkeys and Albert recently visited residents at an assisted living facility in Gainesville.
How does one transport a rather large tortoise, one might ask? With a bit of brawn, a sturdy pallet, friends and a horse trailer.
Moo & Bray was founded about six years ago, shortly after the Biscan family moved to Texas where Biscan’ s daughter, Addie, sought out the highlyregarded equestrian program at North Central Texas College.
“ My daughter moved here and I came right behind her, and we started with just a couple [ of animals ],” Biscan said.“ We just thought it was great, so we kept adding to it and it took off.”
But NCTC wasn’ t the family’ s first connection to Cooke County.
“ We’ d lived here for a year or more, and we didn’ t realize that my grandmother was born in Gainesville. Of all the colleges we could have gone to...,” Biscan said.“ My grandma was born in Gainesville in 1899. I thought they were from Mississippi and went to Oklahoma, I didn’ t realize they stopped here.”
Biscan found out other family members are also buried there, and had even attended a small church in Callisburg.“ It’ s just, like, full circle, it’ s crazy,” she said. One might say it was meant to be.“ It’ s a lot of work, but it’ s enjoyable, better than going to the office,” said Biscan, who has a full-time job as a bookkeeper, which allows her to work from home.
Moo & Bray Farm Whitesboro, TX 951-201-7315 anamome @ aol. com moobray. com www. facebook. com / moobrayfarm