Tour de Arkansas: Day 2 Eureka Springs
On the second day of our trip, Terry and I went up to the small town of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. After a beautiful 50 minute drive from Springdale, Arkansas we arrived at the twisty-turny mountainous city. It has a vibe uniquely its own.
Our first stop was at Thorncrown Chapel, designed by architect E. Faye Jones, a former student of Frank Lloyd Wright (this will be a theme on this trip). The chapel is meaningful to me personally, as it is where Jeff and I got married, back in 1994. Although there was a groundskeeper with a very loud weed-whacker, the whole spot has a special, reverent feel to it. Even when you are inside the chapel, it feels like you are outside at the same time.
For lunch, we took my parent's recommendation of eating at Local Flavor and went a little bit crazy with all the delicious options, including avacado shrimp salad, baked brie, and a lovely kale pear salad. However, the absolute stunner was the cup of mushroom soup we started with. I still can taste that soup, in all its mushroomy glory.
After lunch we wound our way up through the town, which is very picturesque with oodles of Victorian-style houses, some quaint, others of the majestic variety. Terry kept pleading with me to slow down so he could see each home. Luckily, we were there before the tourist crowds are there in force, which is usually from May through October each year. It was almost like we had Eureka Springs to ourselves, which was a treat.
At the top of the town sits the Crescent Hotel, a landmark for Eureka Springs since 1886. It has been a school for girls and a place to go for a cure for cancer (for two short, ill-advised years), but mostly it has been a hotel, sometimes luxurious, other times downtrodden. It seems to be on the way up again, and the building feels old and grand (this will be another theme of this trip) The views are spectacular from the observation deck and Terry found the gift shop to be intriguing.
After touring the lobby and taking a peek at the view, we popped into St. Elizabeth's for a quiet moment. I remembered this church as being all red (my mother confirmed this was accurate), and I found the new pink-and-green pastel scenes to be not at all what I expected. Still, it's an interesting place to visit just steps from the Crescent Hotel. As the church carillon played several hymms, Terry and I headed back to the car and wound our way down the streets on our way back to my parent's home.
On the way out of town, we spotted the iconic Joy Motel on the way out of town. It always catches my eye, and it caught Terry's too. I think I'd like to try and stay in Eureka Spings for a weekend one of these days, and this might be the place to try it. Well, there are treehouse cabins too. So many choices!
p.s. At the end of our entire Arkansas trip, Eureka Springs was what Terry wanted to experience again.
Our first stop was at Thorncrown Chapel, designed by architect E. Faye Jones, a former student of Frank Lloyd Wright (this will be a theme on this trip). The chapel is meaningful to me personally, as it is where Jeff and I got married, back in 1994. Although there was a groundskeeper with a very loud weed-whacker, the whole spot has a special, reverent feel to it. Even when you are inside the chapel, it feels like you are outside at the same time.
For lunch, we took my parent's recommendation of eating at Local Flavor and went a little bit crazy with all the delicious options, including avacado shrimp salad, baked brie, and a lovely kale pear salad. However, the absolute stunner was the cup of mushroom soup we started with. I still can taste that soup, in all its mushroomy glory.
After lunch we wound our way up through the town, which is very picturesque with oodles of Victorian-style houses, some quaint, others of the majestic variety. Terry kept pleading with me to slow down so he could see each home. Luckily, we were there before the tourist crowds are there in force, which is usually from May through October each year. It was almost like we had Eureka Springs to ourselves, which was a treat.
After touring the lobby and taking a peek at the view, we popped into St. Elizabeth's for a quiet moment. I remembered this church as being all red (my mother confirmed this was accurate), and I found the new pink-and-green pastel scenes to be not at all what I expected. Still, it's an interesting place to visit just steps from the Crescent Hotel. As the church carillon played several hymms, Terry and I headed back to the car and wound our way down the streets on our way back to my parent's home.
On the way out of town, we spotted the iconic Joy Motel on the way out of town. It always catches my eye, and it caught Terry's too. I think I'd like to try and stay in Eureka Spings for a weekend one of these days, and this might be the place to try it. Well, there are treehouse cabins too. So many choices!
p.s. At the end of our entire Arkansas trip, Eureka Springs was what Terry wanted to experience again.
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