Day Forty - Arkansas Trip Report Part 3

I think I can squeeze the last two days of the trip to Arkansas in this post.  But it might be intense.

Day 4
We woke up at the Mt. Magazine Lodge.  The temperature when we arrived on Wednesday afternoon was in the high 60's overnight it dropped into probably the low 50's so I needed my Hot Springs hoodie in the morning.  The rooms have ceiling fans and big windows with screens so that you don't have to turn the AC on unless it really warms up.  We had to turn everything off and close the windows.  We got up early to leave.  By the way, I didn't mention yesterday, but in Mt. Magazine and Eureka Springs we all chose to save money and stay in one double queen room.

Since we already knew that we didn't want to eat at the resort restaurant we decided to eat breakfast along the way.  So, as soon as we had taken a few pictures we loaded up the car and were on our way.  We had to drive through Ozark, AR on our way to Eureka Springs.  After our DQ search on Monday we had decided to learn to settle for whatever eating establishment was available when it came time to eat.  So, we were determined to find a place in Ozark.  It is a town of about 3,000 people.  So obviously, the choices would be slim.  But since it is near the interstate we hoped that we would be able to find something.  We drove all the way through town and out to the interstate and all that we found was a Sonic.  Dad had said that he would prefer not to eat there.  So we continued to look.  When we found nothing else, we decided to drive back through town and stop at the Sonic.  As we were coming back into town from the opposite direction we found a diner called the Hillbilly Cafe!  The sign was not really visible from the other direction, so it was just lucky that we found it.  We had breakfast there.  Dad and I got the special which was a pancake with bacon for $3.95 and it was also the "home of the .50 cent coffee"!  Mom got an omelet.  It was a great breakfast and super cheap!

Leaving Ozark we had already decided to take scenic routes to Eureka Springs since we would be on major highways the following day driving back to Texas.  So, we took Hwy 23 all the way to Eureka Springs.  It took about three hours to get there but it was a really pretty drive.  In case you have never driven the state highways in Arkansas, let me just tell you that they are not firm believers in making a highway straight.  Multiple times we came to areas where there was a caution sign that said Steep Winding Road Ahead Speed Limit 15 mph Next 3 Miles.  The signs were always followed by a beautiful 3 mile drive.  But it does make the drive slightly longer.  Also be aware that while the people in Arkansas understand that you are supposed to Stop at stop signs, as soon as they have stopped, they just go again whether there is traffic coming or not.  So, when you see a car at a stop sign, just be prepared because they are going to pull out in front of you.

This is a picture that I took when we stopped at an overlook about halfway between Ozark and Eureka Springs.  During this drive we went past a lot of places that have canoe trips and hiking opportunities.  I think it would be fun to stay in cabins in this area and go canoeing or kayaking.  It is very pretty country and I think it has a lot to offer to someone who is looking for a more adventurous vacation that I took with my parents.  If I went back, I would definitely do that as opposed to the sightseeing that we did.

We arrived at Eureka Springs around noon.  As we passed the city limits sign I found out exactly how small the town was.  For some reason, I was under the impression that it was a small city, you know, 20,000 or 30,000 people.  It turns out that it is a town of about 2,000 people that absolutely thrives on tourism.

We were able to check into our motel right away which was a Comfort Inn.  From the outside it is cute, all white siding in the Victorian style which we learned is necessary to get a building permit in the town.  When we walked into the lobby to check in, it was also decorated in that 1890's Victorian style, you know, really ugly wall paper, lots of ornate fixtures and accessories.  Sort of early hideous.  The rooms continued the theme as far as the wallpaper went.  But the furniture, bedding and fixtures were all 1980's cheap motel design.  The wallpaper was dark and peeling some.  Basically, it just didn't look like a place you would want to spend much time.  It didn't look dirty, it just wasn't updated.

After checking into the motel we decided to look around town before our 2:00 p.m. tour began.  We went to an old downtown area that was really cute.  Mom wanted to do some shopping so we parked and walked from shop to shop.  While we walked around we passed a couple of places selling funnel cakes, ice cream, etc.  Mom commented that she would like a funnel cake but she never gets anything unless everyone else says they want it also so she and Dad had nothing.  I finally bought a Shaved Ice because I knew that it could be hours before I got an opportunity to consume any food and it had already been 5 hours since breakfast.  While I was still eating my small Banana Colada Shaved Ice we decided we needed to get back in the car and find the meeting spot for our tour.

We had called earlier in the day to make reservations on the Eureka Van Tours which was listed as the #1 thing to do in the entire state on Trip Advisor.  When I called to make the reservation, the answering machine picked up and I learned from it that not only is Michelle, the business owner, in the van tour business, but she is also in the catering, formal rental and wedding planning businesses.  She seems to be quite the entrepreneur.  When I made the reservation I was told that we were to meet at the Chamber of Commerce and the person on the phone gave me directions ending with it being in the same parking lot as the Pine Mountain Jamboree which was impossible to miss.  I found that fact very believable because after all, how could anyone ever miss anything called a "jamboree"?  At the motel either Mom or Dad had picked up an 8 x 11 photocopied map of Eureka Springs that showed the Chamber of Commerce being east of the motel.  So, we followed the map to get to the meeting place.  I'm not going to go through the entire process of how we got lost in a town of 2,000 people, I'll just tell you that since that map was printed, the Chamber of Commerce has moved all the way across town and is now indeed in the same parking lot as the Pine Mountain Jamboree which incidentally was west of the motel.

When we arrived Michelle herself was half in and half out of the 15 passenger van busily working on something.  We went inside the building to check in and were told that there was a problem with the microphone and it would be just a few minutes so we should have a seat while we waited.  A few minutes later a little man wearing a vest and hat came in and reiterated the situation and asked if anyone knew anything about microphones.  No one did.  About 10 minutes later Michelle came in and said that the mic was fixed and that we should all load up.  By now it was about 2:30.  You might have noticed that I have not mentioned lunch yet.  That is because I was with my parents who "don't eat lunch".

Our driver / tour guide was the little man in the vest and hat.  He turned out to be from Lake Charles, LA and had transplanted to Arkansas following a hurricane.  I don't remember his name but he was nice and told funny Cajun stories.  Our first stop was the Christ of the Ozarks statue which is at the same place the Great Passion Play is performed in the evenings.  I'm still not sure but I think it is close to the same size as the statue in Rio de Janiro.

After we all looked at it, we got back into the van and headed to the Thorncrown Chapel which I was really looking forward to seeing.  I had read on Trip Advisor that there is a chapel Nazi who will not allow anyone to stand once they enter.  Apparently, since it is a chapel, you are to find a seat and remain seated until you leave.  Photography is permitted but only from your seat.  So, all of my photos are from one spot.  But the place is really beautiful.  And it turns out that the chapel Nazi mentioned on TA is the music minister who is very nice and will perform for you if you request that she do so.  The acoustics in the chapel are phenomenal.  She played a song on the piano and then sang and accompanied herself on the piano for another song.  It was really nice.

This is a picture of the chapel from outside.  In case you have never heard of it, it is a chapel in the woods made entirely out of wood and glass.  As you sit inside, it is surrounded by trees and you feel as though you are outside except that the acoustics are so amazing that you  know you aren't.  It is hard to get a good picture from the outside in the spring because there are so many trees around that block the total building.  But you get the idea.  Our guide told us that they have over 300 weddings there annually.  They have couples from all over the world who come there to be married.  The pictures below were taken while the music minister was performing for us.  It was really beautiful and I don't think it would have been such a great experience if she hadn't been there to perform for us.  So, to the lady on TA who complained about her, bleh!  She was simply doing her job and making sure that you were respectful while in there.

As we were leaving the chapel, I heard Mom ask Dad if he was feeling better.  He said a little better and asked her if "that" ever happened to her.  I assumed that he had another hunger headache since, you know, we "don't eat lunch".

He asked me if I had some gum or mints.  I didn't.  In the van they were sitting in the front row of seats while I was sitting in the back row of seats with two couples between us so I wasn't hearing any conversations they were having as we drove.  Apparently, Dad had become "light headed" due to ummmmmm..... HUNGER!  He said sometimes if he doesn't eat, his blood sugar drops real low and he gets dizzy.  He said that if he could have chewed a piece of gum or eaten a mint, it would have helped.  I'm thinking that if he had eaten a freaking MEAL, it would have helped!

So, after leaving the chapel, we drove all through the old part of town looking at all of the Victorian houses built on the hillsides.  They were amazing.  If this part of the tour had only been 30 minutes long, it would have been enough.  It seemed much longer.  We wound our way to the Crescent Hotel which is another haunted hotel and is very pretty.  There we climbed 4 flights of stairs to the roof so that we could see the view (the elevator was not working).  By the way, we still had not eaten.

In the distance you can see the Christ of the Ozarks statue towering above the trees.  Below the hotel was the Catholic church but we didn't get to see it because there were more Victorian houses to drive past.  It turns out that most of the Victorian houses are now Bed and Breakfasts or Inns of some kind.  I would guess that no more than 10% of them actually had year round residents.  Below are pictures of the hotel as well as some of the houses and the springs.

This little beauty is for sale and could be yours for the low, low price of $800k!

These bottom two photos are of springs.  A local individual maintains all of the landscaping on his own.  There are apparently more than 60 named springs in Eureka.  This man takes care of all of the plant life on a number of them.  There would have been three photos of the springs for your viewing pleasure, but Jingle just hopped on the keyboard and deleted one of them.  He probably did you a favor since the last one was nothing special.

The tour finally ended around 5.  By this time we were all starving and would probably have begun chewing our arms off if we hadn't found a place to eat soon.  Mom and I had wanted to eat at the Bavarian Inn which was highly rated.  Dad didn't want to.  Dad won.  First, we went downtown looking for a place to eat, Mom wanted to go to a rooftop restaurant called Flavor.  We went there and ordered drinks and an appetizer then discovered that there was really nothing on the menu that we wanted for dinner.  So we decided to finish our appetizer and drinks and find another place for dinner.  We wound up at Bubba's Bar-B-Que.  Dad got a beef plate that he was unhappy with.  Mom got the special which was chicken quesadillas.  It had lots of tomato in it and she was VERY unhappy with hers.  I got half a rack of ribs, it was okay.  After we left Bubba's we went straight to the Bavarian Inn and got Mom and I strudel to take back to the hotel.  If we had eaten there it would have been heated with ice cream on it.  Instead it was semi-warm with no ice cream.  It was okay.  Mom finished mine.

All in all, I would say that I was kind of disappointed in Eureka Springs.  While it is pretty, I just didn't have much fun there.  The van tour was highly over rated.  We sort of shot ourselves in the foot on the food front.  There seemed to be a lot of things to do hiking-wise outside of town, but my parents are not into that sort of thing.

Day 5
Homeward Bound!!!!  We left Eureka Springs by 7 a.m.  We had breakfast on the road at a Sonic and then got on the interstate to speed the trip up.  We came back through Fort Smith and then crossed over into Oklahoma and took Hwy 59 all the way to the Texas border.  Once we got to Texas we came to a Dairy Queen and I was not taking no for an answer.  WE ATE LUNCH!!!!!  We arrived at Mom and Dad's house in Nacogdoches around 4:15 Friday afternoon.  My sister-in-law, Eileen was there looking for the cat, Regis, since she had not seen him on Thursday when she came to feed him.  He came running up just as soon as we pulled in the driveway.  We unloaded Mom and Dad's stuff from ET and I headed to Dallas.  With the storms and the resulting accidents on I-20, my trip home took longer than normal.  But I was safely back in my house before 9 Friday night.

The trip was fun.  I now know that my parents need to eat more, smaller meals during the day.  I have a feeling that when they are home that "snacking" that they do for lunch usually consists of leftovers and is probably more than I think.  Five days was just long enough to get away, but not so long that we wanted to get away from each other.  I'm glad we went.  But I would really like to go on a cruise next week - and I don't mean on steamboat.