Wednesday, October 28, 2015

ARKANSAS!




October 21 – Eureka Springs!  The Ozark mountains are really beautiful! I thought Branson was hilly.  It’s flat compared to Eureka Springs!  Oh my goodness, steepest streets in a  town I’ve ever seen!  We were glad we were in the car and not in the RV! The town was built in the late 1800's and it's amazing to think they could build a town right into the mountains like they have here! They have a wonderful trolley system though that takes you all over the place, you decide on the yellow route, the red route, the blue or the purple routes and go accordingly.  So we feel like we got to see a lot of this quaint town, with its reputation as one of the top 50 downtowns in America. Lots of unique shops and cafes.  I got a pretty set of chimes engraved with the Serenity Prayer on the chimes, so looking forward to using those when we get home.


The famous Basin Park Hotel











 We ate at a quaint restaurant that was highly recommended by a couple of the locals we talked to, called Local Flavors.  



We sat outside on the balcony to enjoy the beautiful weather and would have been perfect had it not been for a few very annoying bees that kept being attracted to our food!  Grrrr



The most interesting place we saw in Eureka Springs was the Thorncrown Chapel!  48 feet tall with 425 windows and over 6,000 square feet of glass! It is located atop over 100 tons of native stone and colored flagstone.




The winner of the American Institute of Architecture’s Design of the Year Award for 1981 and the A1A Design of the Decades.  Voted 4th on the A1A list of the top buildings of the twentieth century!

Our trolley driver quietly tipped us off that IF the lady who serves as Minster of Music was there, if we’d ask, she’d sing for us!  So sure enough, she was there, and is so elegant and soft spoken, but with a lovely soprano voice. What a sweet spirit she had and was so delighted we were there.  


Fascinating story of the builder, Jim Reed,  (E. Fay Jones, an apprentice of Frank Lloyd Wright, was the architect) who when about half way through ran out of money and it appeared his dream would never be completed.  He felt shattered and admitted for the first time in his life, he just fell on his knees in the chapel and gave it all to God.  It was a dream he felt God had given him, but he’d taken it as far as he could in his own strength. He humbled himself and prayed that if it was supposed to be completed, God would have to provide. Within a few days, the money miraculously was made available, and the work was completed. This is on the same property and is called a worship center, but is primarily used for conferences.  They do have worship services up in the chapel every Sunday.  I'd love to have attended one!


It’s a fascinating story, and if you’d like to read about it just google Thorncrown Chapel.  You will enjoy it! The chapel has been featured in all the major magazines over the years! It’s been on NBC Nightly News, the 700 Club, Time, Newsweek and Parade, to name a few.

It was very special to sit completely surrounded by nature and contemplate the greatness of God. Built completely of wood and glass, it is one of the most beautiful places we’ve seen. 

More of Eureka Springs and the historic Crescent Inn....



 Crescent Inn....


View from the 4th floor balcony....
Gift shop...




This is the famous "Christ of the Ozarks" statue. Lovely and HUGE - we were a long way away, so you can tell it's really big.  There is a Passion Play that is reputed to be outstanding here but we're not going to be here this weekend, which will be their final performance this year.
This is the old bowling alley, that is now a hair salon. Note the darkened "alleys" of wood - that was the original bowling lanes.
A couple of homes built in the mid 1800's.....


The rest of our time in Arkansas was spent at Cloud RV Park ($30 night for our RVing friends) – actually a very pretty park with a nice clubhouse, etc). 




However the effects of bands of weather due to Patricia made for a less than pleasant stay. Soaking rain that made it extremely unpleasant to be out so we got caught up on lots of stuff and did venture out during a brief window to do laundry. We cooked in the RV, and had a marathon of NCIS DVDs and enjoyed our books of course.  

Sunday we enjoyed the live streaming of The Cross. It’s extra special knowing all our kids are there.  We didn’t catch a glimpse of them this time.  Sometimes we do.  Really getting homesick to see family! 

Monday it was still a rainy dreary day, but it wasn’t pouring rain, so we did go into Hot Springs to see the town. 
 President Andrew Jackson designated Hot Springs as the first federal reservation in 1832. It is essentially America’s first national park, 40 years older than Yellowstone. Interesting to see Bathhouse Row that we’ve heard and read about. Today you can still soak in their thermal waters, as well as receive spa treatments and massages on this reputedly world famous “row”.  The town is famous for hosting some of the most iconic figures in history. The naturally thermal spring waters that flowed into these bathhouses were believed to have healing properties, which is why presidents, outlaws, athletes and other celebrities came often to take advantage of the special waters here.
  
Some of these buildings are turn of the century and really beautiful, having been restored to their “glory days.”  Here are some of the more famous ones – the Buckstaff Bathhouse, Quapaw Baths and Spa with their steam cave and others….. if the weather had not been so awful and we weren’t getting anxious to get home, we would have likely taken the time to have a spa treatment here.












We also had planned to visit the Woodland Gardens, the 210 acre botanical garden located on Lake Hamilton. They have a special Japanese garden, ranked among the top 10 in the nation.
Also we were interested to note that Anthony Chapel is here, also designed by the same architect, E. Fay Jones, that designed Thorncrown Chapel.  The photos we saw looked very similar.

However, with the exception of that one street, we were rather shocked at the general state of the town, seemingly a very depressed area.  Lots of unkempt properties, abandoned buildings, for lease signs all over and much of it in a state of disrepair.  

  It would appear the economy here has been seriously affected.  Not to mention the ROADS! Gracious, the vibrations and bumps and potholes are just very surprising.  Not since Louisiana have we seen the roads in such poor condition.  AND sales tax in Arkansas is 10%!  

In looking over the literature we’d gotten, the marketing of Hot Springs is either a little over the top OR we just missed out due to the poor weather.  I’d be interested to come back some day to see if our impression is different.

Tuesday, we hit the road again, just as happy to leave Arkansas behind us.  While the beauty of the mountains and the forests with the fall colors was enjoyable, with the exception of Eureka Springs, I have no desire to go back to Arkansas, unless we decided to have a “do over” on Hot Springs. 

Stay tuned for more..... next is Mississippi and Memphis, TN....