We left Branson a day early so we could get over to Springdale, Arkansas where we had an appointment to have our rear slide hydraulic hose replaced. As some of you may have seen on Facebook, we believe the hose was chewed on by rabbits at a site we had in Iowa a few weeks before. When I reported this to my insurance company, they were not too surprised by that as they have heard of it more times than one might imagine. We spent a night in a hotel while the hose was removed and the new one was made and replaced.
Our main reason for visiting this area of Arkansas was to visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. It is a world class art museum built by Alice Walton, the daughter of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart. We really enjoyed the many fine pieces of art and other exhibits. We particularly enjoyed the Infinity Mirrored Room with its mirrored walls and many lighted glass balls hanging from the ceiling. The museum gets it name from its use of glass walled bridges built over a lake. Also on the grounds was a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that was rescued from a flooded area in New Jersey and moved to Arkansas. At the end of our visit, we took advantage of a small plate and drinks happy hour at the museum restaurant which occupied one of the bridges. That evening after dark we took in an outdoor exhibit on the grounds entitled North Forest Lights. We were treated to five "Installations" or light and sound shows along a half mile path through the woods. It was hard to take a picture with my phone that can show how fantastic and beautiful this event was.
Our main reason for visiting this area of Arkansas was to visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. It is a world class art museum built by Alice Walton, the daughter of Sam Walton, founder of Walmart. We really enjoyed the many fine pieces of art and other exhibits. We particularly enjoyed the Infinity Mirrored Room with its mirrored walls and many lighted glass balls hanging from the ceiling. The museum gets it name from its use of glass walled bridges built over a lake. Also on the grounds was a home designed by Frank Lloyd Wright that was rescued from a flooded area in New Jersey and moved to Arkansas. At the end of our visit, we took advantage of a small plate and drinks happy hour at the museum restaurant which occupied one of the bridges. That evening after dark we took in an outdoor exhibit on the grounds entitled North Forest Lights. We were treated to five "Installations" or light and sound shows along a half mile path through the woods. It was hard to take a picture with my phone that can show how fantastic and beautiful this event was.
Walmart was founded in this section of Arkansas. The whole area made up of Bentonville, home of Walmart, Rogers, home of H.B. Hunt Trucking, Springdale, home of Tyson Chicken, and Fayetteville, home of the University of Arkansas just a few miles to the south make up a thriving and busy metropolis. Any corporation that wants to do business with these companies has an office in the area. We saw offices for Proctor and Gamble, Heinz, Kellogg and Wrangler Jeans just to name a few.
On the downtown square in Bentonville we visited the Walmart Museum, which is housed in Sam Walton's original 5 and 10 cent store.
Over in downtown Rogers we visited the Daisy Airgun Museum and I really enjoyed looking for the BB gun model that I had as a boy. We were also pleased to see the display about the movie The Christmas Story, and see a larger copy of the leg lamp we have in the front window of our Coach. We were surprised to find out that Daisy did not make a model gun like the one in the movie with the compass and sundial, but did make 4 of them for the movie.
We heard a lot about Eureka Springs being the Switzerland of Arkansas so, we drove over and spent part of a day walking the steep streets and visiting the many eclectic stores it had to offer. The whole downtown area is listed in the National Historical Registry. On our way over to Eureka Springs we visited beautiful Thorncrown Chapel, which was built by a retired school teacher who felt the site was just the right place for quite meditation. It is now one of the premier sites in the area for weddings.
Our RV friend Carol, who is from Rogers, told us to try the chicken dinners at the Monte Ne Inn. Glad she told us about it as we would have never found it ourselves. All you can eat chicken dinners with all the fixings is all they serve, nothing else, and they are only open 3 hours each night. Reservations are almost a must on the weekends the waitress told us. The dinner was fantastic and we were able to bring home what was left over.
On the downtown square in Bentonville we visited the Walmart Museum, which is housed in Sam Walton's original 5 and 10 cent store.
Over in downtown Rogers we visited the Daisy Airgun Museum and I really enjoyed looking for the BB gun model that I had as a boy. We were also pleased to see the display about the movie The Christmas Story, and see a larger copy of the leg lamp we have in the front window of our Coach. We were surprised to find out that Daisy did not make a model gun like the one in the movie with the compass and sundial, but did make 4 of them for the movie.
We heard a lot about Eureka Springs being the Switzerland of Arkansas so, we drove over and spent part of a day walking the steep streets and visiting the many eclectic stores it had to offer. The whole downtown area is listed in the National Historical Registry. On our way over to Eureka Springs we visited beautiful Thorncrown Chapel, which was built by a retired school teacher who felt the site was just the right place for quite meditation. It is now one of the premier sites in the area for weddings.
Our RV friend Carol, who is from Rogers, told us to try the chicken dinners at the Monte Ne Inn. Glad she told us about it as we would have never found it ourselves. All you can eat chicken dinners with all the fixings is all they serve, nothing else, and they are only open 3 hours each night. Reservations are almost a must on the weekends the waitress told us. The dinner was fantastic and we were able to bring home what was left over.
When I played Buffalo Ridge Springs in Branson a few weeks ago I was paired with Tim who lives here in Springdale. I told him we were going to be in the area in a few weeks and he graciously asked me to join him and his son Jonathan for a round of golf. We had a great time playing the Highlands course at Bella Vista, Arkansas. Besides the fine company the other highlight of the round for me was an Eagle 3 on a par 5 from 162-yards out. It is amazing how many nice people I have met playing golf during our travels.
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