Eureka Springs, Arkansas/Withrow Spring State Park
From Graceland, we left Memphis to head towards Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The state line runs down the middle of the Mississippi River, so I was unprepared and missed the picture of the Welcome to Arkansas- the Natural State sign. We were planning a picnic stop at the Arkansas Welcome Center but disappointedly there wasn’t one at the this border crossing. We ended up picknicking in a small rural village next to the town’s baseball diamond…not much else on the long road to Eureka Springs.
As we neared Withrow Spring State Park, about 20 miles south of Eureka Springs, where we were camping, the landscape changed from flat agricultural fields to the rolling green hills of the Ozarks. We got to our campsite, set up for the evening and enjoyed dinner under a clear, starry sky. As the sun went down, so did the temperature. It was a chilly night in the tent after the warm days in Memphis.
On Tuesday, we had a “down” day to recover from the busy days of sightseeing. We went for a short hike to the War Eagle River; I did some yoga and caught up on my blog posts and reading.
Wednesday, we drove to Eureka Springs, a pretty little town in the Ozark mountains known both for its healing spring waters and its preserved Victorian architecture. We spent the morning gazing at restored old houses and art studios and then drove up to see the “Christ of the Ozarks”, a statue of Jesus (apparently the tallest in the U.S.) that was made by the same sculptor who did Mt. Rushmore. Then we drove to Blue Spring, a spring that was a ceremonial place for American Indians as well as a stop on the Trail of Tears. Now, it’s a popular place for weddings. It was a gorgeous spring day, sunny and warm, and we saw new blooms on the trees, but that evening it dropped to near freezing and we froze our butts off in our tent. (I think it was Fabien’s idea buy a tent rather than a van…hmmm.)
Tags: Arkansas FR, BIG TRIP 2011, In English 2005-2006
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