2019-01-25 Mountain Home AR to Van Buren AR

Mountain Home was so-so, even though it was listed on a list of 10 cutest towns (or something like that). Kinda meah. Eureka Springs, however was a very cute little town. Definitely an end destination town for all the surrounding area and crazy cute. It was built down in a canyon type geographical detail and a single row of houses on either side makes for a skinny town running up the canyon.
This corner of Arkansas is very different from the rest of it, and I can truly now say I understand what they call the Ozarks. The road we took between Mountain Home and Bentonville was built on top a ridge so lots of up and down, twisty turns and 15 mph corners. And not much traffic.
We stopped and saw the Christ of the Ozarks (saw a billboard), and what a big guy he is (actually 66 feet tall). Eureka Springs is down the hill from him.

Next stop, Bentonville where we stopped at the Crystal Bridges Art Museum in Bentonville. This place was built by one of the Walton daughters (think Walmart) and it must have cost a fortune. No real art theme here but some nice works. We toured a Frank Lloyd Wright house they moved from New Jersey which was built in 1950. Pretty timeless design. And simple. The museum buildings are amazing and the art is ok. A few pieces that caught my eye (but heck, I'm and engineer..)

We stopped in Bentonville for lunch and chatted with a local guy and the bar maid. This corner of Arkansas is like a different state than the rest of Arkansas since it is so hilly and geographically interesting. Bentonville is where Sam Walton had his first Ben Franklin store back in 1950. They have a completely restored replica which we took a quick look at.

It started to snow so we headed south and ended the day in Van Buren AR. We did some laundry and walked up the street to an Italian place for dinner. Arkansas has 75 counties and 39 of them are dry (no booze). This is one of the dry counties so no beer or wine with dinner tonight.
I called and got a slot next Weds at the Toyota plant in San Antonio TX (plant tour) and we have lots of time so we may head down to the gulf. Stay tuned..