Arkansas Ozarks Vacation -- Day 6

A shot of the first half of a ten-panel mural in the lobby of the Bank of the Ozarks in Ozark, Arkansas.  It tells the story of the Ozark area in chronological order. We had read that the Bank encourages people to come in to see it, and that was true. They even offered us coffee, despite knowing full well that we were tourists and would never become customers. It was impossible to get the whole mural in one photo.

The mural took 30 months to make. It is not painted, it is sandblasted. Here is a close up of a tiny portion of panel #5. The detail in the craftmanship is incredible.

Truth in advertising (downtown Ozark, Arkansas).

Dead armadillo on the side of the road. 

Did your grandmother have a set of these two-tone plastic dinnerware set?  Mine did, and in this exact same color.  In an antique store in Ozark, Arkansas.

Grandma also had a set of these cannisters.  As a child I thought they were so cool.  (Still do.)

There's our destination in the far background -- Mount Magazine.  (But first we have to go to Paris.  Cathy always wanted me to take her to Paris.)

We couldn't believe the name of this actual law firm.

Mural in downtown Paris, Arkansas.

Wildflowers along the side of the road.

Here I am at Dill Point in Mount Magazine State Park, near Paris, Arkansas.

Cathy at Signal Hill (in Mount Magazine State Park), the highest point in Arkansas.  Look closely at the rock formation on the ground.  It is an accurate to-scale map of the state of Arkansas, and...

...she is standing on this, the US Geological Service marker of the highpoint, which of course is placed accurately on the rock-map which was built around it.

Cathy at the restaurant in the Mount Magazine State Park Lodge.  The Petit Jean River can be faintly seen through the windows (immediately above the other people's heads), as well as other mountains beyond, on the far side of the river valley.

Arkansas Ozarks Vacation -- Day 5

Bright and early Monday, here is Cathy in front of the Mr. Peanut sign on the lawn of the Planters / Life Savers plant in Fort Smith, Arkansas.

Here I am at the gallows used by "Hanging Judge Parker" to maintain law and order at "Hell on the Border," which is how Fort Smith, Arkansas was known back in the day. The gallows are on the grounds of Fort Smith National Park, maintained by the US National Park Service. (There is no truth to the rumor that this is the centerpiece of the new employee morale improvement plan.)

Downtown Fort Smith's two largest buildings are shown.  They are about the same size. One is the First National Bank.  The other is the Fort Smith Council on Aging building.  Hmmm.... That might say something about their demographics.

Here's Cathy about to enjoy dinner at "Doe's Eat Place" in downtown Fort Smith.  The dining room is the in the wine cellar of a turn-of-the century (that'd be 20th century) brewery.  Doe's is a chain with about 10 locations, mostly in Arkansas and Texas.  Their steaks are so big that they actually suggest that two people order one and split it.  Believe me, even with half a steak, it was plenty of food.

No, your eyes are not deceiving you... That's a statue of none other than Popeye The Sailor Man, holding his prized can of spinach as he stands in the brand new fountain in the main city park in Alma, Arkansas.  A portion of an allegorical mural painted on the side of the building next door can be seen behind our hero.  Alma bills itself as the spinach capital of the world, since their main employer is the Alma Canning Company, proud producer of Popeye brand canned spinach.

More proof, in case you thought I was pulling your leg.  (I only take Cathy to the most exciting places on vacation.)

A giant lighted cross gleams in the twilight on eastbound I-40 between Alma and Ozark, Arkansas. Strategically placed on a hill and on a curve, note also how the trees have been cleared to assure its visibility from the highway.

Arkansas Ozarks Vacation -- Day 4

Here's the view across the street as we had lunch at the Balcony Restaurant in the Basin Park Hotel in downtown Eureka Springs.

Here is Thorncrown Chapel just outside of Eureka Springs. It looks open air but actually is made with over 6,000 square feet of glass in its 425 windows. It has won several architectural awards, including being placed 4th on the American Institute of Architects' list of the top buildings of the 20th century.

Here is a view from inside:

Here is the very first Walton's 5-and-Dime store, on the square in Bentonville, Arkansas, which of course grew to become the world's largest retailer, Wal-Mart. Today this store is the Visitor's Center and Museum.

Here is a recreation of Sam Walton's first desk in the Museum. Pretty humble beginnings for someone who ultimately became (for a while) America's richest man.

Here is a view from the parlor in "Miss Laura's Social Club," a former bordello which is now the Welcome Center in Fort Smith, Arkansas. It is on the National Register of Historic Places, the first such establishment to be so honored. Note the red lamp.

Just to prove we crossed over the Arkansas River so that we could say we've been to Oklahoma. There's, umm, nothing over there.

The dining car of the MKT (Missouri - Kansas - Texas) railroad, on display outside the Fort Smith Trolley Museum.

The trolley lines disappear into the desolate part of Fort Smith. On the left is part of a mural that has been painted on the old trolley depot.

In the 1800's the boundary between the US and Indian Territory was on the Arkansas side of the Arkansas River, as painted on the sidewalk outside the Fort Smith National Historic Park, as night was falling.

Arkansas Ozarks Vacation -- Day 3

Here's a T-shirt in a store in Eureka Springs, proving that the people in Arkansas both know their reputation and have a sense of humor...

Eureka Springs is filled with quaint shops, little cafes and restaurants, and art galleries. But the narrow, winding, hilly streets make it very hard to get a photo that captures the flavor of the town. Here is one attempt, looking north from across the street from the Basin Park Hotel...

A sad sign of the times...

One of the many decorated springs around town...

And here's another, with a gazebo built over it.

And one more.  There are dozens about town.

For dinner we ate at Emilio's, an Italian restaurant in this quaint old house.

Some outdoor art, in the parking lot of Emilio's, the "Mona Lamina."

Arkansas Ozarks Vacation -- Day 2

Day 2 was primarily a travel day, but we made a few stops at interesting points along the way...

How do we get hot and cold water into our homes?  The people in St. Clair, Missouri, know... They have matching Hot and Cold water towers to prove it.

Here is one of the 12 murals on the walls of buildings in downtown Cuba, Missouri, which bills itself as "Mural City USA." The mural depicts a legend in which Senator Harry Truman is campaigning in front of a total of two people in Cuba during the 1940 primary (insert "snapshot"). Learning that the reason no one is listening to him is that they're all going to the county fair, he decided to go there too (main picture).

Here I am (see me?) with the "World's Largest Rocking Chair" along historic Route 66 just outside Fanning, Missouri. The chair was erected (appropriately enough) on April 1st, 2008.

The entrance to the Solo cup factory in Springfield, Missouri is (what else?) a Solo cup, more than two stories tall, complete with a straw sticking out of the top. (Unfortunately, this factory is now out of business.)

People in Springfield must like to eat, because also there is the "World's Largest Fork," located outside of an advertising agency that (supposedly) had a local restaurant chain as one of their main clients.

Here is Cathy in front of an actual 10-foot section of the Berlin Wall, with the 23rd Psalm written on it, preserved on the grounds of the Great Passion Play in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

"The Christ of the Ozarks is the largest statue of Christ in North America. Standing seven stories tall and spanning 65 feet from side to side, it is one of the most photographed statues in the world."  Yet (starting a trend that would last all week), we had the statue and the grounds all to ourselves.  It stands high on a hilltop and can be seen from the town of Eureka Springs many miles away in the valley below.  It had been raining but the sun came out for the photo -- mighty impressive.

Arkansas Ozarks Vacation -- Day 1

We took off from Fort Wayne about 4:30pm for our Arkansas Ozark vacation.  By the the time we got to St Louis it was dark and raining hard.  We jumped off the Interstate just to get a closer peek at the Gateway Arch.  If you've never been to downtown St. Louis before (and it's dark and raining), it's really hard to get a good photo.  Here's one that's a bit surreal, with the raindrops in the foreground.