On Monday, we returned to Eureka Springs, sans trailer, and under the expert guidance of Jim and Pat Kirby. First we drove to the top of the bluff to the Crescent Hotel--a place we never would have found on our own. I mean, you can look up and see it easily from anywhere on the main street but getting there is another story. Jim knew all the secret roads and we visited the porches and lobby areas of this Victorian spa.
We found a delicious lunch at the Main Street Cafe and then set out to explore. The entire town is on the National Historic Register and the streets appear to have been laid out during someone's nightmare. Quaint old buildings constructed of local stone add to the whimsy and house everything from beautiful handmade crafts to the typical souvenir glitz one would expect in a tourist town.
Stone retaining walls stairstep up the bluffs in places, creating lovely pocket gardens. A sparkling statue of Aza presides over Basin Spring Park, created to celebrate the power of feminine energy in the universe. Guitar music drifts up from the park while visitors listen, visit, and enjoy the late fall sunshine.
Basin Spring is one of 140 springs in the town that made it a popular health destination at the turn of the last century.
Basin Spring is one of 140 springs in the town that made it a popular health destination at the turn of the last century.
On the way back to the campground, we stopped at Thorncrown Chapel, another amazing structure designed by E. Fay Jones and built in 1980. Apparently Monday afternoon is not a popular wedding time and we only had to share this beautiful building with a tour group from Little Rock.
All in all, a fun day finished off with steaks cooked over the campfire with perfect evening weather.
All in all, a fun day finished off with steaks cooked over the campfire with perfect evening weather.
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