Eureka Springs, AR.

Monday, July 8, 2013

Eureka Springs, AR.

Saturday 6/29/2013

This is Joe, I am writing this blog while Diane is shopping. I'm not a shopper and I could tell it was going to be an all afternoon shop. So I dropped Diane off and I came home. She had already loaded these picture for me. Back to the blog. Today we left our campground in Omaha, Ar. and headed out for a day trip to Eureka Springs. We were told that it was a cute must see town. We headed west for about 45 minutes. While still in Arkansas, we took a drive east from Omaha, AR to Eureka Springs, AR.

Just as we started to enter the outside limits of the town, we saw a Overlook View sign. So we turned off the main road onto a narrow winding road and finally reached this spot.

This is the view from the cute little pavilion. There is a large hotel looking building across the valley on the top of the hill..

By zooming in you get a better view. There was nothing in the small pavilion telling us what it was. Luckily there was a couple standing there who told us about it. Turns out that it is where they are staying during their visit. It is called the Crescent Hotel. It dates back to the 1800's. It has been a hotel, then an all girls school, a hospital, then a hotel again. It is suppose to be haunted and the man who told us this said he heard flipflop footsteps inside his bedroom while he was in bed.

Diane can't resist a pretty colored flower, or bush in this case.

Or a bubble bee.

After our brief detour, we arrived in Eureka Springs. We found a parking spot in one of the many $5 for 3 hrs parking lots along the main street. Eureka Springs has a population of 2,073.

The Grand Central Hotel has been here for many years Like so many of the buildings in this town it has burned down once or twice and has been rebuilt with brick or stone instead of wood. Way back when, the stage coaches would drop off visitors, who came for the "Healing Waters" which are what made the town famous. Similar to Hot Springs.

Old General Store

There are tons of places to stay in town. These cute colorful cabins caught Diane's eye. They are B&B's, Hotels, You name it.

This is how they drain water from the Hills surrounding the town when it rains.

Diane wanted to go to the Great Passion Play, unfortunately the show didn't start until 8 PM and wouldn't get over until 10 PM. The drive back is 45 minutes of unfamiliar, curvy, steep, roads, and we don't like to drive after dark because we either of us have good night vision.

This unusual copper gate caught Diane's eye. The gate is in the open position.

After looking around for awhile we discovered their was more of the town above us. So we got some much needed exercise and climbed to the next level. View from the top.

This is a picture of one of the main streets. As you can see most of the store fronts have been preserved and many are somewhat original inside as well.

In one shop I discovered that someone was using my name for their Kettle Chips. I have found a lot of products and businesses have used my name.

Diane discovered this "Time Table"in a shop.

This is sort of the town square or park with a spring fountain.

It is decorated for the upcoming 4th of July. There is a stage and benches. Perhaps they are going to have some music performance?

At one end of the square this home it build on the edge of the hill. If you look close, you might see a statue to the right of the home.

Here is a close up, pretty neat. Someone spent a lot of time making it, I'm sure.

The words on this building speak for themselves.

This is one of many cool building in the town. It is my favorite. It's slim design, with narrow balconies attached on both sides.

The street winds back and forth up the hill..

Check out this stained glass window on the same building.

A little closer view.

More stairs to another level.

As I have said, I'm not much of a shopper, but this sign caught my eye. I was going to meet the Star of the TV show, Meteorite Men! (You have heard of the show, haven't you?) I went upstairs to his shop. He is one of only a handful of shops in the US to sell meteorite's. He has traveled all over the world hunting for them. So I just had to do something impulsive (way out of my personality) I purchased a Meteorite!

This is the New Orlean's Hotel and Spa.

View from that hotel, looking down the street. As we climb the hill , the shops continue around the bends in the street, with a slight incline. This town gives you a great workout.

Around the bend and guess what, more shops! This town is bigger than it looks when you arrive.

This is a neat looking building with its balcony and street lights. It is now an art gallery.

Diane spotted this picture in a store. She took this picture so she could remember the saying.

Our 3 hours were up, so we headed back to the car. We decided to drive up to the Crescent Hotel that we saw from the Overlook View. Along the way, we passed some interesting buildings and homes. This is the Palace Bath House, now a Hotel and Bath House.

Diane really loved this little home. It is perched on the edge of a hill with a great view from its back porch.

Another view from a different angle.

Another cute home.

This detail is pretty impressive.

Talk about Pretty in Pink.

All of these homes as we drove up the curvy narrow road are B& B's.

After climbing up the long steep road we arrived at the Hotel.

Pretty Impressive for it's age. 1886. Can't imagine how much work it was to haul all this stone up that steep road.

Notice the crescent moon out front.

We wandered around the impressive lobby area and then walked out on the back porch. This is the view. Can you see the overlook viewing pavilion we were at when we first arrived in town?

There it is, across the way.

This is the view from the back of the Hotel.

Diane spied this kitty hanging out on a window air conditioner.

This is the fireplace in the lobby area.

We left the hotel and headed back down the mountain to catch the highway back home. This is a home we were both impressed by as we headed down into the town again.