A surprise of a state: Arkansas

You read that right. Arkansas surprised me.

Though to be honest, it’s not the entire state I’m surprised about. It’s just the northwest.

Tanya and I decided to head there for an all-too-short respite. Five days overall, though one and a half were basically travel days.

We ended up in Fayetteville, Rogers, Bentonville, Bella Vista and Eureka Springs.

The first thing you notice is the weather, especially in the non-summer months. It’s not humid, and to me, cold actually felt good! Temps got down to about 35 in the morning a couple of times, and I was completely OK with it.

War News From Mexico by Richard Caton Woodville at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art.

The reason we went — the biggest anyway — was to check out Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville. It was founded by Alice Walton—daughter of Walmart’s founder, Sam Walton—and it is an absolutely breathtaking experience.

The best part of it, for me, wasn’t the modern building filled with beautiful pieces (which was amazing). No, to me the best thing was wandering the paths outside and taking in the natural beauty that surrounded it.

That’s the thing I’ll keep coming back to about this place. It’s an absolute outdoor fan’s paradise. (If the outdoors you love is woods and mountains. Which I love.)

The people here are… definitely not what I’m used to. What you end up with here is a cross section between southern hospitality and midwestern warmth, and you end up with the best of both. You end up with friendly people stopping you on the street and just striking up conversations (which happened to me twice in Rogers!)

Honestly, I barely scratched the surface here and would love to return, as would Tanya!