If you read the last blog, you might have gathered that I liked our newest job spot – at Kettle Campground in Eureka Springs, Arkansas – a lot. While the job has some long and frustrating hours, the setting made up for it, and all work and no play. . .well, what’s the fun in that?
Eureka Springs is now on the top of the list of my favorite places that we’ve been to (Tom, not quite so much). It’s the first place where I could actually envision myself living in the future. Yes, it is a tourist spot, but that’s because there is just so much to do in the area. So I made a list. Some we did, some are on our to-do list, and it got so long I’ll have to split this blog into two.
So, in no particular order, here goes the first top ten:
1. Motorcycle riding. When Tom had his Harley, we went to Sturgis, and Arizona Bike Week, but we never even heard of Blues, Bikes & BBQ at the end of September. Even though it’s centralized in Fayetteville and we were a couple of weeks early, there were bikes everywhere. It’s easy to see why: The roads are perfect for motorcycle rides. Made us want the bike back.
2. Blue Springs Heritage Center. I lost track of how many (capped off) springs there are around town, but if you drive out of town a bit you can watch one in action. Blue Springs water bubbles up from an underground cave (mostly unexplored) and flows out at a rate of 38 MILLION gallons per DAY. The water is pristine and a constant temperature of 55 degrees (if I remember correctly). It’s o the trail of tears, so there’s a lot of history here.
3. Shopping. We didn’t get to see the famous Working Bunnies but we did see an amazing bengal cat and some amazing artwork. Eureka Springs is an artsy town and The shops and galleries are eclectic and we enjoyed window shopping.
4. The Beaver Bridge. aka “The Little Golden Gate”. It is the only suspension bridge open to traffic in Arkansas – so we had to drive over it – in the Jeep. We would have never attempted it in the RV! Beaver, the town, was awesomely cute as well.
5. Jazz Festival. There is literally something going on in this festival town every weekend. We hit it for the Jazz Festival and enjoyed some time in the local Basin Spring park listening for FREE to a cool band. 
6. Antique Car Show and Parade. One of the weekends we were there was the Car Show. It was a rainy day, so participation was down, but we had fun viewing the cars, and then later when we were downtown, we watched the parade.
Right after the parade, they block off a portion of the street for an annual re-enactment of a famous bank robbery. It was all great fun.
7. Christ of the Ozarks and The Great Passion Play While we didn’t see the play or attend the museum or go on The Holy Land Tour we enjoyed seeing the gi-hugic white statue of Jesus and the magnificent views from the hill.
We also checked out the 10×10 foot section of the Berlin wall which was pretty cool.
8. House Shopping. We actually looked at some properties while there. My gut told me this would be a good investment property, but our heads talked us back into common sense. Still, it was fun, and even if you aren’t looking to buy, just driving the narrow, hilly streets of town to see the old homes is worth it.
9. Sightseeing. We didn’t take pictures at the Ozark’s Largest Rocking Chair, or dole out ten bucks to see Pivot Rock, but there is something unusual to see around every turn in the area. Here is just a sample:
10. Fall Foliage. With all the hills and vistas, this would be an amazing place to view the autumn colors in their prime. Alas, we were about a month early. However, we were beginning to see signs of the color change.
So you might gather why I loved Eureka Springs. I can’t wait to return. The next blog will have the second of my ten great things to do there.
Happy Travels,
Peace & Love Joy
This looks like my kind of place. We’ll definitely have to add it to our list.
Yes! if you ever get out of Elkhart that is. See you soon (thinking positive)