Author: Linda Laughlin (Page 8 of 11)

  Sometimes I forget what a beautiful state Arkansas is! It was a sunny spring day where the thermometer hovered between 55 and 65 degrees. I was in Northwest Arkansas and suddenly I came upon a one way bridge. I hadn’t had this experience in a long time and had forgotten that Arkansas still has some of these bridges. Now this bridge wasn’t one of those that are about 200 feet long, this one spanned part of Beaver Lake and was at least half a block long. I eased out on the bridge and here comes a car in my direction, not exactly going at a snails pace. “Ok,” I thought, “it doesn’t look like he is going to stop.”  I put the car in reverse and backed off the bridge, which made me more than a little nervous. This car came sailing past me with a toot of his horn and a little wave.  I turned to my friend Char and commented how uneasy I was, not being able to see what was on the other side.  Now it is my turn, I hope. So I start across for a second time. I had made up my mind if anyone else started across, I was not backing up. It all worked out or I might have been setting in the middle of a one way bridge, not being able to go forward and refusing to go backward.  I exited the bridge and found myself in the little town of Beaver, Arkansas. I guess this is where Beaver Lake got it’s name. It is a beautiful small town with a interesting General Store. I would have loved to stop but was pressed for time so that is a project for another visit. 

I had went to Eureka Springs to take a course from the Village Writing School on Blogging. In the internet world it is Blogging which makes it sound complicated while in reality it is writing, which I can handle without too much trouble since that is what I do. 

If you haven’t been to Eureka Springs it is a charming town, there is only one drawback, you have to like to hike. There is little flat ground and as I am getting older, I am not fond of hills. Now Char told me we could catch the trolley and in the summer that would probably work, but the trolleys were on a spring schedule and didn’t come by all that often. Note to Linda: You need to buy a motor scooter.

   We found a charming restaurant called Fresh. It was in a converted house and the remodel was amazing. If you have to wait to be seated there is a gift shop, laid out on several levels, where you can browse. Now I don’t know if we got special treatment or if they are always this nice but they let us order a steak off the dinner menu even though it was lunch time.  We had beautiful fresh green salad with their homemade dressing. They have a limited selection of salad dressing and I wasn’t very pleased with that at first, as I am a fan of Ranch dressing, but the creamy pepper was a great substitute.  The steak was outstanding!

We stayed at the Best Western and it was one of the older style, built where you can park in front of your door. I personally like this because you don’t have very far to carry your luggage and I, like most women, I have a lot of luggage to carry. I think they may have recently remodeled, for every thing was clean and fresh. 

Eureka Springs is a town of quaint shops and interesting sites, just bring your hiking shoes. The drive through Northwest Arkansas was perfect. I love the scenery. If you live close I hope you will visit Northwest Arkansas. 

Even when I travel I have a book with me. To me books are a necessity! As always I wish you Happy Reading, Linda