Eureka Springs part 3

On Christmas Eve, we drove out to War Eagle Mill, a working water-driven grain-grinding mill. If you have been following me for long, you know I love baking, and you know I can be something of a food snob, so it was a given that we had to visit the mill and get some flour and other grains. I bought bread flour, wheat flour, soy flour (haven't used that one yet), blue cornmeal, and regular cornmeal. Whew.

The War Eagle river as it passes the mill.

 It was a cold, gray day, but the water was still, and the mist made everything seem like it was out of a fantasy novel or something.

An honest to goodness grinding stone.

We had originally planned to eat lunch at the restaurant at the mill, but it was only a little over an hour or so after our latish breakfast, so we just walked around the mill for a bit, taking pictures.

Water wheel!

 I love seeing things done the old way. Yes, technology is pretty much necessary to feed the billions of people on the planet now, but somehow, foods grown and processed in ways that our ancestors used for thousands of years just seem to taste better.

Plus, the machinery just looks cooler. I mean, if your grain is ground by an electrically operated machine, you don't get to look at the water wheel turning, at the water falling in crystal droplets...and you don't have the chance that beavers will chew up your wheel (apparently that was a problem with previous wheels. Who knew!).  This is one reason (the coolness, not the beavers) that I really like the steampunk aesthetic and the maker's movement. It is all about seeing how things work, being able to work on machines yourself, fix problems, being intimately involved in what you are making and using. And it has cool gears.

All dressed up and ready for Christmas Eve Dinner

Anyway, Christmas Eve we had a lovely dinner at the Grand Taverne in Eureka Springs. I got tipsy in front of my mother, which was odd, and made me giggle a lot. We had a tasty buffet breakfast at the hotel on Christmas morning, complete with chocolate fountain, and a few tiny snowflakes to accompany us on our way back to Little Rock. I thoroughly enjoyed Eureka Springs and surrounds, and look forward to going back at another time of year. We passed through the Boston Mountains on the way home, and it looked like there is probably some good hiking up there...

Eureka Springs part two

We went on a couple of side trips while we were in Eureka Springs, mostly just to see that part of the state.  The one place I really wanted to go - the replica medieval castle that is being built in the countryside - was closed for the winter, but that just means we will have to take another trip up that direction later in the year. Instead, we stopped at Thorncrown Chapel on our way out to view the Pea Ridge National Military Park.

The chapel is pretty cool, just out on the side of a hill. It would be an awesome place for a wedding, but they don't really want to be a wedding chapel, so they don't allow many. Too bad. I'd love to have such windows when I go to church, and such a view. Might take my mind off the sermon though.

The weather that day was lovely, clear blue skies, cool - just as it should be in late December. And with all the leaves off the trees, we could see forever.

After you go over the hills, there is a flat, prairie-like area, with long vistas and a crumbling house. 

I got a new DSLR camera for Christmas (well, it was a Christmas gift, but I started using it in November). It is so good that this picture is taken from a moving car. If I hadn't been the one to take the picture, I don't think I could tell, can you?

I didn't really take any pictures at the battlefield. There was a good interpretive center, and if we had been so inclined, a long self-guided driving tour around the area. None of us are Civil War buffs, so the interpretive center gave us enough history for the afternoon. Even after seeing all the displays and information, I still have a hard time imagining the nightmare conditions of a Civil War battle.

Tomorrow, Christmas Eve at War Eagle Mill.

Eureka Springs, part 1

Crescent Hotel from the back, and down the hill.

My parents came to visit over Christmas, and to do something different and get out of town for a bit, we took a trip up to Eureka Springs. None of us had been there yet, and I was assured by several co-workers that it was definitely worth a visit.

From the front - well, it used to be the back, but now that we all have cars...

We stayed at the Crescent Hotel, but in a modern cabin/condo, not in the actual hotel building (so no, we didn't experience the ghost that is said to roam the building). We ate at the hotel a couple of times though - the Christmas Day brunch was very good - and met the two hotel cats, Casper and Jasper.

I can has Victorian mansion?

On our first full day in town, Benjamin and I walked from the hotel down to the main shopping street.  Along the way, we passed this house, which is for sale, and which I would buy if we won the lottery. I love the little turrets and the big balconies, and the color scheme. Oh, and the view out over the valley and hills. There are a lot of houses like this in Eureka Springs. I only include one here because this isn't an architecture blog, and I don't want to start drooling again.

See those stairs in the back? We went up those next.

Part of the path we followed was along an old boardwalk sidewalk that led down and then up some of the many hills. The streets are all pretty narrow and it is easy to imagine the town without cars at all. The Google directions to the hotel had us driving what turned out to be little alleys - we didn't actually go that way.  The way we did end up driving was still winding and full of narrow streets and 90 degree turns. Wow! I would not want to drive there in an ice storm!

The town is also full of neat stone walls - structural, not just decorative. This one used to shore up the hill for a house that has been torn down. You could still see part of the basement.

Of course, some of the walls were used for decorative purposes too. Careful Humpty! It is a hard landing.

A lot of the buildings had old advertisements painted on them. You can tell that the Coca-Cola sign wasn't the first to be painted on this wall.

Eureka Springs is home to one of only four surviving Carnegie libraries in Arkansas (the one in Little Rock was torn down in the 1960s. Tsk.) We peeked in the window, but they were already closed for the holidays. Ah well.

Tomorrow: Our visit to the countryside.