Monday, Oct 21 - It was a Dark and
Stormy Night. After breakfast at the hotel I took the hotel shuttle
to the Arkansas State Capital. I did the "A Walk on the
Hill" Virtual cache which
involves a tour of four monuments on the grounds of the Capitol. I got a ham and cheese
sandwich with pickle, potato chips and a cookie at the Capital
cafe. I took the shuttle back to the hotel. After I ate lunch in my room I went to the Road Scholar Orientation. We had an
Overview of Arkansas Presentation. We had a catered welcome dinner.
Tuesday, Oct 22 - After breakfast we
had a Presentation of Bill Clinton's Rise to Power. We met in the
lobby to walk to the trolley stop. We traveled to the William J.
Clinton Presidential Library. We had lunch at Cafe 42 Clinton
Library. We had free time so I looked at more exhibits at the
Clinton Library and then took a short walk
along the Arkansas River to find the Geocache. I
traveled via Trolley back to the hotel. We went next door to the Old
State House for a brief presentation. We had a group dinner at
Samantha's Tap Room.
Wednesday, Oct 23 - After breakfast
in the first floor buffet area we bought our luggage to the bus. We
stopped by Little Rock Central High Visitor Center. We had a picnic lunch at Petit
Jean State Park. We departed for the Rockefeller Institute and Petit
Jean Overlook. I found a geocache at Stout's Point/Petit Jean
Overlook.
We departed for
Rogers/Bentonville located in northwest Arkansas about
2:15PM. We checked in the Holiday Inn & Suites
Rogers. My room was totally unacceptable. It smelled
heavily of Windex or some type of cleaner. Back at the front desk I
was told the hotel was completely booked and the rooms assigned. I
told them that the rooms are NOT assigned until people check in so there had to
be a room available. I was given a suite on the 6th
floor. The service elevator was right across the hall so I used it
during my stay. Quite convenient. We had catered dinner
at the hotel.
Thursday, Oct 24 - I had breakfast
in the first floor restaurant. We had a video about Crystal Bridges
in the hotel meeting room. The bus departed for Crystal
Bridges. We walked the 0.5 mile Art Trail in the rain. I found the
Geocache: A Crystal Cache: Arkansas Quartz at Crystal Bridges. I was
impresses by the Bachman-Wilson FLW Usonian House. However I was not
impressed with the Crystal Bridges architecture. Crystal Bridges was designed by internationally
renowned architect Moshe Safdie, who envisioned a building that would
complement the surrounding Ozark landscape. However the buildings
look like giant armadillos crossing the ravine. I ate lunch at
Eleven housed in the Crystal Bridges Museum. I had toasted cheese sandwich and a cup of soup with a
side of house made chips.
Crystal Bridges was a major and
lavishly funded addition to the landscape of American museums when it opened in
2011. To the consternation of museums around the world, the curators and
advisers who helped establish Crystal Bridges had bought up a significant
collection of American art, including prized pieces from the colonial era and
the 19th century. With a seemingly bottomless supply of money from the Walton
Family Foundation, they acquired essential works, such as Asher B. Durand’s
1849 “Kindred Spirits” (from the New York Public Library for a reported $35
million) along with paintings by Thomas Moran, Frederic Edwin Church, Thomas
Cole and other 19th-century painters.
Items
in the collection (including buyer's premium) that I liked were:
· Green River, Wyoming by Thomas Moran, purchased 5 December 2002 for $2.9245 million
· George Washington (The
Constable-Hamilton Portrait) by Gilbert Stuart purchased 30 November 2005 for $8.136 million
· Winter Scene in Brooklyn by Francis Guy, purchased 30 November 2005 for $1.024 million
· The Lantern Bearers by Maxfield Parrish, purchased 25 May 2006 for $4.272 million
· Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1 by Georgia O'Keeffe, purchased 20 November 2014 for $44.405 million
I especially liked Asher Brown
Durand "Kindred Spirits". I also liked Francis Guy
"Winter Scene in Brooklyn", Alfred Henry Maurer "Jeanne",
John Singleton Copley "Sra. Theodore Atkinson Jr." and Arthur
Fitzwilliam Tait "A Tight Fix--Bear Hunting, Early Winter".
I caught the first bus pickup to Bentonville
Town Square where I did a Virtual Cache - Son of the South. I walked
across the street to briefly visit Sam Walton's original store, Walton's 5-10. It hosts the Wal-Mart Museum. I rode the bus back to
the Holiday Inn.
Friday, Oct. 25 - After breakfast we
brought our luggage to the bus. We departed the hotel about
8:00AM. We stopped at Thorncrown Chapel, architect E. Fay
Jones. He was an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright. The
group rode the Eureka Springs Tram on a rainy, cold, windy day. It was a
narrated tram ride through historic Eureka Springs. I stayed in the
warm bus. We departed Eureka Springs about 11:00.
We had lunch at DeVito's at
Harrison. We departed about 1:00 for the Ozark Folk Center at Dry
Creek. I got my room key about 4:30pm. I rode the shuttle
to my room in a cabin located in a wooded setting. I rode the
shuttle back to the Skillet Restaurant. The group went to the live
music show but I went back to my room. Early to bed.
Saturday, Oct. 26 - I took my
luggage up the hill and hid it in the soda pop/ice machine room. I
rode the shuttle to the Skillet Restaurant for breakfast. Story
Teller presentation. At 9:45AM I brought my suitcase from the soda
pop/ice machine room to the bus. The bus departed about
10:15. We had a Buffet Lunch at the Red Apple Inn at Heber
Springs. At 12:30PM we departed for Little Rock.
We had a Guided Tour of the Arkansas
State Capital in Little Rock. We took a guided tour of the
residential historic district. We checked into the Doubletree Hotel
Little Rock about 4:30. I had Room 1006 on the Hilton Honors floor
with a great view of the city. I found the geocache - The Buck Stops
Here. I had a glass of wine at the hotel Lounge and then purchased Chicken Quesadillas with
avocado to take back to my room for dinner.
Sunday, Oct 27 - After breakfast we
departed for Hot Springs. We stopped at Garvan Woodlawn
Gardens. It was too cold and damp to walk around. About
11:30AM we departed for Bath House Row. I did an Earthcache - Hot
Springs Water. I had a delicious lunch at the Copper Penny Bar & Grill and bowl with three kinds of Ice Cream at the Sweet Shoppe. At
3:30 the bus departed for Little Rock. We had a Farewell Dinner at
Bones Chophouse.
Monday, Oct 28 - I had to reroute my
flight through Houston, Texas as Denver had a massive snow
storm. Argh. I really wanted to do the Earthcache in the
Denver Airport. I arrived home about 2:30. I rode the MAX
Light Rail to Delta Park and transferred to buses to take me within a couple
blocks of my house all for $1.50! Arkansas was an interesting trip
but it was good to be home.
