Tuesday 3/22/11

David left for work around 5:30a, and Karen and Cam were on the road before Tracy and the kids were up for school, so we didn't have a chance to see any of them this morning.  The drive to Eureka Springs, Arkansas to see Donna (high school friend of Cam's from his days in England) was along backroads of eastern Oklahoma and northern Arkansas. We caught many glimpses of life in the Ozark Mountains.

Upon arriving in Eureka Springs, we ate lunch (incredible salads) at the "Local Flavor Cafe" on Main Street, followed by a driving tour of the historic Victorian village which included a stop at one of Donna's friend's garden to gather fresh kale for tonight's dinner.  This town has numerous natural springs, said to be "healing", many of which have small gardens built around them.  We stopped to take a photograph at Harding Spring which is claimed to have cured blindness.  We saw the home of Carrie Nations, infamous for her hands-on protests to abolish alcohol using an ax on local drinking establishments to ensure her message was plainly understood.  In the parking lots behind the Main Street buildings we enjoyed a series of rotating murals by local artists, as well as a permanent panoramic mural illustrating the first 100 years history of Eureka Springs.  The arrangement of the streets in this town is a series of U's and V's and S's with no perpendicular intersecting streets, resulting from the fact that all of the buildings are built into the narrow crevasse formed by steep hillsides ascending sharply up from Main Street.  If we ever have the opportunity to return to Eureka Springs, we would love a walking tour to experience the local architecture which includes an 8-story building with a ground level entrance on every floor, Penn Memorial Baptist Church which can be entered from 3 different streets on its 3 different stories with 3 separate street addresses, the Carnegie Library (one of 4 in Arkansas), and St. Elizabeth's which is the only Catholic Church which must be entered through its bell tower.

Donna's first house in Eureka Springs - since sold (Yikes! We FORGOT TO TAKE A PHOTO OF DONNA'S NEW HOME.)

We also visited the Writer's Colony at Dairy Hollow,(a retreat for serious writers to get away from the daily distractions at home or school to spend some time living and working in a stress-free environment) where Donna was hired last week as the director.  Donna recently purchased a fixer-upper arts and crafts house in Berryville, and she is doing a phenomenal job of restoring the wooden floors and oak-trimmed detail of this personality-laden home.  Though it is a work in progress, Donna's artistic touch makes it  easy to visualize what a gem this house will be when she is finished.  After a walking tour of Berryville, Donna prepared what she described as a "full vegetarian meal", and it was delicious.  Kale with flax seed oil and lemon juice with roasted sunflower seeds; tofu marinated in fresh ginger, garlic, gluten free tamarind sauce, and sesame seed oil; wild rice seasoned with Bragg natural amino acid flavoring; and oatmeal cookies for dessert.

Donna is exceptionally good at maintaining contact, so we enjoyed being brought up to date on many old mutual friends before hitting the sack for the night.  We drove 240 miles.