"Eureka!" | There Is A Lot To Discover For Your Autumn Escape!
- John-Michael Scurio
- Aug 29, 2022
- 4 min read
O M G !
Welcome to Eureka Springs, Arkansas!
Eureka Springs, Arkansas flourished in the 1800s when visitors flocked here to drink from our healing mineral springs.
Today, Gingerbread-trimmed houses dot these stunning Ozark hills like wildflowers and hotels, motels, and inns accommodate the crowds. Over time, Eureka Springs has emerged into a colony of creators as well as a sought-after wedding destination -- and, when the summer heat mellows, we're also a perfect end to a truly lovely leaf-peekin', apple-pickin', pumpkin patchin' drive.
Here, yes here!! ... in lil'ol'Eureka Springs, you will find a maze of discovery! Starting with a shit-ton of stairs, hills that will return "two-dimes an a nickle when you bounce a quarter off your own ass after climbing that hill" as well as impossibly steep streets lined with quaint homes, delightful inns and a myriad of galleries, restaurants, cafes, shops, bars, clubs and more...
Historic Spring Street packs galleries, gift shops and restaurants. Tiny (city groomed) parks protect our natural springs, and spas echo our town's history as a haven for healing. Even the old-timey photo studio and funnel cake vendor have an air of legitimacy here.
We Do What We Love
Like many of the artists who live in Eureka Springs, Edwige Denyszyn moved here after one visit. She and her husband planted a vineyard and opened Keels Creek Winery and Art Gallery. In their eyes . . .
"Eureka Springs is like a youthful, university town but without the students.
Everybody's very passionate about what they're doing here, and most of us are not originally from here."
It is true!
All around Eureka Springs, visitors will encounter many "settlers making a go of it" doing what they absolutely love to do, often to the benefit of the one million visitors who visit this town of only 2,500 year-round residents every single year. (sans pandemic, of course.)
Local-secret #1
... Yup! Here is #1. Please tell them that you heard it here on www.iloveureka.com.
Rehabbed inside a 19th-century building, The Stone House, brings to you a chic, cozy wine/charcuterie experience.
Trust me. Truly delightful.
...and very Eureka!
Autumn Is Thrilling Here
OK, so Spring is gorgeous. It is. (I'm biased. I know. I live here all year-round!)
Summer we tolerate. We do.
But Fall! MMMMMmmm!!!! Fall is our absolute favorite time of year as it offer us some thrilling, vibrant experiences with A LOT of color - and I mean color from every aspect you can think of. OK, so the Petunias will still bloom on the porch, the artists will create and the musicians will fill you with joy ... but the leaves, oh, the leaves on our Ozark hills will begin to turn. And it is then. Right then, YOU WILL FALL.
That is how I fell for Eureka! She seduced me in the Fall.
Because Fall is familiar to everyone at some point in life, everyone has a connection to Fall. I am not talking about "pumpkin-spice, commercial, marketing Fall." No! I am talking about nature. Yeah! Nature.
When I say Fall, I mean the actual season in our climate - as in, Fall/Autumn.
It is so incredible that for years, Mom's and Dad brought their kids here for apple and sorghum harvests to this region in the Fall and that they have come back to Eureka Springs at every stage of their lives since that "connection."
Of course, while the shopping is exceptional here, maybe more than shopping, is what brings them (and so many other) visitors back for it is here in Eureka where there is the sense that in this funny little town, deep in the Ozark hills you just might be able to (for a wonderful, invigorating moment) STOP THE CLOCK for a few days and just ... well ...
BE!
Here Is Your Two-Day "JUST BE" Weekend Agenda
Day 1
First, please know that Eureka Springs unfolds along beautiful (stunning, actually!) Spring Street.
My big gay (yeah, I said it!) suggestion is to take a ride on the trolley to the top of the hill and just shop your way down, (479) 253-7333; eurekasprings.org. Please first land at the mother-daughter team at Wilson and Wilson Folk Art Company in the Flat Iron Building where they paint colorful collectibles that are living-room wall worthy, (479) 253-5105; wilsonandwilsonfolkart.com.
Meander further to find more local art at Zarks Gallery, (877) 540-9805; zarksgallery.com.
For lunch, try the The Spring On Main, a cool, local restaurant right across the street from the Carroll County Courthouse. If you love Eggs-Benny, this is the place.
Please visit General Store 62 while you're here. You're sure to bring something back gnome.
Later, relax on a Tram Tour, (479) 253-9572; eurekatrolley.org. Jovial guides dish the local lore, and you'll get a great view of the Christ of the Ozarks rising above the trees, (800) 882-7529; www.greatpassionplay.com.
Enjoy a glass of wine on the patio at The Stone House, (479) 363-6411; The Stone House on Facebook.
Italian food at Ermilio's is a must at some point, (479) 253-8806; ermilios.com.
Also try the delights at Local Flavor, (479) 253-9522; localflavorcafe.net.
A MUST is Missy's White Rabbit Lounge. Missy's White Rabbit Lounge, (479) 265-7100, https://www.facebook.com/missyswhiterabbit
Local-secret #2
Ermilio's does NOT take reservations. Please, get the mussels.
Local Flavor does. OMG! Yum!
Missy's White Rabbit welcomes everyone, seriously everyone; and no cover. There is exceptional music and crafted drinks. On Friday Nights, The Vagabonds (their local house band) tears up the place.
Local-secret #3
Heartstone Inn Bed and Breakfast is a gorgeous gem.
Buy their cookbook to make the recipes at home. (800) 494-4921; heartstoneinn.com
Day 2
Mornings are absolutely peaceful at Thorncrown Chapel, (479) 253-7401; thorncrown.com. Commissioned by a retired local teacher in the 1970s, the glass-walled church sits in the woods a couple of miles west of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. As you walk to the door, you can see right through to the trees beyond. Soaring gray beams evoke a Gothic cathedral; it's a modern riff on the medieval notion of columns leading eyes up to God. The architecture seems to melt away, leaving you in a gold-dappled glade with the tingly sense that heaven and earth merge when a breeze flutters the foliage.
A pretty 28-mile drive from town, the War Eagle Mill sells stone-ground baking mixes in cute calico bags. (479) 789-5343; wareaglemill.com
In neighboring Hobbs State Park, the paved Van Winkle Trail loops past an old sawmill, (479) 789-5000; arkansasstateparks.com. On the way back to town, stop in at Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, a sanctuary for rescued big cats, (479) 253-5841; turpentinecreek.org. ❤️
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