Saturday, May 24, 2014

Bentonville, Arkansas, Crystal Bridges, and Pea Ridge Battlefield


















Over Memorial Day weekend, we took the kids to Bentonville, Arkansas.  I've wanted to see Crystal Bridges for a long time and the trip isn't terribly far.  Along the way, we stopped in Fayetteville to tour an airplane museum. 

We had a really good time.  Bentonville is the home of Walmart and only 35,000 people.  The town square is alive and thriving.  It's so quaint.  I could tell that it is a popular gathering place for residents and several people mentioned the fabulous farmers market on the weekends.  There are great restaurants, an old fashion ice cream shop, the Walmart museum and a variety of stores.  Because it was a holiday weekend, the stores were closed as were several places to eat on the square.  But, we found a fish market and ate with the locals.  The kids and I stuck to chicken while Dan tried the fish. 

We toured Crystal Bridges the first day we got there.  It's amazing and so beautiful.  I am so thankful for people like the Waltons who see the everlasting value in investing in their town.  Crystal Bridges is a multi-million dollar museum that houses some of the finest collections of art anywhere in the world.  It's just amazing to tour the place.  There is also a wonderful children's area.  Madison took the kids to play in the children's museum the entire time we were there.

We walked around the grounds and enjoyed the hiking trails that surround the park.

The next day, we all headed to Fayetteville to tour an airplane museum Dan read about online.  It did not disappoint.  William loved it.  The hangars were FULL of old and new planes.  The kids had fun walking around the life size airplanes and running down the runway outside.  Very fun and a great find on our adventure.

We hit the Bentonville Native American Museum too.  The kids had fun playing in the Teepee and searching for arrowheads in the gravel yard.

On the way home, we stopped at the Battle of Pea Ridge.  Just like our days in Virginia, we've never met a battlefield we didn't like!  Pea Ridge was great.  We got a map and drove through the battlefield.  We stopped at all the markers, read the information and let the kids run around.  We also stopped at the Pea Ridge log cabin.  The kids had a blast running around playing tag, stomping on the old wood porch, and climbing on the fences. 

































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