Arts, Dining and Wine - in Arkansas? - Two Wine Chics on a Quest

After being out of the loop for a while, I'm back in the questing world with a surprising and wonderful quest to share.

Apparently both Tom and I were in need of some time away. Luckily, we found a way to combine a trip with work. We've wanted to have some non-alcoholic grape juice to sell at our winery; in case you don't know, making shelf-stable juice for sale to the public is a completely different process than making wine, and smaller wineries often don't have the equipment to process their own, so we get it from the bigger guys. We like to get ours from Post Familie Vineyards in Arkansas; their 100% Muscadine grape juice is just yummy.

This time, however, we realized that Arkansas is a pretty reasonable drive, and since we'd never been to the Post Familie Vineyards we decided to take the money we would have spent on shipping to go get the juice ourselves. A quick check of the internet showed that a tourist town called Eureka Springs was right on the way, making a convenient place to stop for a little R&R. Frankly, I didn't expect much - it was, after all, just Arkansas, and I bought in to some of the negative stereotypes, maybe, just a bit. And I have been completely converted - I LOVE Arkansas!

Who would have suspected that Eureka Springs would turn out to be a remarkably eclectic locale, maintaining an outstanding artist community, a biker (as in Harley-Davidson) paradise, a Christian destination, an LGBT hospitable population that celebrates diversity, and a nature-lover's happy place, all while boasting first class restaurants, luxurious spas, and upscale lodging. Not to mention being in a beautiful, mountainous location rich in history.

Tom and I had a great time dining at an Italian restaurant with an outstanding wine list, lunching at a charming tea room, enjoying a burger on the second floor balcony bar/restaurant of our historic hotel. We shopped art galleries with local and national artworks. We enjoyed some amazing scenery. I can't wait to go back! So we made reservations for the Food & Wine Festival in early November, one of the myriad, delightfully diverse events in Eureka Springs.