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American Road Magazine
Celebrating our two-lane highways of yesteryear…And the joys of driving them today!

Arkansas Videos, On The Hypotenuse Trail. Vol. 4


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I didn’t know what to expect in Arkansas. Along the Mississippi I expected to see the river, but it is behind a levee, and what you do see is the agricultural land of the delta. Pretty and historically interesting.

 

As I went westward, through Hot Springs and northward into Eureka Springs, I encountered hardwood forests, green wooded hillsides, dogwood just starting to blossom, and a pink tree that is evident in the third video here.

 

Hot Springs was impressive with its main avenue lined with beautiful vintage Hotels that featured bathing facilities. Further north I took the Pig Tail Scenic Byway and then spent the night in Eureka Springs, a place featured a few issues back in American Road.

 

Hot Springs Arkansas http://www.vimeo.com/984418

 

Pig Tail Scenic Byway http://www.vimeo.com/975961

 

Eureka Springs was terrific, with more preserved period buildings than I have ever seen before in one place. It had dozens of nice restaurants, a large variety of shopping opportunities, and was, at least in late April, laid back. A beautiful place.

 

Eureka Springs, Arkansas http://www.vimeo.com/980259

 

A few miles northwest of Eureka Springs (about two miles south of Busch on US62) I pulled off at a closed antique store and took this short video of the White River Valley. I had one gripe with Arkansas, and that was that there was no where to pull off the two lane roads to enjoy the view or take a picture. The only opportunities I saw were private driveways or businesses. Contrast that with Wyoming where the pull offs are frequent and even signed. I don’t get it, because Arkansas has magnificent roadside scenery…but don’t try to stop to enjoy it.

 

Roadside Arkansas. http://www.vimeo.com/984201

 

My introduction to Missouri and southeast Kansas was marred by a severe thunderstorm directly in my path as I headed northward. My first inkling of a problem was a radio talk show where one of the announcers was citing “7 inches” on a lady’s porch. Seven inches of what….snow? When it dawned on me that it was hail, I quickly started scanning the dial for a weather report. It wasn’t encouraging. The area I was in was under a severe weather warning for hail the size of golf balls and winds of 60MPH!

 

I had visions of returning the rented convertible with a new “body style,” and my pocketbook lighter by the amount of my insurance deductible. I wasn’t relieved when the radio started beeping and the national weather service man started describing the path of the storm, as directly across my northerly route. I decided that an avoidance maneuver was in order, so I turned west and kept a sharp eye for lighter clouds. By the time I reached Exeter, Missouri, the big dark clouds were behind and the sunshine soon came out on the Hypotenuse.

 

Missouri Thunderstorm http://www.vimeo.com/984625

 

 

Keep the Show on the Road!

 

Dave

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You know how the streets in Eureka Springs were laid out??? They got the horse drunk first!!!!! The name is equally interesting - it started out simply as Eureka - came from people passing thru - when they got out of town they yelled - you ready for this - Eureka, we survived the streets!!!! :D The springs was added later. LOL

 

Hudsonly,

Alex Burr

Memphis, TN

 

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Jim and Alex,

 

First, I am genuinely pleased that any of those videos were engaging enough to earn a comment! And both of you are right…Eureka Springs has an amazing set of winding streets with vintage buildings right up to the curb.

 

I suppose the reasons are obvious. The streets followed the contours of the hillsides (no grading with huge machines), and there was no need for a setback to create parking lots! The residential areas were just as interesting.

 

What blew me away is the huge variety of terrific buildings. I can only suppose that Eureka Springs had an excellent fire brigade, or enormous luck. Most towns like that burned down three or four times before modern fire practices were initiated.

 

Places like Virginia City, Nevada, or Bisbee, Arizona have great old buildings with the balconies, etc, but not in the quantity and variety of Eureka Springs. The whole town seemed to have survived from a hundred or more years ago.

 

I guess I need to do a little historical research and get out my back copies of American Road!

 

Thanks for the comments!

 

Keep the Show on the Road

 

Dave

 

 

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