Arkansas, Eureka Springs: Victorian Town Saves Big Cats

The penultimate destination during a 10-day visit of a friend of ours from London was Eureka Springs, Arkansas. The small, quaint Victorian mountain village located near the Arkansas-Missouri state border was in the heart of the Ozark Mountains and was a very picturesque place that has not changed much over the last century, at least with regards to the architecture and slow pace experienced there. What was modernised, though, was the provision of world-class shopping, dining, art galleries and the numerous, relaxing spa treatments offered at the various hotels and bed and breakfast inns situated in the mountains.

The stop at Eureka Springs did not mark the end of our visit with Sophia because we still had a final city to visit outside the state of Arkansas - Springfield, Missouri. The next journal entry will tell you the story of what we got up to in both Springfield and Nixa, a small town outside of Springfield with hayswings, good friends and more food than you could imagine. You'll want to read that entry when we finish it, but in the meantime, finish this one to find out about some of Arkansas' best-kept secrets.

The mirrors in the bathroom had fogged up and there was some evil writing on them

To get to Eureka Springs, we left the home of Kyle's sister (Kelli), brother-in-law (Clay) and niece (Samantha) in Fayetteville and we drove northeast on some small country roads. We took Samantha hostage for this part of our trip, because she got along really well with Sophia when she went to visit her uncle Kyle in London last summer. We're not sure if it was because Samantha was much older for her age, or whether Sophia was still living in the extreme prime of youth; we decided it was a combination of the two. Anyway, the girls were very pleased with the travel arrangements and we were also very happy for Samantha to join us on our short excursion.

Instead of driving along the main country road to get to Eureka Springs, we took a more scenic route along the appropriately named roads, "Scenic Highway 12" and "Scenic Highway 23", from Rogers, Arkansas, a town 20 miles north of Fayetteville. That route offered more activities and places of interest than the normal one would have provided. Also, the scenery during the drive was spectacular as we drove through the Ozark mountains, one of the most beautiful areas within the state of Arkansas.

To take advantage of our time in that part of the state, we made a couple of stops along the way, at War Eagle Mill and Turpentine Creek. War Eagle Mill had been an active grinding mill for over 100 years, when some settlers had moved west and settled along the banks of a small river nearby. We went inside the mill and looked around at the great gift and food shop there before checking out how the process of grinding actually works. We saw a large grinder that had corn feeding into its top, before pouring out cornmeal at the bottom. It was quite interesting and other grains were fed through in exactly the same way. The grinder was powered by water and when we walked outside the mill, we saw a large waterwheel that served as its power source.

Also outside the mill, we walked along an old bridge that overlooked the river. There were some ducks and geese waiting to be fed, but we didn't feed them as we passed by. Across the river was a small farm and the entire area was really quiet and peaceful. The day was hot and sunny so we really enjoyed walking around the picturesque area. In the gift shop, we all managed to find gifts for people and Samantha was even able to buy a new geode (it was a sliced, smooth stone lined with colourful crystals) to add to her collection.

Leaving War Eagle Mill, we were eager to get to Turpentine Creek, a place that was sure to pique both Sophia's and Samantha's curiosity. Before arriving there, we drove across a large bridge over Beaver Lake, the lake where we had gone swimming the day before (see the previous journal entry for Fayetteville, Arkansas, to read more about this). The large animal reserve in Arkansas had the right to claim its title of "largest big cat refuge in the world". Most of the "big cats" rescued by Turpentine Creek were originally purchased as cute little fuzzy cubs by individuals who desired an exotic pet, but as those animals matured, behavioural problems were inevitable because big cats were extremely dangerous and should not be kept in private homes, basements or backyards.

Besides the danger in keeping the cats as pets, the act was also unhealthy for the animals because they tended to lose their natural instincts when they were locked in cages or basements. It was shocking to learn that there were more big cats in private homes than there were in the wild! Luckily, some states in the US had begun to pass laws restricting big cat ownership; however, this meant that Turpentine Creek had to be formed in order to take care of the animals, who were in dire need of help.

Both of us had been to the animal refuge in 2004 when we had come to the United States for a wedding; we noticed that the park had increased dramatically, both with the number of new enclosures as well as with the number of animals living there. Turpentine Creek had been rescuing neglected or unwanted big cats and providing them with a safe home and caring environment. To do this, they were constantly building new habitats and shelters for their growing population of lions, tigers and bears (oh my!), as well as other exotic animals on their 450 acre ranch. Besides big cats and bears, the park also provided refuge for other animals such as parrots, monkeys, deer, pigs and goats.

The best thing about walking around Turpentine Creek was reading the story about each animal there. In front of each cage or forest enclosure, a photograph of the animal(s) inside could be found with a description of how the animal was rescued and where its native species lived. We went on a guided tour of the newest forest enclosures and our guide was really informative; she explained to us how the animals were rotated through the enclosures and how some of the animals got along with others, or how they didn't get along, which was sometimes the case. The goal was to provide every animal with some time in the enclosures on their own as the refuge geared up towards letting the animals mix with other animals over time. We thought it was great to see lions and tigers sharing enclosures, even though they didn't coexist in the wild!

With lions and tigers coexisting, some frolicking would occasionally occur. This resulted in "ligers" (lion father and tiger mother) or "tiglons" (tiger father and lion mother) and, although we didn't see any, the big cat refuge has had some of these animals in the past and had at least one there when we visited, but the animal was hiding in the shade. When we visited Turpentine Creek, the weather must have been around 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius) and a lot of the animals were in the sheltered part of their enclosures to try and avoid the heat. Having said this, some of the animals were as curious about us as we were about them, and they would come up to the edge of their enclosure to check out our tour group.

Even though many animals were hiding out in the shade, we definitely saw enough animals to feel that we had gotten our money's worth ($15, or £7.50, entrance fee) that day; we even saw one of the famous and rare white tigers, which only had a 1 in 4 chance of being born when they are severely inbred in captivity; in the wild, there was only a 1 in 20,000 chance of inbreeding to occur. Did you know that the only way to produce a white tiger was through the inbreeding of brother to sister, father to daughter or mother to son? Once we learned this, we weren't as happy to see the poor white tiger with some physical defects on his face, and we hoped that the inbreeding would be stopped. Turpentine Creek did not breed the animals at all because they were a rescue centre and were only providing homes to unfortunate animals that had been raised in captivity and given up by their owners.

When we left Turpentine Creek, it was late in the afternoon and we headed straight to Eureka Springs. The remaining drive only took 15 minutes and, before we knew it, we were in the cosy little town where we ended up spending one night. The tourist office in Eureka Springs was right off the country highway and we stopped in there to get some information about the town and also a map of the area. Next to the tourist office was a group of old Victorian style buildings and tall tower that we ended up climbing in order to gain a view of the town and the surrounding Ozark Mountains. After convincing Sophia to climb the tall tower (we still don't know if she was scared of the height or the exercise), we made it to the top and enjoyed the stunning 360 degree view.

Shopping in Eureka Springs was a slight problem for Sophia because the day we arrived was a Sunday and the small, quaint shops in the downtown area all seemed to be shutting within the hour that we arrived. After quickly dropping off our bags at 1905 Park Basin Hotel, where we stayed that night, Sophia was able to do a little bit of shopping with Samantha while we walked around and did some window shopping of our own.

Once the shops were closed, we met up with Sophia and Samantha and we went on a tour around the historic town, looking at the many large and beautiful homes in the neighbourhood. The Victorian style homes were all mostly built in the late 1800s or early 1900s and were each unique and painted in bright colours. We also went to see The Crescent Hotel, one of two hotels in Eureka Springs that was supposed to be haunted. The other hotel that was supposed to be haunted was the 1905 Park Basin Hotel and, surprisingly enough, the room across the hall from our room had an eerie ghost story attached to its history.

The ghost story had both Sophia and Samantha intrigued even though we both thought it was a load of nonsense. However, the girls got worked up about it so we took advantage of the situation. When we had all gone out of the room shopping earlier in the evening, Kyle snuck back up to the room so he could change the position of some of Sophia's things that were laying around the room. When we all returned to the room later that evening, she mentioned that her things had been moved and we think she knew that one of us was the guilty party.

Thinking that something better could have been done, to top the first "ghostly activity", we both tried to think of a better way to scare the girls; we came up with a decent plan later that evening. First, though, we should tell you about our dinner that night. We went to find some place to eat and finally decided upon New Delhi Cafe, where we enjoyed burgers with Sophia, and where Samantha ate a BLT on a croissant. Samantha needed to eat soft foods because she had gotten braces a few weeks earlier and the croissant was really the perfect bread for her sandwich because it melted in her mouth.

Drinks on the balcony of our hotel were a necessity after dinner. Since it was Sunday evening and summertime, there was a movie being projected onto the side of one of the buildings in town. We had a great vantage point from the hotel bar's balcony; we were able to hear and see the movie that was being shown. After a couple of drinks, we started getting tired and we headed back to our room.

When we were back in the room and getting ready to go to sleep, Sophia took a shower. When she stepped out of the shower, the mirrors in the bathroom had fogged up and there was some evil writing on them. When she came out of the bathroom, she accused us of writing the statements and then she realised that she had forgotten her sweater (that's referring to a "jumper" for the British people reading this) at the hotel bar earlier, so she went to retrieve it.

While Sophia was out of the room, Kyle positioned himself in the closet and pulled the door mostly shut. Once she returned to the room, Dan told her that Kyle had gone to get some ice. As soon as she began her daily ritual of blowing dry and ironing her hair, Dan asked her where her power adapter was; she told him that it was in her bag inside the closet and, when she motioned to the closet and looked over in that direction, she noticed that the door was slightly ajar and that a towel was moving inside.

The look on her face and that words that came out of her mouth were very funny, indeed. She said that the towel was moving and that is was alive; she was clearly worked up over the ghost stories and had caught a glimpse of a ghost in the closet. That moment was much better to see in person than to read about because her already high-pitched voice went up an octave when she screamed to us that the towel was haunted.

Samantha, who was in on that joke with us the entire time, couldn't suppress her laughter at that point and she rolled around on her bed, laughing profusely. Dan and Kyle, the "towel ghost", also joined in on the laughter with Sophia, who by that point had found the situation very humourous. After the ghost was busted, Sophia went to bed and we tried to watch a film with Samantha, the same film that we had tried to watch the night before in Fayetteville. A few minutes into the film, we were both out like lights and we told Samantha that we would have to finish watching it another time.

The next morning, we went to have iced coffees while Sophia went shopping again with Samantha. When we all met up again, it was time to check out of the hotel and make our way to the car so we could head to Missouri. Lunch was needed, first, and we went to a place that shared its name with one of Kyle's nicknames, which several people have given to him during his lifetime.

Sparky's Diner was a great place to eat and we decided to share a burger there to cut down on overeating from the large portions we so often have been served in America. The BBQ bacon cheeseburger was really nice and both Samantha and Sophia enjoyed their food; they followed our lead and shared a grilled chicken sandwich. All of us had fries with the meal and we left the restaurant feeling satisfied, but not too full.

Before completely leaving Eureka Springs, we took Sophia to a shopping centre on the way out of town and she shopped for a little while while we strolled around the place, too. One of the stores we looked in was owned by an older Vietnamese woman who had five pets rabbits hopping around the store; the adorable bunnies were extremely tame and we were able to pet their silky, soft fur without them jumping away.

The next stop for our travel journal was to be Springfield, Missouri, but we actually ended up spending the night in Nixa, Missouri, with our friends Karen and Mark, and seeing another couple of friends, Carie and Travis. Just before we caught up with our friends in Nixa, we first had to go "Hayswinging". You have to read the next journal entry to find out what the heck this was and also whether or not there were any injuries... please read on when we post the next story!