Last weekend we took a wander down to Fayetteville, Arkansas. Sometimes, you just need a little change of scenery. We happened to have a free night with Hilton that we needed to use in February or we would lose it – can’t have that! So, I booked on a Wednesday and we headed down Thursday afternoon. It was a quick 2.5-hour drive even though we took the backroads on the way down. I love the calm and slow pace of the backroads when we don’t have somewhere we need to be quick, which is so rare. One of my favorite things to do on road trips is remark on different types of architecture, cows, and different types of agriculture and cows. And did I say cows? I got all these in, much to Jason’s delight I’m sure.
We had no plan when we got there, other than eating – we were starving. We found a restaurant near the hotel after we checked in and unloaded our bags. JJ’s Grill actually turned out to be a bar and they just so happened to have live music that night. Lucky us! We settled in, ordered tacos, a wrap, and a drink then sat back to listen. We weren’t there long, turns out we were really tired after a chaotic week. We went back to the hotel for dessert (mmm apple pie, Jason got my ice cream – we’re a good team) and called it an early night.
After breakfast at the hotel the next morning Jason had a zoom meeting, so I kept myself quiet and busy with my own work for a few hours. If he says a meeting is going to be 30 minutes, I always expect at least an hour and bring things to do. Nearly two hours later we were finally putting our boots on and heading for the hiking trail I found at Devil’s Den State Park only 30 minutes away.
After a short trip down the interstate and some very winding roads with switchbacks, we found ourselves at the bottom of a mountain in Devil’s Den and got out to investigate. There were thirteen hiking trails for us to choose from anywhere from .25 miles to 15 miles. We picked the Devil’s Den Trail, which was only 1.5 miles, but a moderate climb. My hip was giving me grief, so we didn’t want to end up all the way out if it decided to quit working. Starting from the visitor’s center, this trail splits near the beginning. If you go right, you will avoid some pretty brutal uphill climbs, if you go left, well, get ready, your behind will be burning! Luckily, we happened to choose the trail to the right and only encountered a couple of climbs, but quite a few treacherous downhill clambers. The folks we met coming from the other direction were huffing and puffing but telling us our downhills looked scarier. So I suppose it’s in the eye of the beholder. It was chilly (low 40s by noon), a bit icy, and it had rained the day before. So while we were surrounded by gorgeous waterfalls and sparkling icicles, the footing was a bit slippery and the icicles falling from above made some parts interesting. Every bend in the trail opened up to a new unique rock formation, cave, or water feature. We made it back to the visitor’s center without mishap, feeling refreshed. I’d definitely do it again.
We had our drone with us, as we had planned to put it in the air to get some bird’s-eye views of the trails and woods. However, while at the visitor’s center before we started our hike, Jason was sure to ask the rangers if that was allowed. Turns out it wasn’t. In fact, we were told drones are prohibited in all state parks in Arkansas, so unless you want to call Little Rock and get special permission, it’s better to leave your drone at home or in your hotel room. Now you know. We might call Little Rock for next time.
We headed back to the hotel to change out of our muddy pants and boots and then went to wander downtown Fayetteville near the University of Arkansas. While I was waiting that morning, I read online that there were a bunch of cute little shops, restaurants, bars, and bookshops around the town square, so we set out to investigate. We did find a number of those things but not nearly as many as I expected. After ducking into a couple of mercantile-type shops and coming away with candles, teas, drink mixes, and a Southern trivia game (who wants to play?) we went on a hunt. I had it on good authority that there was a magnificent used bookshop nearby. We love books!
We found it! Dickson Street Used Bookshop is very unassuming from its front door, scattered with a few $1 books on shelves outside. We opened the door and went on into an enormous wonderland that kept stretching on and on! Books were stacked to the ceiling stretching far back into the long, skinny building and up the stairs into another. We immediately lost each other in search of our specialties. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay long and somehow walked out with only four books. We had to get back to the square, I had a plan.
This same authority that mentioned we would love the bookshop also had recommended a restaurant on the square – Tula. The problem was I couldn’t get a reservation on short notice, but I wondered if we showed up when they opened if we would be able to squeak in somewhere. We were in luck! They agreed to open their patio for us and we sat outside. It was only in the 40s but they armed us with a propane heater and we were quite cozy in the fresh air. I watched them turn away a lot of people after us, so we got very lucky. The food was amazing! Jason had a mound of queso fundido and pork tacos. I ate my weight in guacamole and seafood paella. So, so, so good! So, so, so full! We rolled out of there and back to the hotel long after dark.
If you’ve been with us for any amount of time (if not, catch up!), you know we’re not really nightlife people. We need that time to wind down and quiet our minds to sleep well. However, as we were walking back to the truck we noticed posters for Moulin Rouge that was playing at the university’s theatre. I wish we would have made just a little bit of a plan so we could have seen it. Moulin Rouge was the first movie we bonded over in our early dating years. Actually, a fun fact, we included one of the songs from the movie at our wedding. I’ll let you guess which one.
Instead of recalling our dating years at the theatre, we called it an early night again. After this sleep, we headed home in the morning to conquer the weekend tasks, which were far less daunting after our little breather of a trip. No backroads this time. We took the interstate and got home in the same amount of time. I’ll let you decide which route you might take.
Fayetteville is a cute little university city that seems to be quickly growing. It has a weird mix of Midwest and Southern architecture and culture, as do most things in this part of the country. Having grown up in northern Iowa and spent an extended amount of time living in Alabama for Jason’s Ph.D., we can easily recognize both styles and have dubbed this area, the pseudo-south. There is quite a bit of university traffic on a Friday afternoon on the little one-way streets downtown. The square seems pretty sleepy this time of year, but I can see how it might become a busy place on a home football game weekend – woo pig and all (War Eagle!). It was a great little getaway, but I would need a little more of a plan to keep us busy for an extended period. Of course, there’s always more hiking to do in Arkansas, which is just fine.
