Weddingbee Blog

The contest a few days ago on Weddingbee was all about memorable vacations, and my reply was about my and Mr. Blueberry’s trip this past March during spring break. We went to Eureka Springs, Arkansas, and it was a wonderful time! It was our first ever trip as a couple, and for that matter, as “grown-ups” (ie without our parents’ planning!). But I think we did a pretty good job, and we’re already planning to go back sometime in the future!

In case you don’t know, Eureka Springs is a great little town nestled in the Ozark mountains. Almost the entire town is historic with brightly-painted Victorian houses winding up and down the hills, and hundred-year-old brick buildings and cobblestone streets in the shopping district. The entire town is on the side of a mountain, so there are literally *no* flat places for walking or driving–not a good place to be driving a stick shift!

Eureka Springs has amazing restaurants and hotels, tourist attractions, many hiking and outdoors opportunities, and TONS of shopping–everything from antiques to boutiques to exclusive imports!

The first thing you notice when you enter the town is the *smell*: FUDGE! There were more fudge shops than we could count, and of course we did our best to sample some from every one :). They also have amazing saltwater taffy and other old-fashioned, handmade candies sold by the pound. I highly recommend getting a big bag of candy and eating as you stroll :).

The Crescent Hotel is the place to stay. It’s 120 years old and has a spa and restaurant, and is even haunted! Alas, as college students we were too poor to stay there, but nearly everyone we talked to recommended it highly and we’ll definitely stay next time we go!

The Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge is about 7 miles outside of town, and was probably our favorite attraction. They specialize in big cat rescues–lots of people in the Ozarks region illegally raise lions and tigers, and then when they can’t handle the animals any longer they surrender them to the refuge. We gladly paid the $15/person admission price, as all proceeds go toward building bigger and better habitats for the animals–they never turn any animals away, and are severely overcrowded as a result. It’s not a zoo; our tour guide told us that nothing would make him happier than for the refuge to no longer be needed, but since that’s not the case they need all the donations they can get.

We also scoured the countryside for hidden antique shops (one of my hobbies!), and visited Onyx Cave. But *I* had the most fun with the shopping! Everyone we met was incredibly kind, and with the high concentration of shops in the downtown area you could easily spend 2 or 3 days just doing that. It seemed like every time you turned a corner or went down some stairs you’d find another little store hidden away.

If you’re shopping in Eureka Springs you’ll want to wear flat shoes (hills and cobblestones are not kind to heels!) and carry cash–many of the tiny shops don’t take debit cards. I also carried a large-ish canvas bag to hold my purchases; it’s not easy to go back to your car and drop stuff off. Some of my favorite shops were the quilt shops and the specialty handmade clothing boutiques, as well as the great restaurants!

All the food we ate was amazing. I can’t remember the names of *any* of the restaurants, but from our experience it seems that it doesn’t really matter where you go to eat–it’s all delicious! I know one day we had lunch at a sidewalk cafe overlooking downtown. There were actually a wide variety of vegetarian options for me, and Mr. Blueberry expanded his sights beyond his usual “chicken fingers and fries” :D. Next time we go back we’ll *definitely* keep track of where we eat, and post pictures!

As it stands, we do have several pictures from our trip.

Here’s an old-fashioned taffy puller, in the window of one of the many fudge/candy shops:

Overlooking a residential part of town (this is fairly far away from the shops, but still within walking distance):

So many amazing details throughout the town, like these beautiful glass blocks set right into the sidewalk:

Mr. Blueberry goofs off in Onyx cave. He’s wearing the headphones they give you for the audio tour:

Up close and personal with a lion at the Wildlife Reserve:

A tiny slice of downtown:

One of those aforementioned hidden shops. This one had just about every specialty or homemade food you could imagine:

Eureka Springs would be an amazing place for a domestic honeymoon or even a destination wedding! Many of the hotels and spas have wedding packages, and since it’s here in the states you could definitely save some major $$. You could turn it into a very extravagent, 4-star affair or keep it intimate and casual. It’s definitely possible to have a good time, on any budget!