Friday, April 25, 2014

Part 5 - Time To Go Home

Before we headed home we visited a few of the sites around Eureka Springs. It is a small town with a population of just over 2000 but it is also a huge tourist town and goes all out to cater to them - especially the bikers. We didn't like that at all as they were just so noisy roaring up and down the roads and it kind of made Mom chuckle as they weren't young bikers - most of them looked over their 50's. At one time there use to be a thriving railroad at Eureka Springs but today there is just a tourist train.  Many of the carriages and trains  are SLOWLY being worked on but with such a small resident population they don't have a lot of people with the skills needed to repair them and bring them back to their former glory.

Across from the trains was this awesome little musical park where they have created all kinds of musical sculptures that you can play. Mom's favorite was this giant wind chime and she had fun tinkling them all.


























Eureka Spring has the most amazing collection of unusual houses too. The town is built in a very narrow and rocky valley so a lot of the houses are tall and cling to sides of the hills. We thought it had a kind of German, Swiss, San Francisco feel to the town especially as the streets are very narrow. They class the architecture as Victorian.













As the names suggests Eureka Springs is well known for its springs. There are four main ones and the biggest is this one - the Blue Spring - it puts out 38 million gallons of water a day! We also went to visit Thorncrown Chapel which is a 48 foot high glass chapel. It is a lot like the one we saw in Hot Springs last year but not as big. Dad says the one in Hot Springs was a lot nicer as they had used wood for all the supports where as this one has metal supports. We had the best mini vacation ever and would highly recommend it because not only is Retreat pet friendly but all the parks were and many of restaurants had outdoor areas that were also pet friendly.


23 comments:

  1. Thank you so much for your visit and well wishes, it was great to hear from you! What a beautiful trip you are having, it must be very memorable :-)

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  2. Beautiful pictures! Our Mommy would have had fun with those wind chimes too.

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  3. Looks like a beautiful trip! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  4. Wonderful and we loved the musical park and the train. What a cool place to visit. Have a fabulous Friday.
    Best wishes Molly

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  5. WOW - how beautiful. We love the 'skinny' buildings. It would definitely be awesome to live there. The church - breath taking. And mommy said she would like to ring all of the musical tones in the park too - snorts. Great pictures. Thank you so much for sharing with all of us. XOXO - Bacon

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  6. My mom is vicariously still living through your vacation...she toles my dad last night that this summer they were taking all of us for at least one night somewhere ...maybe to a cabin at a lake! You have inspired her.
    Love this town!!
    stella rose

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  7. We are so jealous. What a cool place
    Lily & Edward

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  8. Thank you for taking us along with you on your vacation trip.
    Maybe someday we will get to visit for real.
    Bentley

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  9. Sounds like you had a fabulous vacation! Love Eureka Springs :-)

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  10. That red brick house in the middle of the road is incredible!
    Dip and Elliot x

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  11. Our mom would have been ringing all of the chimes too! What a fabulously beautiful get-away you all had. Thank you for sharing it with us!

    Love ya lots♥
    Mitch and Molly

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  12. What a wonderful trip, Eureka Springs is beautiful!!!

    Smileys!
    Dory, Jakey, Arty & Bilbo

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  13. Oh, that was a beautiful vacation guys!! Thanks so much for takin' us along!!!
    Kisses,
    Ruby ♥

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  14. Pet friendly....that says it all! SHE would have loved poking around in those little buildings and streets.

    XXXOOO Bella & Roxy

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  15. Oh my goodness! Everything is so pretty, I'm not sure I could pick a favorite.

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  16. Looks like it was a fun place to visit!

    Your Pals,

    Murphy & Stanley

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  17. We'll have to put that on our places to visit.

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  18. Never been there, looks like a nice little town to got that a couple of days to stroll around in.

    The Mad Bagpipers
    Pees: get Mom a hug from us for "hug an Aussie Day', if fact give her several!

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  19. What a neat little town, and such pretty pictures! I bet it will be good to get home though. Love Dolly

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  20. Gosh - you had the most beautiful place to stay - we loved your cabin, the dizzy fish, the lovely surrounds, the beautiful buildings.... what a great place. So happy for your family to be able to spend it together!

    Tail Wuggles, Rubie xxx

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  21. Crikey .... I've had the BEST time on YOUR holiday. Thanks for dragging me along. I'm NEVER going to get to that wonderful place but I sure as heck feel as if I have been there from all your wonderful pics. Thanks!!!!!!
    Hey ... I'm an Aussie and I'm up for all the hugs I can get. Big hugs from me to your Mom.

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  22. I bet they'd rethink that pet-friendly thing if we showed up with Floyd...

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Thank you for woofing at us - we read each and every one of them