Road Trippin' with Zoom Views

This post will wind up our very full day in Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

After our self-guided tour of the Crescent Hotel (HERE if you missed it), we drove back down the mountain side into downtown for lunch at a locally owned small diner.  The food is usually always good in these places, and this one did not disappoint.

Then we strolled and shopped and enjoyed the afternoon.

The 1905 Basin Park Hotel is in the middle of the downtown area and provides a view out over the Ozark Mountains from the roof of it's 8-stories.  It also provides a ghost hunt and a cave beneath that was once a bustling speakeasy.  There are many stories associated with this place and is currently owned by the owners of the Crescent Hotel

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We learned that Eureka Springs is actually built on three levels.  The Crescent Hotel is on the upper level, and here you see the middle and lower levels.

We certainly got our exercise going up and down the streets, literally.

The walking bridge spans the lower level street to reach this relic Bath House building from the late 1880's.

This is another view of the tallest building in this little town Ripley of Ripley's Believe It Or Not, called one of the top 10 most interesting towns in America.

Slightly doctored!

And we had fun!

The Open Air Tram only runs at 1 and 3 p.m. so we took the later tour.  We felt this would be a great way to get an overview of the town and it was worth the $16.75 per person ticket.  It was 90 minutes well spent.  The guide was excellent and as I stated in a previous post, she is a 5th generation Eureka Springs native with a lot of personal stories and insights.

Here are some of the scenes from our open air ride.

This house was built by a young man who grew up in his grandmother's house across the street and later became a state legislator and helped to revive the dying little town many years ago.

Because the town is built on a mountain, many of the houses may be five-story dwellings.

The early settlers used whatever space was available.

And this is perhaps the largest single Victorian dwelling in the town.

That night we attended The Great Passion Play.  All I can say is that it was so very well done.  I will share some of my zoomed shots with you to show the amazing details and life-changing story.

It was as if this camel knew I was taking his picture.

The blurred affect of this picture speaks to me.

And what a glorious way to close out this little road trip.  We shall see Him as He is one day.

Road Trippin' To The Crescent

Second Day

After visiting the Thorncrown Chapel shown in the previous post, (found HERE in case you missed it) we went to see the famous Crescent Hotel.

This place has so much colorful history that there is no way I can do it justice, so I will only hit the high points.

It opened in 1886 as an exclusive year-round resort hotel for rich folks from all over the country.  It was the publicity of  the many "healing" water springs in the area that brought them in by the thousands.  Soon, many of these do-wells built large homes and Eureka Springs became one of the largest and most affluent cities in the state.

By 1901 modern medications were replacing the myths of curative springs, and people began leaving by the droves.  The population went from tens of thousands to one thousand in only months.

There was no longer a need for this grand hotel with its southern hospitality and dances except in the summer.

From 1908-1934 the hotel was used as the Crescent College & Conservatory for Young Women to offset the off seasons at the hotel. The boarding school was primarily for girls from well-to-do families from many states.  When the Great Depression hit, sending daughters away to expensive southern colleges, wasn't a priority and the school was forced to close in 1934.  It did remain open as a hotel during the summer months.

There was a whole fourth floor room dedicated to memories and memorabilia from the days of the college.  It was very interesting.

 Three years after closing, the doors of the hotel opened again to a most fascinating and tragic alternative use.  This is perhaps the most colorful era of the hotels history.

In 1937 a charlatan who allowed himself to be referred to as "doctor," purchased the hotel and converted it to Baker's Cancer Curing Hospital.  His name was Norman Glenwood Baker of Muscatine, Iowa.

Postcard

  I'll let you read his history but suffice it to say, the Chamber of Commerce's desire to see this treatment center revitalize the dying little town, never happened.  But it did bring it some notoriety.

Mr. Baker, in his mistreatment of patients with various diseases, led to the death of many.  His philosophy for treating pain was to do nothing but tough it out.  For those who remained in his care and suffered great discomfort, he locked them up in his "sanitarium" wing of the hospital so no one could hear the screams.  That is the source of much of the folklore of the hotel now being haunted.

Another reminder of this strange time in its history are the purple chimneys.  Purple was Baker's favorite color and evidently he had it everywhere.  He even wore lavender ties with his traditional white suits every day.  He hated Jews and Catholics and was so paranoid that he not only kept two machine guns in his office, but often carried one around with him.

He managed to store away $500, 000 before being arrested in 1940 for mail fraud.  After being released from federal prison a few years later, Baker purchased a 3-story yacht and it is there he died in 1958 of cirrhosis of the liver.  It is said that he died in agony as many of his patients had.  Sad story!

The hotel has had several owners since that time but the owners in 1972 saved it from becoming a chicken house, thankfully.

 

View from 4th floor balcony and overlook

The current owners have dedicated themselves to restoring the "Grand Old Lady of the Ozarks" and it is now not only a tourist site, hosting a famous ghost tour, but a highly desired place to spend the night in Eureka Springs.  If you don't mind strange happenings.

Behind the hotel and down a very steep decline, is the Saint Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church.

It is most well known as the only church that you enter through the bell chamber.  The grounds and old church are lovely.

After this busy morning, we were ready to find a place for lunch and to sit down a spell.  That will be the 3rd Edition tomorrow but I leave you with our friend picture.

Road Trippin'

This past week, we took a little two day road trip with our besties, Tom and Judy.

Judy in middle, me on right and my adorable little sister on left

Judy and I were childhood friends who found each other again as adults in 2002.  Our husbands became good friends as we rebuilt our friendship as a foursome.  It has been God's gift to us all.

This was kind of a spur of the moment trip.  We are alike in that respect.  We think it, we say "why not", and go with it.

We went to Eureka Springs in Northwest Arkansas on Monday and returned on Wednesday.  We managed to make the seven hour trip up in nine, but taking side trips is the fun of traveling with friends.

One of those side roads took us into the Talimena National Scenic Byway in the Ouachita  (Pronounced:  Wash-a-taw) National Forest where the Ozark Mountains begin.

Arkansas is known as the "Natural State" and it truly does have some beautiful scenic areas.

Queen Wilhelmina Lodge

One is the Wilhelmina State Park and the "Castle in the Clouds" Lodge with its expansive scenic over-look.

In order to capture our trip in pictures, I thought it would be fun to try to duplicate some cute "old woman friend" pictures I had come across. But in our own way.

I will be inserting the results as we go along.

As it was late afternoon when we arrived, we decided to eat then ride around a bit.

We knew we would be seeing The Great Passion Play the next night after a busy day of sight-seeing, so wanted to find the theater and also see the "Christ of the Ozarks" statue before dark.

At a height of 7 stories, it is one of the tallest statues in both the United States and the world.

Built in 1966 and sculpted by Emmet Sullivan, the same artist who did the Presidential carvings at Mount Rushmore.

This massive stature is 67 feet tall with an arm span of 65 feet and can be seen from miles away.

It was interesting to see the Passion Play theater empty.  It seats 4,100 so is quite a large place.  The staging is amazing with so much detail.  I will share some of that with you on another post.

The next morning, after a delicious breakfast at the hotel, we made the Thorncrown Chapel our first stop.

"Nestled in a woodland setting, 

Thorncrown Chapel rises forty-eight feet into the Ozark sky. This magnificent wooden structure contains 425 windows and over 6,000 square feet of glass. It sits atop over 100 tons of native stone and colored flagstone, making it blend perfectly with its setting. The chapel's simple design and majestic beauty combine to make it what critics have called "one of the finest religious spaces of modern times."
Direct Quote

This is a beautiful, peaceful place of worship and reflection.

 We could have stayed here for a much longer time and there was a constant flow of people while we were there, each seeking their own time of quiet and beauty in God's presence.

We were so happy to see Ann, the niece of dear friends now deceased.  Ann's husband is the Chapel Pastor and she has been the greeter here for four years.  It was great to catch up after many years.

And not to be outdone.

Tomorrow, we will visit more sites in Eureka Springs.

Links to continued posts on this trip:
Road Trippin' to the Crescent
Road Trippin/ with Zoom Views