Lowell, Arkansas
May 19–21, 2022
May 19–21, 2022
I heard from some friends that northwestern Arkansas is pretty great, so I reserved a couple nights at Hickory Creek Park, between Bentonville and Fayetteville. My spot was gorgeous and right on the lake, and I spent those days reading, sipping cocktails, playing with the dogs, and listening to birdsong. It was just what I needed. I also got to meet up with another grad school friend, Ryan Slone, at Fox Trail Distillery. As with all of my grad school meet-ups so far, we picked right back up where school left off and had a marvelous time.
Ryan sent me a list of must-see spots in Bentonville, so I stopped there on my final day in town, and the place did not disappoint. I got incredible coffee and French macarons at Onyx Coffee Lab, followed by outstanding barbecue from Wright’s BBQ, forming a sandwich around a visit to the stunning Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. I saw works by Daniel Popper, James Turrell, Deborah Butterfield, Louise Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama, Nari Ward, Howard Finster, Leo Villareal, Jeffrey Simmons, Isamu Noguchi, Jen Stark, John James Audubon, Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, Suzy Frelinghuysen, Harry Bertoia, Arthur Dove, Standon Macdonald-Wright, Gabriel Dawe, Sol LeWitt, Leonardo Drew, Helen Frankenthaler, Titus Kaphar, Ruth Asawa, Tara Donovan, and more—those names are only the ones pictured here! Crystal Bridges has a truly mind-blowing collection.
Before I left town, I walked by the original Walton’s 5 & 10 store, now the site of the Walmart Museum. From such humble beginnings comes a behemoth of capitalism—but I can’t complain about the art, bike trails, and great food that behemoth funded and brought to the area.
Ryan sent me a list of must-see spots in Bentonville, so I stopped there on my final day in town, and the place did not disappoint. I got incredible coffee and French macarons at Onyx Coffee Lab, followed by outstanding barbecue from Wright’s BBQ, forming a sandwich around a visit to the stunning Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. I saw works by Daniel Popper, James Turrell, Deborah Butterfield, Louise Bourgeois, Yayoi Kusama, Nari Ward, Howard Finster, Leo Villareal, Jeffrey Simmons, Isamu Noguchi, Jen Stark, John James Audubon, Harriet Whitney Frishmuth, Suzy Frelinghuysen, Harry Bertoia, Arthur Dove, Standon Macdonald-Wright, Gabriel Dawe, Sol LeWitt, Leonardo Drew, Helen Frankenthaler, Titus Kaphar, Ruth Asawa, Tara Donovan, and more—those names are only the ones pictured here! Crystal Bridges has a truly mind-blowing collection.
Before I left town, I walked by the original Walton’s 5 & 10 store, now the site of the Walmart Museum. From such humble beginnings comes a behemoth of capitalism—but I can’t complain about the art, bike trails, and great food that behemoth funded and brought to the area.
