Sunday, June 19, 2011

A Gigantic Jesus....In Eureka Springs!

Greg and I went to Eureka Springs based on the suggestion from several people (by several I mean 2). We found a cool cottage to stay in that was close to town. We didn't really make many plans. Sometimes winging it is best.

The drive was long. By long, I mean terrible for someone who has morning sickness 24/7. I also discovered that my anxiety levels spike when a certain driver flies around corners on mountains. Seeing signs that say "Watch For Falling Rocks" and "Run Away Truck Ramp Ahead" did not help matters one bit. My preference to the ocean makes much more sense now.

We got to the cottage about 5 pm. It really was very cool. The owner came to give us the tour and she seemed to like me quite a bit. Then, much of the decor, music, and books began to make sense. It all featured women. Hmm, interesting! Of course, Greg didn't pick up on any of it. Apparently, the fact that she was flat out flirting with his pregnant wife never crossed his mind. Typical and very funny! Other than awkwardness, the cottage offered many wonderful things. There were deer roaming the yard day and night. The owner provided wonderful organic breakfast items. This place would be awesome in the Spring. She has a lovely garden.

This was Sunday, so about all we could do was grab a nice casual dinner at Chelsea's since pretty much every thing else closed early. It's more of a bar and I can't wait to go back when my beverage intake is not limited to boring crap. I'll be pretty straight forward here, that pizza was freaking awesome. If they want to move to Memphis, I would help them pack.

Day 2: This day was reserved for one thing only, shopping. We walked all over the downtown and let me tell you, it was exhausting. It was also freaking hot. The entire mid south was hit with a heat wave that week. Plus did you know that a town in the mountains is typically hilly?? Add that to walking around in the heat... We did eat at a little restaurant called Oasis. It was good, but interesting. Why so many places serve "Eureka Springs style Mexican" food, I'll never know. I like ACTUAL Mexican food. This whole knock off thing irks me a bit. Oasis was pretty much that. Not bad, mind you. However, when I want that style food, I typically want just plain Mexican. They did serve the throw back sodas, which I love. Shopping and eating downtown left us exhausted and me SUPER cranky. Pregnant+hot+tired=BAD. I mean it was really bad. I have a feeling a few people, mainly Greg wanted to kill me.

That evening we chose to do a ghost tour at the Crescent Hotel. First off, I totally want to have a girls trip and stay in that hotel. Not only is it elegant, but it's haunted as well! HOLLA! The hotel has been featured on Ghost Hunters and they even show you some of the footage captured before the tour. The stories are very interesting, regardless if you believe in ghosts. Again, had I been in a position to have a cocktail, we would have had a libation or two at the roof top lounge. Being that I'm a party pooper, we just walked around the gardens. My cousin Erin would love this place, there are cats roaming the gardens and she just LOVES cats....(tee hee) In fact, she'd love the whole town. Lots and lots of cats.

Day 3: Our last full day there, I had only ONE thing on my mind...find a place to swim. Okay, so I should know better than to leave it up to someone else to find what I'm looking for. It took way longer than expected to find and people are not good at giving directions. We found a place on a lovely lake and my swimming fix was achieved. Something unexpected happened... creepy couple attack!!! As I am laying out (i can't get in the water unless I'm hot), I begin to casually listen in on the conversation next to me. It's not like they were whispering. He's asking her if their relationship bothers her. Then he says how it concerned him at first and he shouldn't have the feeling for her that he did, but she was just too sexy. Say what? I take a peak at the couple and immediately tell that she is approximately 15-17, not a day older. Her looks and actions were quite immature. He, was closer to 40. Okay everyone let it all out at once.... EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!! The conversation just got weirder from there. I gathered she was pregnant, but he wasn't the father. They talked about their age difference being an issue and if she had told anyone they were seeing each other. Her responses were awkward. It was ridiculous. He actually asked her what her top five albums of all time were. She is 15! She doesn't know what you mean by "album"! She actually responded with "ummm, I don't know..." Ugh. We left around the same time they did. i was very close to telling him to quite being a giant creepo!

That afternoon, we had a late lunch at Sparkey's. Again, with the "Eureka Spring Mexican" type food. What is up with that? Our server pretty much forgot her tables existed. We ate a little, I was tired. So after picking at my food (I've really perfected that), we decided to just head to the cottage and relax. That evening we saw Gigantic Jesus....Boy is that an interesting sight. First off, I don't care about your religious affiliations, he is just creepy. He is not proportionate at all. He actually reminds me of the creepy statues on Never Ending Story. You know, the ones that were the guardians of some gate. Their eyes would open as you passed through and if you weren't worthy, you'd be zapped to death. (technically Atreyu wasn't worthy because they tried to zap him, he just jumped out of the way... I totally don't think that counts). I expected Gigantic Jesus to open his eyes and zap all the people around. I would totally have pulled an Atreyu and jumped out of the way. Not sure about Greg. Hey, when a Gigantic anything is zapping people, it's every man for himself!

That night was REALLY fun. We grabbed some dinner at Lovin' Oven Bakeria and guess what hit me??? That's right people, a fibro flare. Holy cow. I was actually in tears! It was THAT bad. I couldn't even stand up. It rattled me to my bones. It was not a fun rest of the night and since then I have had multiple flares. Ugh...The best part is I can't take my meds because I am pregnant. Yippeee!!!!

Day 4: Good Bye Eureka Springs! Aww such a pretty town. I would have liked to have done more, but we just didn't have the time or energy. We got up early had a pretty flippin good breakfast at Local Flavor. Yummy! Then I checked in to as many places as I could in town so I could gain my mayorships where needed. (I may enjoy foursquare too much) I am happy to say that I am the mayor of most places in Eureka Springs!! We hit up a winery to pick up some gifts and I discovered that state grape of Arkansas is not a tasty fruit...

The drive home wasn't bad. We had a yummy home style type lunch in some hole in the wall restaurant in some hole in the wall town. Seriously, do people choose to live in these places or are they just stuck there??? Of course the food made me extremely ill. Hey, I'm pregnant, it's how I roll. Never the less, we made it home in one piece and to a house full of annoying animals.

So all in all I can sum up Eureka Springs by saying that it is a cool little town. If you like funky art, bars, haunted hotels, beautiful scenery, and huge depictions of Christ, this town is for you. Visit it! I will say for my LGBT pals, I got the feeling that ES is pretty LGBT friendly. I didn't see much in the way of specific bars or hang outs, but I did see a lot of couples walking around. Definitely a plus there!