Weekend Away to Eureka Springs Turns Cold

I had been to Eureka Springs once before, when I was a teenager. I remember it as a picturesque Victorian town with a quaint downtown for shopping and walking along so I wanted my husband to experience the same. We first planned our weekend trip in October but had to postpone it one month because of unforeseen problems. So we landed on the second weekend of the month and planned our romantic weekend accordingly.

The trip to this Victorian town from Tulsa, Oklahoma is about 2 ½ hours and is a lovely drive on winding and steep roads through small farm towns and wooded terrain. Friday started out cool and overcast and we knew that Saturday would be the same. We hoped, of course, the weatherman would be incorrect. He wasn’t. Saturday was cold and windy and miserable to say the least. We didn’t get to spend much of our time walking or touring the quaint town. This was such a disappointment for me not to be able to do the shopping we had wanted to do. We did however get to tour the town and surrounding areas by car. We found this was just as relaxing and enabled us to spend quality time together.

If the weather is good or if you are someone who enjoys cold, crisp weather Eureka Springs would be a wonderful weekend getaway. There are so many Victorian B&Bs and hotels to choose from that whatever you are looking for you should be able to find, from the cheap to the luxury room. You will not be bored if you are looking for something to do because Eureka Springs has many activities to choose from, including: trolley tours, passion play, shopping, hoedowns, train rides, and ghost tours.

We will plan another trip sometime next year when the weather is good. My husband wants to take the train ride with dinner service through the Ozark Mountains. We also would like to spend more time visiting the downtown area.

Traveling with dogs can be daunting when picking a hotel, although more and more are allowing pets to stay with their owners. The Joy Motel allows pets with a $15 charge per night. Our two dogs love to "go on vacation" and they travel well. Motel rooms are not worse for wear with our two dogs.

We chose the Joy Motel because of the price of $69 per night but also for it’s close to downtown location. I also liked the thought of a 1950’s style hotel. It is located just 1 block from a trolley stop. When we arrived to the motel, it was after hours and found the manager next door at home. She arrived quickly and was very pleasant. She placed us close to a grassy patch for the dogs’ sake, which I thought was very nice. Our room had two full size beds, even though I had asked for a king room, a small bathroom and a back door leading to the pool area.

The décor is reminiscent of the 1950’s with magazine pages of face cream or sodas framed and hanging over the beds. The bed coverings were the ivory ones my grandmother had at her house. We had an old TV with cable which helped pass the time during the cold evenings. Outdoors they have a large swimming pool and patio with old time lawn chairs. It truly looked like a 1950’s movie scene.

There was breakfast served each morning if you wished. You just needed to call the front desk and ask for your made to order pancakes to be brought to your room. We didn’t eat her pancakes but went out for breakfast. We did use the coffee pot, microwave and tiny refrigerator in the room.

Just a basic hotel with little to no amenities but would be great for families or singles. It is close to the attractions, quiet and clean.

Not knowing where the best dining places were located, we turned to the trusty Chamber of Commerce "Welcome to Eureka Springs" book. Since my husband was craving Italian, we chose a place that was said to the "the best Italian in Eureka Springs" and was said to have been nominated for great dining from Southern Living. Café Luigi was to be our first romantic dining experience of our get-a-away weekend.

I should have known something was amiss when we arrived and there was only one other couple in the entire restaurant and that we were not greeted at the door. We found a table next to the window after the waitress yelled from the kitchen to seat ourselves. The restaurant was divided into two small dining rooms but all does have great views of the street. The tablecloths were plastic and the chairs old and rickety. When our waitress arrived with our menus she was pleasant and polite. I asked for ice tea and was told the only tea they have was a cinnamon tea that many people didn’t like. Why would you have a tea as your only tea that most people didn’t like? She was right, it had a strong cinnamon taste, probably would have been good as a hot tea but not as a iced tea.

The menu comprised a good amount of options and sounded tasty. We chose the fried mushrooms with ranch dipping sauce as our appetizer. They were good, just like the ones I buy at our local freezer section. Mike chose the meat lasagna while I chose the cannelloni filled with spinach and topped with a white cream sauce. Our entrees were served with side salads and a breadstick, not the hot, fresh kind but a hard stick out of a package. The salad was nothing special and was served on a small saucer instead of a salad plate. I asked for the homemade creamy blue cheese dressing that came plopped on the salad because it was too thick to gently pour.

While Mike received his dinner, mine was served and was not what I asked for. My cannelloni was drenched with a red sauce. I pointed out the error; the waitress apologized and stated it was the owner’s mistake. After about 5 minutes I was served the correct dinner. It looked very appetizing but I soon found that looks can be deceiving. The white cream sauce had a strange taste somewhat like dirt and the cannelloni had freezer burn and was way too tough to cut with a fork. I am not sure what the filling consisted of but it was not what I expected. It was firm and grey with a horrible taste. Needless to say I could not finish the dinner. One more thing, the "homemade bread" was hardly homemade. It was at least a day old and stale.

While we sat at our table waiting for the poor food to come out of the kitchen, I distantly heard the ping of a microwave oven completing its cooking time. And while all of this disaster of a dinner was happening, the owner was walking around on the phone speaking loudly to whoever was on the other line. He did apologize about the mistake with my entrée stating there was a new cook. He told us this not once but at four different times. I have to think it was his excuse for his poor restaurant.

If I want to spend $45 for a dinner it will never be at Café Luigi again.

A Saturday afternoon drive is always a good idea and since we were visiting Eureka Springs, AR we decided to drive out to the War Eagle Mill in Rogers, AR just 30 minutes away. War Eagle Mill was first built in 1873 by a couple for the production of flour and other grains. The mill that is standing today is the forth built on the original site and foundation on the War Eagle River. There are 2 stone buhr grinders and an 18 foot waterwheel inside the building for you to see while you are shopping the mill store.

The mill is open 7 days a week in most months, in January and February they are open weekends only. The three story building houses a store on the first floor where you can purchase jams, baked goods and organic grains for cooking. The second floor has a gift shop and the third has The Bean Palace Restaurant. The river is beautiful and the old, one-car bridge finishes the picture. You can walk out on the sandy beaches or walk across the bridge. Just don’t forget to try their home made cookies and their jellies. I bought cornbread mix, mixed grain breakfast cereal and a raspberry jelly spread that tasted wonderful.

Every year in May and October they have a craft fair. I have never been but have heard it is one of the largest fairs in the area. Take a look at their web site at www.wareaglemill.com