Ozark Magic
Southern Living|September 2017

A broad thoroughfare connects Arkansas’ head-turning natural beauty to its burgeoning art and restaurant scenes.

Jay Jennings
Ozark Magic

ARKANSAS HAS LONG enjoyed a healthy sibling rivalry between the central region, anchored by the state capital of Little Rock, and the northwest region, centered around the university in Fayetteville. In the past, stolid Little Rockians smirked at the hippies and hillbillies of the Ozarks but dutifully trudged up the winding mountain roads to Fayetteville for Razorbacks games, and the highlanders often decamped to the capital for jobs in government and banking. Over the past 30 years, Northwest Arkansas has boomed, thanks primarily to the economic engine of Walmart, and Little Rock has expanded its cultural footprint, reviving its riverfront around the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum. Now with the driving time between the cities reduced to three hours by smooth sailing on Interstates 40 and 49, a visitor can easily take in the recent additions to both regions— and even make time to slow down and soak in the natural beauty in between.

LITTLE ROCK

The highest concentration of the city’s best-known attractions and amenities hugs the river: the Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, the Museum of Discovery, and the Old State House Museum, as well as hotels, restaurants, and music venues along and near President Clinton Avenue.

Denne historien er fra September 2017-utgaven av Southern Living.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

Denne historien er fra September 2017-utgaven av Southern Living.

Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.

FLERE HISTORIER FRA SOUTHERN LIVINGSe alt
Forging a Legacy - A Fredericksburg, Texas, couple is creating a new class of heirloom cast-iron cookware
Southern Living

Forging a Legacy - A Fredericksburg, Texas, couple is creating a new class of heirloom cast-iron cookware

When Jay Mallinckrodt pitched the idea of crafting cast-iron cookware to his wife and business partner, Heather, in 2020, she was hesitant. I immediately said no, she recalls with a laugh. But I finally agreed as long as we made something that we would actually want to use ourselves. Like many others during the initial throes of the pandemic, their multigenerational family operation, Heartland Enterprises (which specializes in machining parts for jet engines and gas and oil equipment), was seeing a lull. “No one was flying; no one was drilling, says Jay. So we had time to try something different.

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
A Butterfly Haven - In the Texas Hill Country, a conservationist is helping monarchs adjust to the changing world
Southern Living

A Butterfly Haven - In the Texas Hill Country, a conservationist is helping monarchs adjust to the changing world

Twenty-four years ago, Monika Maeckle bought a small property on the Llano River in Central Texas as an escape from fast-paced San Antonio. A journalist and marketing professional by trade, she didn't at first realize the value of the location on which she and her husband would later build their ranch. She also had no idea how this decision would eventually transform her life.One October evening a few years later, a friend invited Maeckle to their nearby house, which sat on a watershed with several large cypresses. All these butterflies dropped from the sky and started to gravitate toward the trees, she recalls. Stronger people who could swing a big 12-foot-long pole began trying to capture them, and we waited. By the end of the evening, we'd tagged a couple hundred butterflies, and I left there enchanted.

time-read
3 mins  |
October 2024
Oktober Feast!
Southern Living

Oktober Feast!

While I respect your right to serve spooky food in October, you won't find any gory grub at my house this month. Instead, I'm hosting a gathering that's inspired by biergartens across the pond. The focus of the menu is a fondue made with Gruyère cheese and crisp Riesling-like beer-cheese dip but more elevated. It's served with a smorgasbord of dippers such as smoked sausage, grapes, apples, and a few amped-up store-bought snacks, like Mustard-Glazed Pretzel Bites and Smoked Paprika Potato Chips. (Just one taste, and you'll want to add this spice to every bag you open.) Pour yourself a Cider Shandy, and get ready for a good time. Prost, y'all!

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
The Roast With the Most
Southern Living

The Roast With the Most

Embrace the changing seasons with a cozy pork supper

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
Roll With It
Southern Living

Roll With It

Company's coming? Bake a batch of these apple-stuffed delights

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024
VIRGINIA PASTORAL
Southern Living

VIRGINIA PASTORAL

IN MIDDLEBURG, THE COMMONWEALTH'S MOST STORIED SMALL TOWN, OCTOBER WELCOMES A HOST OF TREASURED TRADITIONS

time-read
7 mins  |
October 2024
TAKING ROOT
Southern Living

TAKING ROOT

Turn the season's freshest veggies-beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots-into colorful fall sides

time-read
6 mins  |
October 2024
THE FAMILY PLACE
Southern Living

THE FAMILY PLACE

When it came time for a young Georgia couple to make an 1800s farmhouse their own, they took it apart piece by piece-then rebuilt it into a home ready to welcome the next generation

time-read
3 mins  |
October 2024
Loving Life in Fayetteville
Southern Living

Loving Life in Fayetteville

This Northwest Arkansas college town is easy to love and hard to leave

time-read
5 mins  |
October 2024
The Road That Raised Me
Southern Living

The Road That Raised Me

This lesser-known drive offers the most breathtaking views in the Smoky Mountains

time-read
2 mins  |
October 2024