A broad thoroughfare connects Arkansas’ head-turning natural beauty to its burgeoning art and restaurant scenes.
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.
This story is from the September 2017 edition of Southern Living.
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This story is from the September 2017 edition of Southern Living.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
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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.
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.
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!
The Roast With the Most
Embrace the changing seasons with a cozy pork supper
Roll With It
Company's coming? Bake a batch of these apple-stuffed delights
VIRGINIA PASTORAL
IN MIDDLEBURG, THE COMMONWEALTH'S MOST STORIED SMALL TOWN, OCTOBER WELCOMES A HOST OF TREASURED TRADITIONS
TAKING ROOT
Turn the season's freshest veggies-beets, parsnips, sweet potatoes, carrots-into colorful fall sides
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
Loving Life in Fayetteville
This Northwest Arkansas college town is easy to love and hard to leave
The Road That Raised Me
This lesser-known drive offers the most breathtaking views in the Smoky Mountains
