2. Eureka Springs, Arkansas: A
really unique place to visit is Eureka Springs, Arkansas. Built on a mountain,
many Eureka businesses and homes have as a backdrop a stone mountain.
The Town was originally formed as a tourist town and has remained so to
this day. In the 1800's the springs were discovered and visitors
began to come to the area in groves because of the then thought healing
powers of the natural springs. Trains brought visitors there by the hundreds
in the 1800's and a huge hotel, The Cresent, was built in the 1880's. Horse
drawn trolleys were also used. Today, the Town claims to have only
2000 residents, but to accommodate the visitors it also has many hotels
and hundreds of Beds & Breakfast homes. It appears that almost every
other home you see offers bed & breakfast lodging. Many of the
homes are Victorian in style and beautiful but quaint. The Cresent
still operates today as do other hotels built in the early 1900's in the
main town. The attractions include shops of all types, the Great Passion
Play which attracts thousands of people each day, fine restaurants and
many of the things you would expect to find in places like Gatlinburg.
The trip is worth the time just to see the Town. Eureka also appears
to be the wedding capitol of the South and many couples come there to get
married. When we were there in July, 1998, the paper stated there were
238 weddings in 16 days. The location is ideal with or without children.