Christmas Adventures - Garvan Gardens & More

We arrived in Hot Springs, AR at our second home on Wednesday, the week before Christmas.  Me, with my parents and Bob and Brianna from home with horses in tow.  A quick trip to the grocery for supplies and we settled in with movie night.

Thursday evening we went for our annual Christmas Light walk at Garvan Gardens.  The lights are fabulous and they increased them to 2 million this year.  When attending, pay attention to what color the lighted deer (Hanging over head) is in your parking lot. Other wise you may be wandering around in the dark.  It is a walking tour, but they do offer golf cart rides for a extra fee. The fee is $10 per person, and extra for the cart.  The walking is up and down hills, so if can be difficult for some.  My dad had difficulty this year with the terrain.

My hubs and daughter

My parents

The Christmas tree sings, and lights beat along.

The train is a big hit with the kids, train noises, and the wheels/smoke in motion

This was new this year, playing instruments!

The plan for Friday was to go downtown early.  I wanted to take Brianna and my parents up the mountain to the Look Out Tower, and shop downtown, before going to The Arlington.  But, mother nature intervened and brought in rain.  We did make a few shops before it starting raining pretty hard and we headed over to The Arlington for dinner.

Hotel next door to The Arlington, has a cute Boutique!

I love The Arlington.  It is old and has a lot of history. Each year they have this huge Gingerbread house in the lobby.  We have sat in the lobby, had a drink and just people watched.  They also have a Big Band that comes in on Friday nights that plays oldies.  Lots of older people come down and dance.

I am NOT photogenic!

I have never noticed those grills over the windows.

We had a fabulous meal!  I had a salad and the good stuff, Crab legs, Peel em & eat em shrimp, and Oysters.  The rest of the crew had some of the above and stuff off the other seafood bar.  The piano player, played Christmas songs, which was fun, but made it hard to have conversation. It was a great time....until.......We got up to leave and my  mom says she is going into the Ladies room, her stomach hurts.  We finally all make it out on the porch and I snapped these pictures of the park across the street (it was raining)

Hubs, being the gentleman that he is, says he will go get the car.  Mom is holding her stomach and says she has to go back to the bathroom, so I follow along.....So, I sat.....in the bathroom on a couch snapping pictures, thinking of grander days when ladies probably gathered in here to gossip, while mom came out once to wash her hands, then twice to wash her hands and then after coming back out for the third hand washing, she thought she was ready to make the 20 min trip home. Then, Bob calls to see if she is OK and tell him we are on our way out.

So, on the ride home.  Mom thinks she just got a bad oyster....why that I don't know.  I say she probably just had to much rich food.  Then, Brianna says that she doesn't feel good.  I ask do we need to pull over and she says, yes and it is too LATE!  I have no paper towels, nothing in my car!  I always do!  So, while she is sick out in someone's front yard, I go to the door and ask if I could borrow some paper towels.  She was sick all night and half the day, both ends.  I know, I know.  TMI to much information.

So, why did I tell you this.  I called and talked with restaurant manger Saturday afternoon, after we all got some sleep, discussed what mom and Brianna ate and discovered that each of them had one of the same dishes.  Which, Bob also had a couple of bites of.  He had a few episodes but not full blown like the other two.  I tell the manager, that I think that they got food poison and what they ate.  Dad and I didn't get sick.  He wants to know if they went to the doctor.....Why would we, unless for dehydration....But, if we had carried her to the emergency room, guess what the health department would have been notified.  Maybe that is why he wanted to know.  He says, he will investigate and get back with me.  Well, he DIDN'T.  It is not a good thing to not to take someone seriously when in today's age we have social media.  It took days for mom, Brianna and Bob to get over it. Dad and I did not get sick. If it was a bug, we would have gotten it, Because any stomach related bug puts us under!

So, A big Thank You to the management at The Arlington!  I hope you see this.

Christmas Adventures- Heber Springs - Hot Springs

Wow, Christmas is Over!  This year I spent 10 nights with my parents!  In different locations!  They moved to Heber Springs, AR a year ago.  Although, I have made a few short trips...I haven't been there for several days.  So, with Brianna home from college to take care of the horses, I took off.

We, my brother and I, feel like that we actually almost grew up there.  Our family spent weeks there at the lake in the summer, camping, swimming and skiing.  Lots of memories.  Heber Springs was a one horse town then and still is today, My opinion.....Each time that we have made that quick trip, I have commented on some cute shops downtown.  My mom had not even been down there!  But, this trip, I had a couple of days, so we had time to check them all out.  I was quite pleased!  To be a one horse town, there are several CUTE boutiques, a Great fabric store and several little Antique malls.  Actually, there is more downtown than I remember as a teenager.  I bought some AR salsa and jam for friends!

Main Street Mall - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Main-Street-Mall-Heber-Springs/359574358491
LV Boutiquie -  https://www.facebook.com/pages/LV-Boutique/174420349251849

Check out their Facebook page.  There are many other cute shops, but I couldn't find a web page on them.

Then, one day we went to check on the swans again.  I talked about them in a previous blog post.  The Trumpeter Swans.  I wanted to see if more had arrived.  There was a man there this time with a nice camera.  He commented that we had just missed a large group of pelicans.  They were a bit off of flight pattern.  I asked, if I could see the pictures that he had taken.  And sure enough they were Pelicans! Nice camera!  I asked if he was shooting  pictures for a paper or something.  He laughed and said, "No, just to bore his friends with."  He told me that he had taken a picture of a swan across the lake last year and able to focus in on the leg band.  Then he traced the band to see where the bird was from.  Quite interesting!  I took some good video, but can't get it to upload.

We did some other stuff, like hang pictures, rearrange some furniture, drove out to their farm, (which I didn't get to see, because the road was still iced over) had lunch at a hole in wall, DJ's in Drasco, AR.  They had a great Catfish lunch!

Then, it was time to start on the second leg of Christmas.....Hot Springs, AR bound!  Mom and I in my car.  Dad in their car.  Needless to say, we lost him at least once.  We stopped and he didn't.....Phone call required. 

I had seen a bunch of Junk/Antique stores on one short trip between Heber Springs and Hot Springs by way of Conway.  So, off we went.  First stop we made was in Quitman at The Vintage Rose.  Adorable store with lots of gifts, home decor, and ladies accessories.  I actually found a scarf for my daughter that she loves!
 The Vintage Rose - https://www.facebook.com/shoptherose

We made several other stops and then we stopped at The Peddlers in Greenbrier.  Pickers Paridise, well maybe not, it has already been picked.  But, if your looking for something special, this place saves you a lot of mileage, and time.

You can click on the picture to blow it up!

https://www.facebook.com/arkansaspeddlers

After, this store, we were pooped, so we drove on to Hot Springs.  Check back for the Hot Springs adventures!

Trumpeter Swans

My parents live in Heber Springs, AR.  They have been telling us for years about these Swans that show up on this lake and stay for the winter. Not Greers Ferry lake, but Magness Lake just outside of town.  We were at my parents for Thanksgiving and my dad said that the swans were in town.  So we took a drive out to see them.

They are Fabulous! The swans are Trumpeter Swans, the largest Native bird in North America.  They weigh up to 30lbs with a wingspan of 8'.  We carried Shelled corn to feed them, which is the only thing recommended for feeding.

Bottoms UP!

  

Apparently, they are a pretty big DEAL!  See, these birds don't migrate this far south.  Normally, they are found in Wyoming, Alaska and Canada.  In, 1991. three birds showed up.  The following year they brought friends and family and each year the group coming here has grown.  I don't know how many was there that day.  A LOT! I think the count is getting near 200.

 People come from miles....to see them.  It is a steady stream of cars.  I was amazed at the traffic in and out.  This lake is on privately owned property.  Please be respectful of that.

 The pure white swans are the older swans, and the grays are the younger.  As they age they turn white.  There is a mix of ducks there as well.

We didn't get to see any fly....I took this picture off of an AR game site.

The best time to view them is in the afternoon.  Some fly off in the day to feed elsewhere. They will be in town until Feb ?  Their on their own schedule.  Check them out if you any where near the area.

Directions: Drive east on Arkansas Highway 110 from its intersection with Arkansas 5 and Arkansas 25 just east of Heber Springs. Go 3.9 miles from the intersection to Sovereign Grace Baptist Church, on the right and marked with a white sign. Turn left on Hays Road, a paved county road. Magness Lake is about a half-mile down this road, and a gravel parking area is at an S curve in the road.