Eureka Springs: Gem of the Ozarks Stowaway Magazine [Getaways] I wrote this clip as a potential feature article for

the Getaways department of Stowaway travel magazine.

Known as the Little Switzerland of the Ozarks, Eureka Springs (pronounced your-ekka springs by locals) is an ever-surprising American treasure tucked away in the mountains of Arkansas. In the late 1880s, the first European settlers to Eureka Springs arrived because they believed that the natural spring waters that burbled out of the Ozark rocks had miraculous healing properties. The magic of the cure-all water brought wealthy inhabitants to Eureka Springs in droves. This mass settlement was only catalyzed in 1886 when the Crescent Hotel was built in the city. The Crescent Hotel was one of Americas first luxury resorts and wealthy patrons looking to take the waters could relax and live in style. The hotel still stands and is one of the many must-see attractions Eureka Springs has to offer. Today, this small town holds onto the magic of its origins to create a whimsical fairytale hamlet. There truly is something for every traveler to enjoy when visiting Eureka Springs. Whether what youre seeking is a romantic getaway, a cultural enclave, or thrills and adventure, Eureka Springs will fit the bill. Easy Lovin Eureka Springs is a little like Las Vegas. No, you wont gamble in a casino or croon along with Elvis impersonators, but you just may elope with your sweetie. With its many attractions, European charm, and gorgeous scenery Eureka Springs is a popular place for couples (eloping or not) to get hitched. In fact, eurekasprings.org claims that the town is the wedding capital of the south. Because Arkansas does not require blood tests or a waiting period for a couple to get marriedand Eureka Springs has literally hundreds of people in the wedding bizgetting married couldnt be easier. Quirky and laid-back couples might tie the knot in nineteenth-century style at Judge Roy Beans Old Time Photos & Weddings. Yes, you read that correctly. Togged out in duds ranging from the Antebellum to the Jazz Age, whimsical couples can get married in Judge Beans Victorian wedding parlor and purchase old-timey sepia portraits to prove it. Or, perhaps, shout ahoy for your wedding aboard The Bell of the Ozarks, a pint-sized cruise ship that performs a twelve-mile tour around Eureka Springs Beaver Lake. The captain and first mate, well versed in local lore and natural sites, can officiate your wedding and give you a tour of the area Still, there is a place in Eureka Springs for the more traditional bride and groom. Many of the hotels and bed-and-breakfasts in town offer package deals that even include the honeymoon. Gorgeous fairytale cottages like Angel at Rose Hall Bed & Breakfast exude nostalgia and charm and can host extremely romantic and cozy weddings. Angel at Rose Hall offers an antique parlor with stained glass windows, a grand staircase, and vintage furnishings, as well as an outdoor gazebo surrounded by a lush garden where couples can get married under a canopy of trees. The Crescent Hotel is also quite popular for weddings. With its castle-like faade and romantic grounds surrounding the hotel, it seems impossible to not feel in love at the

Crescent. The other most popular historic hotel in town, the 1905 Basin Park Hotel, also offers upscale wedding packages and is the only wedding provider that can book the famous Thorncrown Chapel over a year in advance. The chapel is an architectural masterpiecea piece of modernity that seems to somehow blend seamlessly with the woods surrounding it. The forty-eight foot tall, mostly glass chapel with symmetrically crisscrossing beams was built in 1980 and designed by E. Fay Jones at the request of former schoolteacher Jim Reed. The view from the chapel of the rolling Ozark hills is breathtaking and the chapel is perfect for couples looking for more spiritual wedding ceremonies. But dont worry, single people and already established couples can get their kicks in Eureka Springs too! Hillbilly Culture Every October, the Eureka Springs School of the Arts puts on the Mad Hatter Ball at the Crescent Hotel. The ball is a benefit for the school and the students art is silently auctioned off to raise money for the program. Some of the greatest works of art, however, are the fantastic chapeaux and costumes crafted by the partygoers. Be it elaborate headdresses, balloon-levitated locks, or classic porkpies, hats are required. Hatters are treated to live music and catered food so the tickets arent cheap at $50, but remember that it supports the arts and that youre guaranteed a memorable Halloween! The Barefoot Ball is another annual fall dance held at the Basin Park Hotel. The ball started as a publicity gimmick in 1948 for the Truth or Consequences radio show hosted by Ralph Edward. The newlywed Mr. and Mrs. Howard Forehans from California were given the consequence of winning an all-expense-paid, two week vacation to the Basin Park Hotel. The catch? They had to remain barefoot for the entirety of the trip. The town embraced the bride and groom, gave them keys to the city, and held a ball in their honor. The ball continues today as part of the Eureka Springs Folk Festival. Guests check their shoes at the door and spend the night square dancing and (hopefully) not stepping on each others bare toes. The Folk Festival itself is a great way to revel in hillbilly culture and music. Banjos, accordions, dulcimers, fiddles, and harmonicas fill the air. There is a singer/songwriter contest for artists to prove their mettle and the Queens Contest pageant where a young lady is elected the Festival Queen for the year. Of course, there is a parade, live music performances, and craft and music vendors. If you dont consider hillbilly culture to be your cup of moonshine, theres always the surprising number of art galleries in the tiny town. Most specialize in jewelry, glass, or stonework, but nearly every medium is represented. The Arkansas Art Traila walking tour meant to inspire art-loversbegins in Eureka Springs and includes stops like the Crystal Bridges Museum (the museum itself is a masterpiece), the gorgeous vistas of Inspiration Point, Roaring Rivers State Park, and Buffalo River National Park, as well as viewings of the Victorian architecture in and surrounding Eureka Springs.

Kicks in the Sticks After tourists get their fill of the arts, there are plenty of adventures to be had in the Ozarks. This includes a hive of caves pocking the mountainous region, including War Eagle Cavern on Beaver Lake. Here, visitors can walk directly into a mountain through the natural entrance. You can check out fossils and domes while the tour guide tells tales of outlaws, moonshiners, and other reprobates who used the cave throughout history. Onyx Cave Park is another family-friendly cave tour that will keep everyone interested without being too strenuous of a spelunk. Mystic Caverns tours covers two caverns in onethe older Mystic and the younger Crystal Domeand has been in business since the 1920s. Crystalline stalactites and stalagmites look like blooming sea anemones or glowing alien creatures in the Crystal Dome. In the Mystic Cavern, minerals drip like the pipes of a giant organ. Last, but certainly not least, Cosmic Cavern features not one, but two bottomless caves. Cosmic Caverns also boasts the silent splendor, one of the longest soda straw formations in the area measuring over nine feet long. This cavern is also the warmest at a constant 64 degrees Fahrenheit. For the more adventurous bunch who have already seen the regular tour and give the guide at least twenty-four hours advance notice, Cosmic Caverns offers a wild cave tour after hours to climb and explore in the deep and rarely seen parts of the caverns. Finally, you cant talk about adventure in Eureka Springs without talking about ghosts. Tourists can find ghost tours at both the Crescent and Basin Park Hotels: those same romantic hotels where brides long to get married and residents get pampered in day spas. For a more authentic tour stick to the Crescent: all the Basin Park has going for it is a rumor that its builder is still sighted in the halls and claims that photographsthat look like overexposed dust is marring the picturecontain orbs that are spirits manifesting their energy. The Crescent, on the other hand, has been dubbed Americas Most Haunted Hotel, can claim myriad sightings, and has been visited by numerous psychics and ghost hunters; including a team from ScyFy. The tour discusses the history of the building beginning as Victorian resort, becoming a girls college, a hospital, and eventually back into a hotel and resort. The tour particularly focuses on the hotels era as a hospital that was run by quack Norman Baker. Baker is now one of the ghosts haunting the hotel: a trained con man, he famously always wore a white suit with a lavender tie and had a history of tricking others out of their money. One of the most popular spirits to roam the halls of the Crescent is Theodora, a woman suffering from cancer who was subjected to Bakers treatments for several months before dying. The treatment involved sticking several syringes of a formula made of watermelon seed, brown corn silk, alcohol, and carbolic acid into the patient until all of the medicine ran out. The most haunted roomroom 218is where its said that one of the Irish stonemasons who helped build the crescent fell to his death. Eerie but thrilling, this is a fun tour for adrenaline and paranormal junkies alike.

Whatever youre looking for in a vacation, you wont need to look far in Eureka Springs. This small gem packs a pleasantly surprising wallop of romance, culture, activities, and adventure. There truly is something fun for everyone. Brooke Randell