For our annual girls trip in 2017, we choose to make art the focus and headed over to Bentonville Arkansas. To the 21c Museum hotel. This is a quick flight to Fayetteville and a 20 minute drive to the home of Walmart’s headquarters. The museum hotel is full of art and has it’s own gallery. We did the gallery tour here.

 

 

And this amazing art piece slash light fixture was literally so over the top.

 

The hotel is a work of art on it’s own. Loved  Making Change, a Fleetwood Cadillac limousine covered in thousands of coins.

 

Bentonville popped up on my radar recently as a great art weekend. This town also has some great shops and restaurants. And one of the coolest coffee shops around. Onyx Coffee Lab.

 

Super high tech and sciencey. Beautiful space, too.

 

We ate at The Hive at the 21c Hotel, had awesome Italian food at Tav0la Trattoria and went to the Undercroft Bar in the basement of the restaurant, The Preacher’s Son, for drinks. Very hip space.

 

But the Crystal Bridges is the hero here in Bentonville. This museum truly embodies the American spirit in a setting that unites the power of art and the beauty of nature.

 

Pressing all the buttons

 

The sculpture garden should not be missed. When we were there it was a Chihuly exhibit and we did the night tour. Amazing.

 

While at Crystal Bridges you can book a tour of the Frank Lloyd Wright’s Bachman Wilson house. This structure is an example of Frank Lloyd Wright’s classic Usonian architecture.  “Usonian” was derived from an abbreviation of “United States of North America.” Making it a distinctly American style house. It was moved to this location in 2013.

 

We could not take pictures inside, but I could have stayed in this house for many hours.

 

We booked a bike tour with Phat Tire Bikes and rode all the way to Fayetteville. It was a great time and we used the Ebikes, which I have to admit made for a much more delightful ride. Just press the turbo feature and the electric bike kicks in. Great for hills or long hauls.

 

 

So after you don’t feel like this.

 

 

As an added art bonus, I planned a quick detour to Fort Smith, Arkansas. Because this little town is quite famous for it’s mural arts downtown.

 

They have an initiative called The Unexpected: Festival of Murals. This festival happens every year in early September and invites world-renowned international artists in come to FS. They add modern vibrancy to the historic walls of Fort Smith’s downtown area.

 

It was super cool. They have an app that tells you where they all are and is self guided. Here’s myself!

 

And big love, love to my travel buddies!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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