Eureka Springs, AR: An Inspiring Travel Experience

Years ago around 1920, my grandma as a five-year-old child lived in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. My mom found a picture of her when she was going through her belongings. The picture is one of those three by three black and white sizes, one of those photographs that you will treasure forever just because it's old and full of your family's history. Now all these years later my children and I decided we wanted to see this little town where my grandma had lived while my great grandpa worked in the oil wells.

Every summer my parents usually venture to Branson, Missouri, for at least part of the summer staying in a RV park and enjoying the sights. A year or two ago they headed to Eureka Springs and spent time trying to figure out where my grandma's picture had been taken. When the picture was taken, the town wasn't built up as it is now so the wall in the background of the picture was harder to find. However, my parents were able to find the general area in which the photograph was taken.

In January 2001 after a 1 ½ year battle with cancer, my grandma lost her fight. She died on my son's 10^th month birthday, two months shy of his first birthday. He didn't have many months getting to know his great grandma, but my daughter had a good four years with her. She remembers her great grandma baby-sitting her on occasion and playing and reading books with her. For me, this grandma was my "favorite" grandma. She was the kind of grandma that any child would want; she read and played with my younger brother and me in our childhood and always cared about what we were doing in our lives as children and as adults. I remember my grandma going to see me march when I was in the high school marching band, something that I loved doing, and she would come to see our other activities as well. She was so excited when first my daughter and then my son were born; they were the only great grandchildren she ever knew. She truly cared about us, her family.

This past summer as my children and I planned our annual summer destination we thought of the things we could do in Branson. When I suggested we drive the one and a half hours to Eureka Springs, both of them immediately said, "Yes." While I was surprised by their answer, I was at the same time excited because my family's past is very important to me. My parents were in Branson as well so with them taking the lead we all rode in their car to see some family history.

Upon arrival, my dad drove us to a church in the woods, an all-glass church that was so quiet and peaceful just sitting there on a hilltop, or small mountaintop, since we were in the Ozark Mountains. My children and I were in awe at the peacefulness we felt sitting there looking out through the glass and seeing nothing but the woods around us. Several other people were there as well. My normally talkative son remained fairly quiet.

As we ventured into the small town of Eureka Springs, I was mesmerized by the way it set in the side of the mountains. Describing the town is hard for me unless I show you pictures at the same time. The town lies in layers. You climb steps to see each layer. The streets are extremely narrow and curvy so you must be careful about walking on the sidewalk and hope the cars remain on the street where they belong. All along the streets are shops for us tourists; the best shop was the one called For Bare Feet, one with Indiana roots in Brown County where the factory is located.

Of course, the best part about the town was finding and seeing the wall where my grandma had stood all those years before. Looking at her photo then and actually seeing the wall was different. Again, we weren't sure where she stood along the wall since the original photo was taken with not much of a town, but I was still in awe of being there. My mom took a picture of my children and me so we would have our own version of our family history.

After our visit to Eureka Springs, my dad drove us to the outskirts of town to The Great Passion Play. At this tourist spot you may see a play about Jesus while also having the ability to drive around and see the complex. My children's favorite part was the huge statue of Jesus with outstretched arms, a display called Christ of the Ozarks. I am not sure how tall the statue was, but it was the biggest Jesus we had ever seen. Viewing that made me think about how big Jesus is in our own lives. My children and I were also able to see a 10 foot by 10 foot piece of the Berlin Wall with Psalms 23 written in German. The wall was torn down 20 years ago in 1989; November 9 was the exact day, the same day my grandma was born many years before.

As I reflect back on our trip this past summer, I was inspired in more ways than one. I saw not only a piece of my family's past, but a part of the world's past as well. Viewing a piece of world history was an amazing thing to me, and it came full circle when I realized that I not only saw a place where my grandma had lived at one point in her life, but her birthday was also the same day of a huge historical event, a day in which people were freed to live as they chose.