Fall Foliage & Fun in Arkansas

October 16-18, 2012

New Crystal Bridges Museum, A&M Railroad, Miss Laura’s Playhouse, Wallmart Visitor Center & Museum, Ft. Smith Historic Site

Our destination today is Ft. Smith, Arkansas.  En route, we visit the newly renovated and expanded Walmart Visitor Center in Bentonville.  We begin our self-guided tour where it all began, Walton’s 5 & 10.  We stop in the Exhibit Gallery to see a short video which explores Sam Walton’s life as an American leader and authentic artifacts including his Medal of Freedom and interactive exhibits.
 
In the afternoon, we arrive in Ft. Smith and check in to our hotel the Hampton Inn.  We enjoy a hosted dinner at Calico’s Country Restaurant.  Following dinner we take in an original musical comedy “Miss Laura’s Players in The Medicine Show on Hanging Day,”   a step back in to a colorful past, both novel and entertaining!

In the morning we meet up with Miss Laura at a Victorian mansion for a tour of the former bordello.  Restored to its original ambiance, the visitor center/former bordello is first to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Our next activity is a journey on the A&M Railroad to experience the Golden Age of Travel.  The scenic ride is from Van Buren to Winslow aboard one of the vintage passenger cars.  Sit back, enjoy the great views and fall foliage traveling across trestles and through the foothills of the Boston Mountains and 1700 ft. tunnel at Winslow.  A live narration along the way covers local history and key points of history. A boxed lunch will be provided.
This afternoon we relive history at the Fort Smith National Historic Site.  A Ranger-led program includes tours of the jails, Judge Parker’s Court Room and numerous exhibits.  Leisure time this evening.

This morning, last but not least, our next tour is at the new Crystal Bridges Museum, a world-class American Art Museum!   The facility was a dream of founder Alice Walton.  The beautiful facility has brought the nation’s heartland, a spectacular museum which showcases signature paintings and sculptures from the Colonial period through the modern era.  The complex encompasses 100,000 square feet of gallery on 105 wooded acres.  

This fall getaway has something for everyone; History, Art, Entertainment, Museums and the A&M Railroad.

$420 Double Occupancy   $556  Single    3 Days/2 Nights, including (5) Meals             

Trip Insurance:  $41/$64

For reservations or additional information call 913-411-232