Welcome to Fayetteville

DS and I decided to be tourists in our own town yesterday. He was still coughing too much to go to school, but we needed a break from being cooped up - so we went for a ride.

We started our tour up on Mount Sequoya. This used to be a Monestary and is now used for Marriage Retreats and religous retreats. It is on top of a big mountain and there is a look out point over the whole city. They do need to clear out
some trees to improve the view. But, our town is known for it's tree huggers (I am a treehugger too) but when it is a LOOK OUT point, you should be able to LOOK OUT, right? It is very beautiful up there. In town there is a huge crane that you can see for miles because it is so high in the sky - but we were waaay above it up there. The big blue cross lights up at night and you can see it from all over town. It has a marker on it from 1935. I suppose it is a great "make out" spot, but I never had that kind of fun as a young'un.

We drove through the historic part of town and looked at all the big beautiful wonderful old homes. Most of them have been renovated and
returned to their original glory. So many of them are just beautiful. I would love to live in a big old gorgeous home like that - as long as it had A/C, heat and all the modern conveinences - I am not a person known to "rough it". I prefer to live like it's 2007.

Then we drove down Historic Dickson Street to look at all the funky dance halls and upscale condos that live side by side in perfect harmony. It is a mix of old and new. The new Public Library is not far from there.
It is a huge library and quite beautiful. We went on a field trip in the 4th grade (meaning DS went on a field trip and I tagged along) and got the grand tour. There are four floors and not a right angle anywere in
the building or on the grounds - only curves. It makes for interesting angles, or rather, lack of angles when you view it from the balconies or windows. They had to clear out hundreds of very old trees to build this library, but they took all the trees and built all the chairs that are in the library. The chairs are a distinct design and are named the "Fayetteville Chair". There was also an old outbuilding of some sort on
the property and they used the brick and woodwork to build a working fireplace and mantle in the reading room of the library. All of the granite and limestone was taken out of Arkansas quarries. It is quite interesting to see when you know all the specifics of everything like we learned. But a lot of townspeople think it is extravagent and overdone. But, I think it is really beautiful.

Next door to the library, and I do mean, right next door is the
Watermelon House. If you've read this blog much, you know of my love of
all things watermelon. This little house is an art gallery and a little flea market. They have painted the porch railings, the cement blocks, the front door, etc. all to look like watermelons. I haven't ventured in there for fear that it is full of wonderful folk art and funky watermelon themed items. *Must say "No...."*

Not too far from the library and the watermelon house is this old feed
grain mill. There were three old grain mills right in the same area but this is the only one that remains. I suspect it will be next on the chopping block. I wish they wouldn't tear down all the old history in a town just to make condos or apartments. Just behind the Feed Mill are the stockyards which used to be on the outskirts of town but due to all the growth in the past 30 years, they are now smack dab in the middle of town. Right across from the stockyards is the National Cemetery with the white headstones all in their respectful diagonal rows. It is quite
serene and peaceful at the cemetery, especially since you can still hear the cows at the stockyard even though it is right in the middle of the town .

And, this concludes my little tour of my town. I hope you enjoyed it. I
know we did!