Found it!

The Crescent Hotel, one of the most haunted spots in America.

Once you discover progressive Eureka Springs, you’ll never look at Arkansas the same way again

ERIC MILLER   |  Contributing Writer
1ericmiller1@gmail.com

The town of Eureka Springs doesn’t have any traffic lights. Walking trails and stairways continue where streets leave off. Trolley buses shuttle visitors between sites and to hotels. The steep hillsides provide a natural deterrent to auto traffic and parking.

The streets are in a constant flux between bustling and quiet. People here say it’s hard to make a lot of money, but a lot of money couldn’t get them to leave.

That was the case for the woman working at the counter at Brews, a coffee and beer shop here, when I told her I lived in Dallas. “Do you like it?” she asked with concern, as if “yes” was an impossible answer. She had visited recently and found the traffic and noise to be a turn-off.

While I understand comments about noise and traffic, I am not sure I could trade life in the city for the bucolic hills of the Ozarks, at least not permanently. But being able to visit? Well, that’s a valid reason for living in nearby Dallas.

Well, relatively nearby. Five hours is a little far for a weekend trip, but still doable. But flights from DFW to the regional airport in Bentonville are frequent, and drive or fly, it’s one of the closest getaways from Dallas you can make and still feel you got away.

Yet it’s remarkable how many people I come across in North Texas who have never even heard of Eureka Springs. They may have heard of Crystal Bridges, the awe-inspiring museum an hour north in Bentonville; more than likely, though, they have not been to Bentonville, either.

Despite having visited multiple times, we always find new things to do. The town sits in a valley, and it has become a tradition to walk from the hotel to the bottom of the valley. There we visit a gift shop with a natural spring dripping inside. Then it’s straight up to the hill, past Brews and up the steep staircase to the Crescent Hotel — known as the most haunted in America.

We make a detour this time and stop into an antique store featuring much-loved and long-treasured objects and paintings. While it is fun to blow off some dust and learn about the long-standing Eureka Springs art colony, it seemed clear we wouldn’t be leaving with anything we could afford.

Across the street sits an old bathhouse that now serves as a hotel. It was one of several in the town, which clamored about its healing waters similar to the Arkansas town most known for them — Hot Springs.

My favorite thing to do in Eureka Springs is to walk around the winding hillside streets and look at the Victorian Era houses. Many are still intact and dolled-up like the painted ladies in San Francisco. Many serve as bed-and-breakfasts, but a good portion are still single-family homes. From there we turn up Crescent Drive towards the hotel where we encounter a same-sex wedding in progress. It does not raise an eyebrow among the locals, as far as we can tell.

That’s the other thing about this town — in a conservative part of the country, a state where they say Bill Clinton couldn’t be elected today, it’s not only welcoming, but its diversity feels ingrained. As the participants in the wedding, little-noticed by the hotel guests, could attest, Eureka Springs is a haven for LGBT people and known for its inclusivity. (See sidebar about the documentary The Gospel of Eureka.)

Tired from walking, we take the elevator to the top floor where a bar with a rooftop deck overlooks the green hillside. While many are eating deep-dish pizza, we order cocktails. (Hello? Gay!) “That looks good,” my companion calls to the couple eating next to use. “I couldn’t possibly eat it all, would you like a slice?” the man responds.

We don’t take him up on his offer, but all agree this kind of thing is unlikely to happen in Dallas.

Over drinks, we talk about the ghosts that are said to haunt the place. For some reason, the ghosts are most often female. The rooms thought to be most haunted are hard to get and they cost more when you do. We ask the waitress about the hauntings, and she tells us about some odd second-hand experiences.

Two young women sitting behind us happen to be staying in the reputed second-most-haunted room. One seems more excited about a potential encounter than the other. We leave the table and decide to walk past the haunted rooms, but can’t find either. We joke about the waitress and guests we spoke to being apparitions, but come to the conclusion that the rooms do not have numbers on the door to keep away curiosity seekers.

Leaving the hotel, we traipse down the staircase, into the main part of the town we circled around on the way up. By the time we make it back to our hotel, a nap is necessary. (The Matterhorn, our preferred hotel, was booked this trip, so we opt for a Best Western. While there’s a case for choosing a quirky little property, the Best Western is clean and modern with views of greenery and comfortable amenities. It is also one of the few options within walking distance of downtown.)

Eureka Springs it’s a small town, but there’s still more to experience. We wait more than an hour for what seems to be the most popular restaurant, Emilio’s home-cooked Italian, but grow frustrated and end up at The Bavarian Inn, an old-school place (no take-out and no phones, please) from the days when this was promoted as the Little Switzerland of the Ozarks.

When morning comes, I can’t resist another walk around the town; my husband opts for a run. On the stroll, I realize Emilio’s sits within a short walk from the Best Western. The Bavarian Inn was satisfying, but had I known I wouldn’t have to deal with parking, I would have suggested walking over to Emilio’s and waiting in line.

But this way, there’s still something on the Eureka Springs bucket list.