Snapshots of Northwest Arkansas // April 2018

We're headed out on our cruise so soon, and we'll be completely unplugged! Woohoo! :) I realized that I never posted about our Arkansas trip.

You might remember that we had been struggling to travel so far this year. February was too busy. March our plans fell through and then we ended up spending a week with Olivia. In April we finally made it off on a quick road trip to Bentonville and Fayetteville, AR.

This may not sound like an exciting destination but it was really appealing to us for several reasons:

1) a great art museum
2) the drive was short
3) the perfect distance for a weekend trip
4) Freckled Hen Farmhouse

We ended up taking it pretty slowly. We chose our places to visit along the way, and based on who we were feeling at the time, and we relaxed. (I am a horrible relaxer.) We ate slow meals. We had a drink or two. We browsed tons of bookshops. AS EVIDENCED ABOVE... ^^ We turned in early and just read and cuddled. It was so nice.

The museum was fun, and the food was great, but it was definitely more of a relaxing trip than a travel one. Did I mention the books...?

Eat:

Yeyo's Mexican Grill - This place was in what looked like a re-purposed school, but had the coolest vibe inside. The burritos were on point, and everyone who worked there was super nice. They also had black and white Mexican movies playing which was fun. Highly recommend.

Tavloa Trattoria - We actually went here twice.. because it was SO good and didn't have strange hours. I got this incredible pesto pasta with steak on it. The sangria was great. Basically if you like Italian, and or just kind of an upscale casual place, this one was so good! :)

Flying Fish - This place is an Arkansas chain, but it was really really good. I loved the catfish. Seriously, some of the best I've ever had, not greasy at all. Perhaps part of the charm was the "ambiance" the billy bass adoption center was adorable. I love that rather than throwing them out you can give them to this place and they'll give you free catfish. It was fun to see how many there were and the different ways that they were decorated.

The Buttered Biscuit - We went here for breakfast and it was pretty good. This is a relatively new but local institution. My breakfast was decent, but I wasn't over the moon about it. KC got some fancy pancakes and really liked them. The atmosphere was fun and it was PACKED.

Hammondtree's Grilled Cheese - This restaurant is very popular in Fayetteville. It has a decidedly laid back, funky sort of vibe that only a college town can achieve. We got grilled cheeses and loaded fries. It was pretty darn good. Everyone there was really friendly.

See: Downtown Fayetteville, Street Art, Billy Bass Adoption Center at "Flying Fish", the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art and Grounds.

Shop:

Freckled Hen Farmhouse - This is funnily enough one of the main reasons I wanted to go down to Arkansas. This store is the cutest! They carry so many of my favorite brands and the neatest things in their store. Their instagram is so great, and I loved seeing the store in person. The owner, Natalie, was there while we were and it was so funny to see her IRL. :) They were running a special since it was so cold, spend $40 get a free hot chocolate mix. We spent $38 and I went to go find something else, and Natalie just threw the mix in the bag and said we were good to go. They were SO nice! :)

Once Upon A Time Books - This is a HUGE warehouse of books, not as big as the one in Nashville, but it had so many book steals. This is technically in Rogers, AR, but is close just a 20 ish minute drive.

Dickson Street Bookshop - This Fayetteville institution is floor to ceiling, wall to wall, mazes of used books. It's pretty impressive really. I found some good deals here, and was impressed with the sheer size of the place, but it did make me a little claustrophobic and dizzy. ha

Nightbird Books - An indie bookstore with a small but well curated selection of new books. They also had a small enclosed bird habitat which was cool, and as much as I love bookstore cats it was a fun change.

Do: 

Visit the Crystal Bridges Museum of Art - this museum is absolutely stunning. The architecture is half of the reason to go and really put Bentonville on the map. The museum itself is fairly small but interesting and full of some cool American Art. Again, the showstopper here is really the museum itself. It's gorgeous. This museum is FREE! We didn't spend a lot of time on the grounds because it was rainy while we were there, but I have heard that they are lovely as well. The Frank Lloyd Wright house is not free, neither are the rotating exhibits. We wanted to try the restaurant but were not there at a compatible time.

Fayetteville Farmers Market & Shops in Town Square - self explanatory, but this little area is fun to walk around. :)

Gator Golf - There's nothing quite like goonie golf. This place had a lot of fun safari animals and a decent course. I got a hole-in-one... and I am not good at mini golf. FYI there is 100% a penis shaped hole. I mean... what are you going to do? (laugh, that's what) But we really did have a fun time mini golfing here. LOL

Shop for books at the above shops. :P 

There are also some cool outdoorsy things to do, but we did not because it was rainy!

Stay:

We stayed at this Airbnb and it was pretty great. The price is insanely low ($79 per night), and it was recently renovated and really nice. It is a duplex, and the wall in between is pretty thin, but then again.. so are walls in most hotels as well. Highly recommend if you are looking for a nice and inexpensive place to stay.

Favorites: Freckled Hen Farmhouse, The Billy Bass Adoption Center, Once Upon A Time Books, and pesto pasta at Tavola Trattoria.

New Experiences: Frank Lloyd Wright House / Seeing Architecture Exhibit, Birds in a Bookstore, a cool black and white mural/street art.

As much fun as we had on this trip, we were so ready to get on a boat... and have what will feel a little more like a travel type vacation in Cuba and Mexico. :) I'll be talking about it soon! :) 

Are your favorite trips the relaxing kind or the visiting all the attractions kind? - I like both, but feel unfulfilled if they are all relaxing and not very busy. ehhe

More travel posts coming soon: NYC, Cuba & Cozumel!

XO,

Alexandra

Snapshots of NOLA // April 2017

I'm sure a lot of you are tired of hearing about/reading about NOLA. But I can't help it, it's my favorite city! Here's a quick post to show/tell a bit about what we did on our third trip to Crescent City.

This guy cracks me up. :) 

THE PASTA OF MY DREAMS!

SO MANY TURTLES!!

Eat: We ate at some really great restaurants, a few were not very exciting. Overall the food in NOLA was great!

• Cafe Amelie - we went here on our second trip to NOLA. It's a little bit pricey, but everything I've had there has been phenomenal. From the cocktails, to entrees, and desserts. I keep dreaming about the pasta I had there (I can't remember what it was called, but it had shrimp, corn, and andoullie sausage. YUM!). Also, the gumbo was DELICIOUS! We each got a dessert and I tried the bread pudding (mostly because it seemed southern-y) :) It was pretty good, but bread pudding is not my favorite dessert in general. Oohs and Ahhs were heard over the key lime pie, molten chocolate cake, blackened catfish sandwich, and pork tenderloin. You can't go wrong here.
• Cafe Du Monde - KC and I don't love Cafe Du Monde for beignets the very most, but it's an institution, and Brittany and Tyler wanted to go. So we did! With a simplistic menu of beignets and drinks, it's hard to go wrong. I like the frozen cafe au lait. Bring Cash!**
• Cochon Butcher - Brittany and Tyler picked this place, it's in the central business district, but worth the trek or bus ride. It's a butcher shop with super legit sandwiches. Cochon (next door) is more of a traditional sit down restaurant. Butcher has a hipster vibe, tons of interesting menu items and all of the food was really good! I had a smoked turkey, avo, something sandwich, which was really refreshing after walking there in the heat. The sides were good, and I think everyone enjoyed their food. We tried the rum cake as well, and boy does it taste like RUM. It was really good, but SO RUMMY! 
• The Court of Two Sisters (Jazz Brunch) - we had wanted to try a jazz brunch on our trips, but never ended up with the time. I'm glad that we gave it a try this time. For about $30 per person you can visit a huge buffet room filled with hot and cold entrees, desserts, salads, and an omelette/eggs benedict bar. You can choose in or outdoor seating, we chose outdoor. The patio is lovely and covered by wisteria vines. I loved the atmosphere the most. Honestly, I didn't notice the jazz too much, but it was nice too I suppose. There were a lot of food choices, and it was definitely worth the value that you paid (drinks not included FYI), but I wasn't blown away by any of the food in particular.
• Dat Dog (Magazine Street) - KC and I love Dat Dog, so we were glad to fit in another visit for lunch one day. We each have our staples a seadog (me) and the german something or other (KC). Brittany and Tyler enjoyed their food too (though for some reason they dye their relish green... odd). The best part is sitting outside at their patio. It's so colorful and breezy. We stayed and had drinks for a while. We even played Uno (they have a collection of games in the restaurant). There are at least 3 locations for Dat Dog, so check it out if you find yourself near one in NOLA!
• Columns Hotel (St. Charles Street - Street Car) - Brittany wanted to stop by the Columns Hotel on our street car ride. It's a huge hotel where a movie was filmed Pretty Baby, back in 1978. Inside it's very atmospheric and old fashioned. Outside it's a nice porch/patio to sit at and enjoy a drink or meal. We just got drinks, Brittany and Tyler split the Brie with mango chutney and enjoyed it. I'm allergic to brie, otherwise I'd be able to weigh in. hehe I had a mojito and it vas DIVINE and also HUGE. Everyone enjoyed their cocktails/mocktails. It was fun to visit a new place!
• Cafe Beignet (Bourbon Street) - Cafe Beignet is KC and I's favorite beignet place, and also the rest of the food is great too. It's pretty fast and inexpensive, and they have two convenient locations (that are open later!) so it's really handy and frequented by the two of us. We enjoyed the red beans and rice, fried shrimp po' boy, and beignets. Brittany and Tyler shared beignets and a fried fish plate. We listened to music in the courtyard which was nice.
• The Gumbo Shop - This place was recommended to us by our airport Uber driver. It's supposed to have the best gumbo and also creole food in the city. We were excited and each ordered a sampler meal (where you pick your starter, entree, side, and dessert). Most of the food turned out to be pretty lack luster. But they get consistently good reviews on review sites. So, I'm not sure if we had just been eating SUPER fresh food, or what... but we didn't care for this place. The meal we ordered was a good deal, but pretty underwhelming. KC said he thought it was ok, and didn't dislike it quite as much as everyone else. - which is good! But his brownie had nuts all over it, so he couldn't really eat it. Which is a bummer. For us, this was a hard pass, but we are in the minority on this one I think.

See: The Quarter, Audubon Park, The Columns Hotel, The Street Car (St. Charles), Magazine Street, the old cemeteries Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral.

Shop: We didn't do a ton of shopping, though I promise NOLA has some lovely little shops!

• Faulkner House Books - as the name implies... Faulkner used to live in the building that is now the bookstore. Teeny tiny and packed with books, this place is a lovely treat for book lovers. I bought a Penguin cloth bound copy of persuasion and it's beautiful!
• Beckham's Bookshop - this place is kind of a dive, but piled with tons of used books and media. There are even two floors. The greatest treat is the sweetest shop cat you ever did meet. Her name is Juniper, and she apparently has her own blog. Read that, here.
• Frenchman Art Market - this is a place I've been meaning to go for AGES. But I never knew where it was. I'm so glad that we made it to Frenchman Street! This open air art market has awesome hand made wares as well as some cool art to view. I loved exploring here!

Do: while walking around the city itself is PLENTY to do, we did see some other great places as well!

• Explore the quarter, St. Louis Cathedral, and Jackson Square.
• Take the St. Charles street car from Canal past the lovely huge houses. You'll also pass Tulane, Loyola, and Audubon Park/Zoo.
• We visited Audubon Park and it was beautiful! Huge live oaks, geese, ducks, turtles to feed (I've never seen turtles behave like this!), pretty flowers and fountains.
• Visit Frenchman Street - I mentioned the art market above, but the whole street is full of nightlife and fun. We enjoyed people watching, and stopping into a club for live music.
• See the above ground cemeteries across the city. Lafayette #1 can be easily reached via magazine street! 
• Drinks & Jazz at Fritzel's on Bourbon Street - Bourbon is kind of a hot mess, it's fun to walk through once or twice, but honestly, you'll want to find the right places if you're planning to stay for a while. Fritzel's was recommended to us by our Uber driver (this time it was a better suggestion). The live jazz was great, but the place is teeny tiny! Be prepared to pack in like sardines, and you MUST order a drink, or you're out.
• Jazz and Beignets at Cafe Beignet - also on Bourbon, a calmer, more open, less "YOU MUST DRINK (constantly) vibe. Also, our favorite beignets.
• Stop and listen to music on the streets, and watch street performers too!

Stay: We used airbnb and booked The Cottage at Benachi House.

• The price and space were great for 4 people. The cottage was nice and homey as well.
• Benachi house is lovely and they host events, so you might spy a wedding from your window.
• The location is decent, it's about a 30 min walk to the quarter, or $6 uber ride. Because the location in between Benachi and The Quarter was a bit run down, we chose to walk in the mornings, and take uber at night. We didn't really have any problems, other than having to jog across a split "highway". 

Favorites: Cafe Amelie, Butcher, mojitos, Audubon Park, and Juniper the shop cat.

New Experiences: Going to Frenchman Street, hearing live jazz in a bar in NOLA, Audubon park, seeing so many turtles to be fed, jazz brunch!

Have you been to NOLA?

Do you enjoy night life? If not, do you try to experience it anyway? Or just plan other things?

Have you ever seen turtles being fed like fish?!

If you are heading to NOLA, you can check out my trip recaps, here & here.

Happy Travels!

XO,

Alexandra