Yesterday Mom and I made the trip to our first US Newport - this one in Arkansas.
I'm sorry to say that the best thing about the town was the welcome sign. Established in 1875 (you can barely read it for the shrubbery), the downtown is deserted except for 2 businesses; most of the commercial enterprises are to the north of town, along the highway heading to Batesville.
So, having marked Newport, Arkansas, off of our list, we moved on to Batesville. It's a nice place with a good downtown. They claim to have 13 antique shops, but we managed to get into only one yesterday. Well, two.
We ate lunch at Elizabeth's Restaurant. The building is on the National Register of Historic places and is open inside to the 20? foot tall tin ceilings. One very long wall had excellent black and white photographs taken, we suppose, by a local photographer - since some includes signs of Batesville. The tables had white cloths and the food was delicious. Our waitress at lunch was excellent and we Okies were tickled to listen to her Arkie drawl.
We highly recommend Elizabeth's.
We were tired and ready for a nap after the first antique shop so found a motel - Comfort Suites not too far from downtown. But the room was so cool and the beds so comfy that we napped way too long. Going back downtown the shops were all closed or closing - except for one where the owner allowed us a quick run through. Mom found two more blue and white small plates to add to her collection, so we were both happy.
We saw a sign for a RiverWalk and followed more signs to this spot on the White River.
Then walked over to the lookout . . .
The RiverWalk is under development, I'd guess, from all of the construction equipment, but they have a nice start. Just to the left in this photo is a low dam. The breeze was cool and the view nice, but we were winding down again and headed back to the hotel for an evening's rest and a good night's sleep.
