Beans, Music, and Outhouses

Mountain View, Arkansas calls itself the folk music capital of the world.  This would be hard to dispute after attending a concert at the nearby Ozark Folk Center State Park.  The park has a beautiful large auditorium which echoes with foot-tapping mountain music during the tourist season.  In addition the surrounding grounds have been developed to foster and keep alive all kinds of folk arts which otherwise would gradually disappear.  Artists are given a place to concentrate on their skills while taking on apprentices and educating the visitors.  If you would like to learn about herbs, candle making, weaving, woodworking or other skills, artisans will be happy to show you how it is done.  If you get serious you could sign up for classes to make dulcimers, brooms, or leather goods.  The list is varied.  If it is an old time skill they are into preserving it.

In addition, music groups play in the park throughout the day.  Below 9 year old Mary Parker wows the crowd with her playing and singing skills.

The town of Mountain View, of course, was into folk music long before the Ozark Folk Center existed.  Legend has it that farmers coming to the town market after chores would gather at the town square with the three necessary Ozark instruments - fiddle, banjo, and guitar - and begin jamming.  From these humble beginnings a cultural pride developed in the area for the mountain music being played throughout the Ozarks.  Today it is estimated that up to 3,000 string players routinely drift into town to find a jam session.  The courthouse is ground zero for all this music and random jam sessions can pop up at any time.

To add to the fun, the town has put on a zany Bean Fest on the last Saturday of every October.  Going on it's 34th year, the Festival draws thousands into town and fills up all the hotels and motels.  Over a thousand pounds of pinto beans are cooked in large bean pots by contestants and served and judged at noon.  You can try as many bean recipes as you want (or dare) and follow it up with free cornbread.  At 1 p.m. there is a parade of mobile outhouses down main street, followed by the actual "Championship Outhouse Race" at 1:30.  Mountain music, of course, is never far away.

All set up and waiting for Saturday's crowds

The contestants take their roles seriously - well, sort of!

While the beans cook all morning, the jamming continues.

The Clark Family Trio was a favorite that played early at the courthouse.

Feeding the thousands beans and cornbread.

The bean cooking champion

Grandma was judged to have the best cornbread

After the thousands were fed beans and cornbread, the outhouse races began.

General Pee with the Poops of Hazard was an early favorite

Grandma was a poor loser

Outhouses powered by the football team were the eventual winners.

Migrating south through Missouri and Arkansas

Perfectly situated to intercept the Mississippi Flyway portion of migrating North American birds, the Riverlands Migratory Bird Sanctuary located just north of St Louis can be a very productive place for birders and bird photographers.  The Audubon Center Building in the sanctuary is worth a visit by itself.  I expected to see some early waterfowl and hopefully scanned open water as I drove into Missouri from Illinois.  Unfortunately the place seemed practically devoid of bird life.  The most activity was from Illinois drivers coming across the Clark Bridge to buy cheap Missouri gas.   A search of the sanctuary turned up 30 White Pelicans, some killdeer, geese, and three ducks too far away to identify.  The fact that the waterfowl numbers and bald eagle numbers will increase dramatically as winter approaches was no consolation.  I decided to switch gears and go after some non-migratory geological features.

Elephant Rocks State Park

It would take a lot of imagination (or alcohol) to confuse the pink granite boulders in Elephant State Park for pink elephants, but they sure are large enough.  Some reach 20 feet in height and weigh 600 tons. The granite, known as Missouri Red, was used to pave streets in the 1800's.  St. Louis used a lot of it and some of the streets still exist.  In the 1930's the demand for granite pavers disappeared and the quarry today produces mostly dimension stone for cemeteries.  The park, found near Pilot Knob, Missouri, has been set up with braille signs and a wheel chair trail around the larger rocks.  In fact the park has a little bit for everybody in the family. Climbing on the rocks is not prohibited so teens love to test their climbing skills while the history buff can check out the mining history of the area and check out the carvings left by the master stone cutters of the 1800's.

Blue Spring

Fourteen miles east of Eminence, Missouri, a rough unpaved road and a half mile hike will take you to the deepest and bluest spring in Missouri.  Pumping out between 80 and 90 million gallons per day from 300 feet in the ground the spring is well worth the effort.

Newton County, Arkansas

Leaving Missouri we headed for the Ozark Mountains of Arkansas.  Although the Ozarks do not reach the altitudes found in the Smoky Mountains,  the area around Newton County definitely has the same "feel" although without the crowds and billboards.  The motorcyclists who have found this area love the beautiful vistas and winding roads.  As a bonus it is the "elk capital" of Arkansas and early or late rides will often produce sights of them.

Elk in the early morning fog

Hiking is very popular in Newton County.  One of the most familiar images of Arkansas is Hawksbill Crag.

Edie finally loses her fear of heights.

Hawksbill requires a three mile hike after traveling 6 miles on a rutted dirt road with some very steep climbs.  It is possible to negotiate the road in a small car but your little car would not protest if you left it in the garage and took your high clearance four-wheel drive vehicle.

Only a matter of time

The hike to Pedestal Rocks is slightly over 2 miles

There is not much water in the system during the fall but even without the spring runoff there is still beauty in the falls.   These images were taken on the Eden Falls hike.

A great place to stay is the small town of Jasper located right in the middle of the county.  The Little Buffalo River runs through this small town of 500 which caters to the tourists.  It has several fine restaurants.  The Arkansas House Boardwalk Cafe is completely organic offering everything from wild razorback burgers to elk tenderloins.  If you want to step back in time and try great food at the same time try the Ozark Cafe.  This North Arkansas landmark was established in 1909 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.  It's walls are covered with old photos keeping the areas history alive.  It is a must stop when in the area but don't wait too long. While talking to some of the locals I found out the cafe is for sale.  Hopefully new owners will allow the cafe to survive for another 100 years.