ArkansasLife November2018

HOW TO TA K E WAYS TO GI V E ON T HE HUN T
T H A NK SGI V ING BACK TO T HE FOR W IL D-G A ME

TO-G O GR E AT OU T DOOR S W INE PA IR INGS
• B A R •
THESE ARE OUR
NONE
STATE’S FINEST
WATERING
HOLES—PAST,
PRESENT AND
FUTURE
One Eleven
at the Capital
p. 55
NATURALLY CURIOUS | November 2018 | VOLUME 11, NO. 3

NOVEMBER 2018 ii Arkansas Life NOVEMBER 2018 1 Arkansas Life
November
FEATURES
Cheers to One Eleven—that’s it on our cover,

46
and one of their drinks below—and to the O F AL L T H E
rest of our favorite Arkansas bars. G IN JO IN T S …
Photo and cover photo by arshia khan
You might think we’re
talking about Dickens,
what with all the spirits
past, present and future.
But no, fair reader, we’re
talking about the best
watering holes our state’s got
to offer. Pull up a stool—
we’ll fill you in
By Arkansas Life staff
Photography by Arshia Khan
60
D IG N IT Y VER SUS
D ESPAIR
For eight years during
the dark heart of the Great
Depression, Farm Security
Administration photogra-
phers scattered across the
nation to document those
people and places hit hardest.
Arkansas was no exception
Excerpted from It’s All Done Gone:
Arkansas Photographs from the Farm Security
Collection, 1935-1943 by Patsy Watkins
NOVEMBER 2018 2 Arkansas Life NOVEMBER 2018 3 Arkansas Life

November Editor’s Letter
VOLUME 11, NO. 3
19
Here location: the Lake Lodge
on Lake Hamilton (page 75).
It’ll be OK, I could’ve said. It’s

not that bad. We can make do!
But that’s not what I said: I
said friends don’t let friends
drink sub-par wine, and off I
went to the liquor store down A CRAFT COCKTAIL
the way to save the day. Life’s MENU INSPIRED
too short and all that. Because BY THIS ISSUE
some moments, shared among
84
friends (or among family, or
away from family, whatever
Moscow Muller
page 9
the case may be) are just bet-
ter with a good glass of wine, a
- finger of whiskey or a Negroni
Front Porch “When I come into Dispatches
on the rocks. Or, you know, a
cold beer.
Big Dam Car Bomb
page 20
9 FIVE THINGS FIRST

the den, the bears 28 Bearing up Arkansas’
FROM IZARD COUNTY
To each their own.
Martin Muller finds space
for his collection, a boy
are fully awake and ursine population In that, erm, spirit, we’ve Bacon Bloody Mary
finds himself, the written fully aware that rounded up a list of our favor-
ite Arkansas bars—past, pres-
Hold the Bacon,
page 26
word finds a canvas, a dream
finds a dreamland, and I’m there. They can Table ent and future—for those oc-
casions when you find yourself
a whole lotta ways to burn
some calories turn that torpor in a let’s-get-a-drink situation Gin and Bear It
20 BIG DAM PHOTO
Off-beat, off-road
off at a drop of a 69 It’s a Thanksgiving feast, and you
CRAVINGS
didn’t even have to cook!
(and we imagine there’ll be
plenty of those this most merry
page 28
hat—heart pump- 72 Are you game for some wild pairings?

CORK DORK
of seasons). Fancy a whiskey?
Head to Vault (page 52). Crav-
ing, breathing ing a caipirinha? You’ll want to Old-Fashioned Photo
Life/Style hard, and fly out of Venture snag a seat on the patio at La
Terraza (page 57). Don’t drink
page 60
A
Lake Hamilton in the sum- blanket, a dock, a
23 EYE SPY How to give there if they want mer? CRAZY. In the fall?
Pretty perfect, actually.
cloud-smudged sunset,
my beloved Oscar-the-
but love big-city views? You’ll
find plenty worth lingering
the mostest to your hostess,
Arkansas-style to. They just don’t 75 Gray skies? Pouring rain?
WISH YOU WERE HERE Grouch-green fleece and a glass
of wine—not half-bad, right?
over at the sky-high Agasi 7
(page 53). There’s a bar for ev-
Wish You Were Beer
page 75
CAPTURE ARKANSAS | JOEL THOMPSON; PHOTO BY BRYCE PARKER
At the lake? Sounds perfect.

26 WELLNESS You beta read want to.” 82 Giving a hand in the great wide open
AFIELD
Nope. Can’t say that it was. But ery barstool-dweller, with one
caveat: You won’t find sub-par
this about alpha-gal
page 28 it almost was—because roughly
84 CULTURALIST Survival skills and downhill thrills half an hour before our pho- swill among the bunch.
- Ozark Highlands Bramble
tographer, Arshia, snapped this
We’re friends, after all. page 82
photo, right before we started
88 ONE TAKE The good life dishing up bowls of her Texas
red chili, I uncorked a particu- Cheers, Feedback? We’d love to hear from you!
PHOTO BY ARSHIA KHAN
Email us at katie@arkansaslife.com, tweet us

larly off-putting bottle of wine,
@ArkansasLife or send us some snail mail to
the only bottle remaining of P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, AR, 72203.
those we’d brought along to POSTMASTER: Please send address changes to
this month’s Wish You Were address above.

Ark ans a s Lif e
NATURALLY CURIOUS
Contributors
EDITORIAL PATSY WATKINS

EDITOR KATIE BRIDGES
CREATIVE DIRECTOR EMMA DEVINE U of A journalism emeritus faculty and

author of It’s All Done Gone
SENIOR EDITOR JORDAN P. HICKEY
LETTER ROCK (excerpted on page 60)
“Maxine’s Tap Room in EBBBh ASSOCIATE EDITOR WYNDHAM WYETH
ARKANSAS
Fayetteville. I’ll likely opt for a PHOTOGRAPHER ARSHIA KHAN
How did you go about paring
well-crafted Manhattan, but COPY EDITOR KAREN LASKEY Enterprising font enthusiast down the photos?
all their cocktails are fantastic. CONTRIBUTING WRITERS “You can’t beat a skyline behind “The Writing’s on the Wall” I looked first at recurring
And there’s so much history in SETH ELI BARLOW
MARIAM MAKATSARIA view, so I’m headed to the (page 15) themes in the Arkansas
that place, you can practically JOHNNY photos and then at the quality
JOHNNY CARROL SAIN
PATSY WATKINS rooftop bar at Agasi 7 in
feel it in the air.” Favorite letter of the alphabet? CARROL SAIN of individual images. It took
Little Rock. And since I am Hard to beat a good sans-serif
—Wyndham Wyeth CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS
the lamest 30-year-old I quite a while!
DAVID DEDMAN capital A. It’s a strong opener Newton County-based writer who
LETTER ROCK ARKANSAS know, I’m probably drinking for the alphabet.
STEPHANIE PARSLEY wrote “State of the Bear” (page 28) Any one photo that has
one beer and then moving on
stuck with you?
ADVERTISING to water.” STEPHANIE PARSLEY So … You pressed your face Many of the images are so
SPECIAL SECTIONS MANAGER WENDY MILLER cBBBBBeee —Wendy Miller
into a bear’s side? compelling, it’s impossible
DIGITAL ADVERTISING DIRECTOR TREY LAMBERTH Little Rock-based photographer who I figured this would be my to pick just one.
ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE TWEEDIE MAYS shot this month’s One Take (page 88) only opportunity—ever.
ADVERTORIAL WRITERS How could I pass that up? One place you’d like to send
“Little Rock has so many great EEEBBBBBBBBBBD SARAH DECLERK We’ve heard you have chickens— FSA photographers in 2018?
LINDA GARNER-BUNCH
dives, but White Water Tavern CODY GRAVES do you have a favorite? Photographers today are good
is an Arkansas legend. I’ll be ADVERTORIAL DESIGNERS
Yes!! I have three silkie chick- at “showing America to Ameri-
drinking a local beer and listen- LEANNE HUNTER
MACIE LUMMUS
ens! Their names are Jess, cans.” We just really need to be
ing to some fantastic live music.” Judy and Karen! I really love better at seeing.
—Sarah DeClerk
ADVERTISING DESIGNER WESS DANIELS
HBBBBBBe “Picking a favorite is tough them all, but the one I connect
ADVERTISING PHOTOGRAPHER STACI VANDAGRIFF because I like several. But if I with the most is Karen. She’s
Arkansas Life is published 12 times yearly
have to choose, I’d say Fassler always the last one to catch on,
by Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Inc. Hall. Who doesn’t like German which is basically how I feel the
PUBLISHER WALTER E. HUSSMAN JR. beer and food? Plus, they have majority of the week.
PRESIDENT/GENERAL MANAGER LYNN HAMILTON bocce ball.” Favorite font?
V.P./ADVERTISING SCOTT STINE —Wess Daniels If I gotta pick one, I’m going Most inspiring place you’ve
with Alternate Gothic No.3. traveled to this year?
V.P./CIRCULATION LARRY GRAHAM
Sorry, Cooper Black. I’ve been to Italy and Telluride
NICHE PUBLICATIONS DIRECTOR STACI MILLER FRANKLIN
this year and both inspired me
“The Town Pump! My cocktail EEEBh RETAIL ADVERTISING DIRECTOR ASHLEY FRAZIER - Most unexpected place you’ve in completely different ways.
found typography in town?
of choice is Woodford and Coke
or beer. I’m a huge fan of bar
NICHE SALES DIRECTOR
M ARKETING & EVENTS DIRECTOR

SLOANE GRELEN
AMANDA COPLEY
We’re meet- A beautifully handwritten
Italy inspired me fashionwise,
and gave me a different per-
Was that your first
experience with bears?
food, too, so I can’t go there CIRCULATION MANAGER JOHN BURNETT ing you at ‘THIS SUX’ on a jail cell
wall that I’ll never forget.
spective on street-style fashion
photography and a new idea
I’ve shared the woods with
bears before, but this was
and not get the cheese sticks and
chicken fingers or the burger.” your favor- on how to incorporate archi- easily the most intimate
Thoughts on that parody account? tecture with the clothing. In encounter.
—Ashley Frazier
ite local bar. Masking their own emptiness Telluride, I didn’t worry about
Website: uapress.com/product/its-all-
done-gone
and self-hatred with cheap
121 East Capitol Ave., Little Rock, AR 72201
Where are humor. Also, it’s brilliant.
my fashion, material things,
life issues or inconveniences. I
How did that change your
perspective on them?
we going,
501.918.4505 | www.arkansaslife.com
felt so small there surrounded I’ve always admired and
For subscription inquiries, please call 501.918.4555
For advertising inquiries, please call 501.244.4334 Instagram: @letterrockarkansas by the mountains and I was respected bears. The
Price per issue: $4.95
and what’re only focused on taking all of admiration and respect
that in. has only deepened.
you having?
- Instagram: @stephanieparsley Facebook: American Pokeweed

9
FIVE THINGS FIRST
20
BIG DAM PHOTO
WHAT YOU’LL BE TALKING ABOUT THIS MONTH
FIVE THINGS FIRST
INDEPENDENT
VISION
The one-of-a-kind
eye of collector
Martin Muller
PHOTO OF MARTIN MULLER BY VIVIAN SACHS, COURTESY OF MODERNISM, INC.

FIVE THINGS FIRST
Independent Vision: Modern and Con-
temporary Art from the Martin Muller
Collection is on view at the Arkansas
Arts Center until Dec. 30. For more
info, visit arkansasartscenter.org.
wall that links them together:

INDEPENDENT VISION: MOD-
ERN AND CONTEMPORARY ART
FROM THE MARTIN MULLER
COLLECTION.
Walk into someone’s house,
and the objects held within will
give you an insight as to who
the person is: the books on the
shelf, the photos on the man-
tel, the dog-eared magazines
DAMIAN ELWES, BRITISH (LONDON, ENGLAND, 1960 – ), PICASSO’S PAINTING STUDIO IN CANNES, 2015, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 66 X 66 INCHES. IMAGE COURTESY OF MODERNISM INC., SAN FRANCISCO.
on the coffee table. If the same
MEL RAMOS, AMERICAN (SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA, 1935 - 2018), ODE TO MOE #1: OAKLAND, 1978-79, OIL ON CANVAS, 70 X 80 INCHES. IMAGE COURTESY OF MODERNISM INC., SAN FRANCISCO.
can be said of the art that a
person collects over a lifetime,
walking into Independent Vi-
sion has to make you wonder:
Who’s the person—this Mar-
tin Muller—at the center of all
of this? Who’s the person who
could convene so many inter-
national provocateurs in one so
very middle-of-America space?
T
he Henri Matisse litho- And why on earth is that
graph hangs next to the middle-of-America space this
cubist tea kettle which one?
hangs next to the Le Corbusier
S
collage. Across the way, the pri- pace. America,” says Martin, clad in the time, with a degree in 19th- This almost-6-foot-wide oil painting by California Pop artist Mel Ramos hangs
in Martin’s home in San Francisco. “I love the space,” he says. He also appreci-
mary hues in a blurred photo of a navy corduroy suit and his and 20th-century Russian lit-
ates the artist’s subtle mocking of his New York City-based contemporaries,
a streetscape echo the rainbow- That’s what Mar- trademark bow tie and gold- erature and a hunger for the
noting that many West Coast artists didn’t receive their due.
hued geometry in an enormous tin Muller remembers as his rimmed glasses, his European American experience. He was
David Simpson canvas, while first impression upon arriving accent still noticeable but soft- in Little Rock at the behest of
an almost life-sized nude by in Little Rock from Geneva, ened by four decades in Amer- a Swiss hotelier, Jacques Tréton Joplin’s music and talk about theater and the avant-garde.”
Mel Ramos holds court over a Switzerland, back in 1978, al- ica. “And my fascination to this (you may know his name as He also found a place at the Arkansas Arts Center—or, to be more
wall of Pop Art icons. There’s most 40 years to the day that day—each time I come, and I one half of Jacques & Suzanne, specific, in the center’s windowless library. A self-proclaimed biblio-
a Picasso etching over there, we find ourselves sitting in the come to Little Rock at least the French-accented restaurant phile, someone who is, as he says, “pathologically book-obsessed” (he
OF HEAD AND HEART next to Damian Elwes’ ren-
dering of the artist’s studio, all
Arkansas Arts Center’s lobby,
20 yards from where the crew
once, if not twice, a year—is
with the space. I remember ar-
that was the darling of the Lit-
tle Rock restaurant scene from
owns over 30,000 titles), Martin took refuge in the stacks, combing
through the latest editions of art periodicals for scholarship on art-
Mediterranean-blue moulding is putting the finishing touches riving and saying, Whoa, all this 1975 to 1986). Martin found a ists of the Russian avant-garde, which he’d grown fond of during his
A closer look at the Arkansas Arts Center’s and half-finished canvases and on the exhibition that bears his openness. No walls! To me, that warm welcome in Little Rock studies in Moscow.
paint smears on a herringbone name. was a reflection of the mental- and a place among what he “I loved the smell of that room,” he says of the place where he
Independent Vision: Modern and Contemporary Art
parquet floor. There are photo- “I had come many times to ity. It’s open—feel free. To me, calls a “quasi-salon” of folks— spent his off-duty hours during his year in Little Rock. “It might
from the Martin Muller Collection reveals a master graphs and comic-book covers, the United States, but primar- the important component of folks with names such as Fred be slightly off-color to some, but to me, for any book lover, there’s a
collector’s love of ideas—and of Little Rock realist canvases and gestural ily to New York, and sometimes that is how it reflects in people’s Poe and Paul Bash and André smell: books, humidity—it’s a library smell. There was pretty much
abstract works. All told, there San Francisco, Los Angeles, mentality—that’s the more Simon and Louis Petit, folks always nobody in that room. I was always alone.”
by katie bridges are 89 works spanning a cen- but I had never been to what interesting part of it. And I who enjoyed “libations served It might’ve been those afternoons in the library, it might’ve been
tury and several continents, we call in French l’Amerique picked up on that upon arrival.” and overserved and who would the friendship Martin struck up with the director of the Arts Cen-
but there’s one name on the profonde—the deep heartland He was in his early 20s at get on the piano and play Scott ter at that time, Townsend Wolfe, but whatever it was, Little Rock

FIVE THINGS FIRST
Martin credits Marcel Duchamp,

father of the Dada movement, as
one of the “grand fundamentals”
of his thinking, and therefore of
his collection.
SHAWN HUCKINS, AMERICAN (LACONIA, NEW HAMPSHIRE, 1984 – ), THE TRAPPERS’ RETURN: SO, NOW WHAT?, 2015, ACRYLIC ON CANVAS, 30 X 42 INCHES. IMAGE COURTESY OF MODERNISM INC., SAN FRANCISCO.
JULIAN WASSER, AMERICAN (1943 – ), DUCHAMP WITH WHEEL, 1963, GELATIN SILVER PRINT, 20 X 16 INCHES. IMAGE COURTESY OF MODERNISM INC., SAN FRANCISCO.
The youngest artist in the show, Shawn Huckins, 34, creates work that merges “You want to go and look?” that would lean toward spiri-
traditional figurative painting with digital culture. “I’ve just commissioned a
he asks. “Do you have time?” tuality, some that would lean
piece from Shawn that says WUUUURD,” laughs Martin, who collects art that
Do I ever. toward contemplation, some
plays with the idea of language.
that would lean toward humor,
“I
t’s my babies,” Mar- some that would lean toward
tin says, holding the sensuality, meaning there are
glass door open to kind of pockets within …”
was the place where Martin decided his future would be in the arts, the Townsend Wolfe Gallery. He pauses. “How about if I
somehow, some way. He just didn’t know how—as a scholar? A “Some people have babies. I let you look and ask, because I
dealer? He knew where, though, or at least where he’d start: San have artworks. It’s best to have don’t want to put you to sleep—
Francisco, where he had close family friends. A year and some ex- both, but my dad told me you I could go on for a month about
tremely fortuitous encounters later (namely with Prince Nikita and never have it all.” We step into each artwork.”
Princess Nina Lobanov-Rostovsky, a pair of wealthy Russian col- the exhibition’s anteroom, stop- I guess if they have some-
lectors), Martin’s gallery, Modernism, was born, and his first show ping beneath the wall text bear- thing particular, I start to say.
mounted: The Russian Avant-Garde (1910-1930). ing his name. “They all have something
“I had to put together a show, and there was a minor detail I “Well,” he says, clearly unsure particular.”
overlooked: the economics,” he says, laughing at his 20-something how to define his life’s work— As we walk into the exhibi-
naiveté. “How about the money? How about paying the bills? That or at least the small slice of his tion hall, passing a piece by
requires one to sell some artworks. But to who? All my friends in life’s work—laid out before us. Alexander Bogomazov on our
America were in Little Rock. So, what do I do? I start flying back to “First, I should say I have all the left, among others, he steers us,
Little Rock, and say”—and here, Martin does a Swiss-tinged South- medium: paintings, drawings, as if on autopilot, to a photo
ern impression—“Hey, y’all, you want some artworks?” prints, photography, sculpture, taken by Julian Wasser of Da-
And, truly, that’s where it starts. That’s where the man behind the very little sculpture. Then with- daist Marcel Duchamp. “Du-
89 works being hung in the gallery behind us—a small percentage of in this, there are different facets champ,” Martin says, some-
his 40-some-year collection, which numbers upward of 2,300 pieces which I cover: I cover art about what reverently. “He’s one of
by 600-some artists—found his footing in the art world. art, I cover art with political or the grand fundamentals of my
As he finishes bringing me up to speed, Martin notices me sneak- social issues, I collect art that is journey. I’m very partial to him
ing a peek over his shoulder at the gallery behind him. conceptual in nature, some art bringing about the fact that art

FIVE THINGS FIRST
Martin became close friends with
artist Mark Stock, who painted a
series of paintings Mark called “the
butlers in love,” which focuses on
the theme of unrequited love. “Mark
thought, How can I express love that
I cannot have?” And he thought the
butler, because the butler works for
the lady of the house, and you know,
ain’t gonna happen,” Martin says.
“He’s thinking about her, dream-
ing of her, but what, then? It’s very
intense.”
who buys with his eyes instead the envy of many museums for
of his ears, who collects with its quality and depth of hold-
his head and his heart. ings in Russian avant-garde
It makes sense, then, why, as art,” according to curator Brian
we tour the space, he’s quick to Lang says. It’s a symbiotic re-
KAZIMIR S. MALEVICH, RUSSIAN/UKRAINIAN (KIEV, UKRAINE, 1878 – 1935 ST. PETERSBURG, RUSSIA), STUDY FOR GUARDSMAN, 1913/14, GRAPHITE ON PAPER, 4 X 3 7/8 INCHES. IMAGE COURTESY OF MODERNISM INC., SAN FRANCISCO.
pass by the Picasso and the Le lationship—one that’s endured
Corbusiers, the Matisse and for 40 years.
the Hopper, preferring to linger
A
on a piece by Shawn Huck- n hour’s passed, and
MARK STOCK, AMERICAN (FRANKFURT, GERMANY, 1951 - 2014, OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA), THE BUTLER’S IN LOVE #25, 1987, OIL ON CANVAS, 56 X 48 INCHES. IMAGE COURTESY OF MODERNISM INC., SAN FRANCISCO.
ins—the youngest artist in the Martin’s still introduc-
show, one he says is “going to ing me to his babies
go places.” So, too, does it make when he’s told that he’s needed
sense why, back in 1982, he elsewhere, leaving a handful of
EDWARD RUSCHA, AMERICAN (OMAHA, NEBRASKA, 1937 – ), IF, 1991,LITHOGRAPH; NO. 38 OF EDITION: 50, 9 1/4 X 12 1/4 INCHES. IMAGE COURTESY OF MODERNISM INC., SAN FRANCISCO.
Another artist who plays with words and the meanings held therein, Ed Ruscha, mounted the first West Coast works unexplained. This dis-
a California artist, is one Martin has long championed, in both his gallery and in solo show of Andy Warhol’s comforts him, knowing that
his personal collection. silkscreens (and why only one some pieces will not receive
- nowadays is about ideas—that you find beauty in ideas, not just the
object, not just the pretty picture, but about how beautiful is what is
sold—to Martin Muller). And
it makes sense, ultimately, why
these works have found a home
their due. “That’s Samuel Beck-
ett over there,” he says quickly
as he walks toward the gallery
“I remember arriving and said, what is coming about.”
I follow him closely, the student to his teacher, reaping the ben-
at the Arkansas Arts Center,
if for only a while, at the place
doors, pointing to a black-and-
white photograph, “and that’s
saying, Whoa, all this efits of seeing these works, his babies, through his eyes. We walk
quickly past his Warhols, pausing instead in front of a wall-sized
canvas swathed in cotton-candy pink, fringed by palm trees. “Ah,
that in many ways opened the
door to each and every work on
these walls, and all the others
the surrealist poet Paul Éluard
photographed by Man Ray, and
oh, there’s a looong story on that
openness. No walls! To this one,” he says. “This is hanging at home. I love, love that painting.
It’s by Mel Ramos, who’s from California, and he’s kind of mock-
back home in San Francisco:
It’s a place in both his head and
one, but we don’t have time.
Next time?”
me, that was a reflection of ing New York—mocking the abstract expressionists. It’s tedious and
tight, where it’s supposed to be just very physical. And again, I just
love the space. I live with this painting. I love it.”
his heart.
And in return, Martin’s
played a role in shaping the
Next time, I nod, and as he
takes his leave, I cast one final
glance around the space, curi-
the mentality in Little Rock. My education continues as he points out a Robert Crumb draw-
ing here, a Diane Arbus print there, a Kazimir Malevich—the Rus-
Arkansas Arts Center into the
place that it is today. Of the
ous as to how my impression
will have shifted now that I
sian avant-garde artist who was his obsession 40 years ago as he artists on view in the show, I’ll know what I know about the
It’s open—feel free.” pored over journals in this very building—over there. “What you
see here is a suprematist painting, a school developed by Malevich,”
learn, 23 of them are repre-
sented in the permanent collec-
man who was but a name to me
before.
- he says, “and again, a recurring theme of space. You see this? Space.”
He says the word often, letting it roll off his tongue in a way that
tion, which is less a coincidence
and more of a product of those
And here’s the thing: Ev-
erything’s different. Looking
draws out the vowel sound, as if the word itself were a sigh, an ex- semiannual cigarette-fueled around, all I see is Martin:
hale, a letting go. An unburdening. tête-à-têtes between Martin Martin the Russian scholar,
It’s around the time that we get to the wall of Paris-themed and Townsend. I’ll also learn Martin the francophile, Mar-
works—“Paris, it’s my playground,” he tells me with a wink—that that the arts center has the larg- tin the aspiring pianist, Mar-
it starts to set in: Walking through the gallery with Martin, I realize est public collection of work tin the jokester, Martin the
his collection isn’t so much a mashup of disparate works as it is a me- by Ukrainian artist Alexander thinker. The Martin who could
thodical curation reflecting who this human is and what makes him Bogmazov—one of the artists never forget the place and the
tick. He’s an impassioned intellectual, one who’s moved not by art Martin has championed since people who knew him way back
that’s trendy—art that’ll “sell”—but by art that provokes a feeling. the early days of Modernism— when—the people who gave Kazimir Malevich—that’s one of his drawings above—is an artist central to
Art that makes you think. He is, as his dear friend Jonathan Keats of any U.S. museum, and that him the space to become who Martin’s primary scholarly interest: the Russian avant-garde. It was this move-
writes in the essay he penned for the exhibition catalog, someone the institution’s collection “is he is. ment that he was studying at the Arkansas Arts Center library back in 1978.

FIVE THINGS FIRST
Boy Erased, which boasts the heavy

star power of Nicole Kidman, Russell
Crowe and Lucas Hedges, starts
limited release on Nov. 2.
THE WRITING’S ON THE WALL

A mysterious Instagram account is preserving a
fading piece of Little Rock’s past, one post at a time
H
ere at Arkansas Life, we spend a lot of time thinking about
the printed word. From the typography used in our stories
to our nameplate on the cover, we’re constantly poring over
typefaces and fonts to find the best way of expressing the ideas found
in our pages. Basically, what we’re trying to say is … we dig type. So
when we came across an anonymous Instagram profile documenting
peeks of lettering across Little Rock in the form of neon signage,
hand-painted advertisements, graffiti and the like? Well, let’s just
say we were smitten.
“With the advancement of computers, signage and lettering have
really, on the whole, kind of gone down in my opinion,” @letter-
rockarkansas told us, speaking on the condition that we’d keep their
identity a secret. “So I like to sort of keep those things alive that we
actually still have in our city. There’s just something about it that’s
kind of mysterious—it has a charm about it that isn’t very prevalent
in more modern practices of signage and lettering and things like
that.”
You might drive by some of these gems every day, but can you
ABOUT A BOY identify the locations of @letterrockarkansas’ favorite finds from the
photos here? —ww
The film adaptation of Garrard Conley’s

Boy Erased leaves us in disbelief
I
t’s an Arkansas movie, but it’s not one we can be proud of. It’s not one that calls to mind the state’s
scenic beauty or much ballyhooed economic development. It’s a story about one of the lesser-known,
darkest corners of our region and our culture, physically and metaphorically, an underbelly many of
PHOTOS COURTSEY OF @LETTERROCKARKANSAS
us would prefer not to acknowledge, would prefer didn’t exist at all. But because it’s so entrenched in
our own backyard, grown wild and untrammeled under our noses, it’s something we have no uncertain
PHOTO COURTSEY OF BOY ERASED
obligation to claim as our own. Adapted from Garrard Conley’s best-selling memoir of the same name,
the film Boy Erased is one that contends with the intersection of faith and homosexuality, the collision
of which ends in a young man, the son of a Baptist preacher, being sent away for gay-conversion therapy.
Again, it’s a story we wish weren’t set here (in Mountain Home), and it’s one we’d prefer had been drawn
from a more distant past (and not the 21st century), but we don’t have a choice in the matter. After all,
it’s not fiction. It’s us. —jph

FIVE THINGS FIRST
(AKA LET’S BURN OFF

THOSE CASSEROLES!)
MAXIMUM EXERTION
Familiarize yourself with what’s made Arkansas the
darling of the mountain-biking world: the OZ Trails.
DREAMING A LITTLE Rent a rig at Phat Tire Bike Shop, and then pick
your poison—we’re partial to Slaughter Pen (there’s
TAKE IT OUTSIDE
something for everyone) and Coler Preserve (for its
DREAMLAND proximity to post-ride pizza and beer).
“Black Friday” sounds pretty bleak, but “Green Friday”? Hike the 2.8-mile Indian Rock House Trail near
Celebrating the history of the legendary That’s a faux holiday we can get behind. Here’s how to Yellville, which winds through a riparian forest
ballroom, one hundred years in the making spend your Day After Turkey Day in the great outdoors, before reaching Indian Rock House Cave, a prehis-
toric bluff dwelling. The elevation gain makes this
whether you’re feeling sluggish or sprightly one a challenge, but the scenery’s well worth it.
It was great once, it was grand once, it was a place second to
none. Drawing the likes of Ella Fitzgerald and Duke Ellington,
the Dreamland Ballroom, on the third floor of Taborian Hall Head east to Delta Heritage Trail State Park,
9 miles outside Helena, to pedal along the
at the corner of Ninth and State, from the time of its comple-
tree-shaded, 21-mile rails-to-trails gravel path.
tion in 1918, was a hub for African-American business and No wheels? No problem—you can rent bikes
culture. As the years wore on, however, and white flight opened at the park’s visitor’s center.
west Little Rock for development, the need for transportation
brought about I-630—and with it, the death rattles of the Ninth
Street business district. Now, as efforts proceed to restore the Spend some time exploring Garvan Woodland
Gardens before sunset (especially if you haven’t
building to its former glory—along with a nearly $500k African
yet seen the new tree house!), and then linger
American Civil Rights Grant—it has another shot at life. It can into the evening, when the holiday lights (all 4.5
be great, again. —jph million of them) start to twinkle.
Cast a line at the Red River Trout Dock in Heber

Springs, or book one of its guides for a full-day
fly-fishing outing at this world-class fishery.
Saddle up for a horse-drawn hayride at Rimrock

Cove Ranch outside Ponca. Your equine friends
will lead you through bluff-bordered woods and
across mountain-view meadows before stopping
for a hot dog and s’mores bonfire.
Pack a picnic lunch (that leftover turkey isn’t

gonna eat itself), and head up to Petit Jean State
Park. The CCC Overlook Pavilion is a great place
to park yourselves for sandwiches with a view.
2008.12.063, DORAMAE RICKS COLLECTION, MOSAIC TEMPLARS CULTURAL CENTER

Cruise along the Crowley’s Ridge Parkway,
which snakes through the St. Francis National
Forest’s upland hardwoods. If you travel the park-
way’s full 198 miles, you’ll pass by seven state
parks—we’d recommend stretching your legs on
the easy-breezy, quarter-mile Arboretum Trail at
Village Creek State Park.
MINIMUM EXERTION
CAPTURE ARKASNAS | NIKKI MORROW
To celebrate their centennial, the (AKA I’M STILL FEELING

Friends of Dreamland are hosting
Dancing into Dreamland on Nov. 2.
THAT TRYPTOPHAN)
Tickets and more information can
be found at dreamlandballroom.org/
dancing.

BIG DAM PHOTO
ROADSIDE
ATTRACTION
Photography by David Dedman
Surprisingly, they didn’t notice it the

first time around, driving up Arkansas
Highway 103 north of Clarksville for
a day of waterfall hunting. But on the
return trip home, it stuck out like—well
—a flying station wagon. “I just looked
up, and there’s this car,” says Pine Bluff-
based photographer David Dedman. “I
had to pull over. Just jumped out and
took a few pictures of it.”
You might be thinking, How did it get
up there? or How long has it been there?
or simply Why? But David? He wasn’t
exactly taken aback, which might have
something to do with his weekend pho-
tography forays. For years now, David
and his wife, Amber, have been traveling
the back roads of Arkansas, sometimes
putting in 400 miles over the course of
a single day in search of waterfalls and
mountain vistas. And along the way,
they’ve seen some sights.
“I’ve run across, in another part of
Arkansas, just driving down the road,
and there’s a man who has commer-
cial jetliners in his yard,” David says.
“You know, it’s Arkansas, back roads
of Arkansas. Nothing shocking any-
more.” —ww

l
23
EYE SPY
26
LIVING WELL IN THE NATURAL STATE WELLNESS
EYE SPY
IT’S NOT CALLED

THANKSGIVING
FOR NOTHING
This is the South, y’all—we don’t
show up empty-handed. Here,
a guide to hostess gifts with
hometown flair
By Katie Bridges

EYE SPY
1. 6.
2. 5.
7.
3.
4. 8.
FOR YOUR COUSIN, WHO STARTS FOR YOUR SISTER WITH FOR YOUR ARTSY NEIGHBOR FOR THE FAMILY MATRIARCH FOR YOUR BESTIE FOR THE CONSUMMATE CHEF FOR YOUR BEATLES-LOVING FOR THE ONE WHO
DECORATING FOR CHRISTMAS A SWEET TOOTH 3. A teensy, 22-karat-gold-kissed 4. A Gingiber print celebrating 5. A Little Rock-made scrub that 6. An indigo herringbone BROTHER HAS EVERYTHING
porcelain dish by Russellville home. ($24; gingiber.com) smells as good as it feels, by half apron with leather ties,
ON HALLOWEEN 2. A bean-to-bar chocolate treat, ceramicist Amber E. Lea. ($35; Kind Folke. ($18; kindfolke.com) handcrafted by American Native 7. A Soundscape Studio print 8. A soy candle hand-poured in
handmade at Bentonville’s amberelea.com) Goods in Fayetteville. ($115; that turns his favorite tune into a Northwest Arkansas by Little
1. A screen-printed reindeer version of Willy Wonka: Markham work of art. ($55; soundscapeart. Bison Co. ($18; littlebisonco.com)
americannativegoods.com)
pillow by Fayetteville artist Stacie & Fitz. ($8.50; markhamandfitz. com)
Bloomfield, aka Gingiber. ($20; com)
gingiber.com)

impossible to tell what the real numbers are since doctors are not catering business with her wife, gal with alpha-gal” and jokingly
obligated to report the number of alpha-gal allergy patients who it was tough lifestyle change to began throwing it around,
walk through their doors. It’s not a new thing, necessarily—it’s just get used to. On the phone, she often using it as a hashtag
become far more visible of late. waxes poetic about cheese dip on social media when she’d
Alpha-gal is the more common name for galactose-alpha-1,3- and recalls the last time she stumble across a restaurant
galactose, a sugar that coats proteins produced by most mammals, dipped into a bowl full of it at with particularly good service
WELLNESS H Leah Spears-
Blackmon, right
save for apes, some monkeys and humans. When a tick bites a human a Little Rock restaurant and or a delicious alpha-gal friendly
and introduces alpha-gal into their bloodstream, the body’s immune noticed how it aggravated the (read: dairy-free) cheese. The
GUT (shown here with her
wife, Micah), knows system responds by pumping out antibodies that work to put up a rash on the back of her neck. catchphrase ultimately became
REACTION
a thing or two about fight. (Researchers hypothesize that Lone Star ticks have a specific “Not a lot of people know the title of her blog, which
how to live your best enzyme in their saliva which prompts the body to think of alpha-gal about [alpha-gal],” she says. she kicked off last month at
life while dealing as a threat.) In a way, the body develops an allergic immune response “If you said to a server in a her friends’ bidding, after they
with a food allergy.
that is triggered every time it encounters and recognizes the antigen restaurant that you have alpha- pointed out the lack of a one-
The gal behind “A Follow her journey at
(in this case, the alpha-gal in meat). gal, they’d be like, Wait, what? stop-shop resource for folks
Gal with Alpha-Gal” agalwithalphagal.com.
The reactions vary from person to person, which is why alpha- It’s kind of a funny term. I navigating a life with alpha-gal.
on life after her gal syndrome is so hard to diagnose. Not to mention, the allergic have told servers in different Through her posts, Leah plans
diagnosis reaction is often delayed, with symptoms showing up several hours situations, Listen, I carry an to share her experience with the
after exposure. Symptoms include, but are not limited to, hives, stuffy EpiPen. I do feel like I have to allergy, as well as research and a
By Mariam Makatsaria
or runny nose, headaches, nausea and gastrointestinal distress. But be careful and really express the slew of recipes.
things could also take a more serious and life-threatening turn, like severity of it. With peanut and “I’ll tell you this—the point
TICKED OFF needing to be whisked off to the ER due to anaphylaxis. shellfish and things like that, of A Gal with Alpha-gal is to find
The treatment? It’s a matter of completely eliminating mammal typically the reaction is within the positive, because if you don’t,
A bite from any tick, not meat, which might seem like a clear-cut solution at first. But for a few moments. With alpha-gal, you can get really discouraged,”
those who are severely allergic, this not only means letting go of I could be long gone from that she says. “Removing dairy is
just the Lone Star variety, steak dinners, but also less obvious things like certain toothpastes restaurant, in home and in my something that’s really difficult.
can be quite problematic, as and lotions. Even some flu vaccines contain pork-based gelatin, bed, waking up with a severe It’s a filler ingredient. But I’ll
ticks are known to transfer which can trigger an allergic reaction. Although there’s no cure, reaction. It’s not anything that tell you what, my gut feels
a slew of gnarly diseases. symptoms can lessen or disappear altogether over time, so long as they ever see, so it’s different.” better. I’ve experienced so
Prevention is always the best patients are not exposed to another tick bite. Over the holidays this past much relief. There’s the silver
medicine. Here are a few tips For Leah, whose cuisine of choice is Mexican and who runs a year, Leah coined the phrase “a lining.”
W
hen Leah Spears-Blackmon woke up on Sept. 3, 2017, and helping of cheese. That clinched to keep yourself protected
turned to her wife, Micah, she tried to speak but couldn’t. it for Dr. Greg. After the call, from ticks when heading out
They’d just spent a fun Labor Day weekend celebrating Leah took doses of Benadryl,
Micah’s birthday and were staying with a few close friends and Zantac and Prednisone, and
for a weekend in nature:
family at a cabin near Beaver Lake. But today, something was wrong. when the blast of medication -Wear a long-sleeved shirt and
Really wrong. She saw it on Micah’s face, and felt it on her own kicked in that evening, she felt pants when hiking and camping
when she reached out and touched her lips with her hand.“What in somewhat normal again. in wooded areas, and tuck your
the world?” she thought. Her lips were swollen, her lower lip jutting The lab work confirmed the pant legs into your socks.
out as far as the tip of her nose. When she opened her mouth, she diagnosis. For someone like
-Look for clothing with insect-
felt a throbbing pain, something akin to getting hit straight in the Leah—someone who’s never protection technology, like
face with a softball. She sprang from bed to check her reflection in suffered so much as heartburn BugsAway. These products
the bathroom mirror. after a tear-jerkingly spicy meal, feature a built-in insect repellent,
“I was horrified,” she says now, recalling the moment over the much less been allergic to any which works well to keep ticks—
and mosquitos!—away from your
phone—a little over a year after the incident. “It was scary. My lip ingredient—the news seemed
body.
was stretched so tight it was starting to hurt.” out of the blue. But the thing
When she looked at herself, she noticed some puffiness around worth noting about alpha-gal is -Opt for light-colored clothing so
her eyes as well and a nagging rash on her neck. But Leah was no that it is out of the blue, brought you can spot ticks before they
stranger to mystery rashes and odd swellings. There was that one time on by the bite of a pesky little make their way to your skin.
at a wedding, back in June 2017, when her tongue was so swollen tick called the “Lone Star” tick,
-When hiking, stick to the center
she couldn’t even clamp her teeth without biting the sides of her named for the white dot found of the trail and away from grassy,
mouth. And then a few months later, one of her eyes ballooned on the backs of females. brushy or wooded areas where
to the point that she could barely even open it. She blamed it on ticks like to lurk.
I
seasonal allergies and bad mascara. But this time around, it was n the U.S., Lone Star ticks
too severe to be something so run-of-the-mill. She was stumped. are mostly found in the -From time to time, check
yourself—or better yet, have
One of Leah’s friends called a doctor, Dr. Greg Kresse. Luckily, southeastern and eastern
a friend check you—for ticks.
Dr. Greg had a hunch: alpha-gal syndrome, a type of food allergy parts of the country. According Don’t forget often-missed areas
that causes swelling, hives and rashes after consuming mammalian to the Arkansas Department like behind the knees, elbows,
meat (and sometimes its byproducts). In other words, symptoms of Health, reported alpha-gal armpits, ears and neck. Ticks
much like Leah’s. allergy cases are 32 percent like to hunker down in warm
PHOTO BY MANDY KEENER
areas of the body.

The doctor asked what she’d eaten. “Nothing,” Leah said. She higher in the southern United
hadn’t even had breakfast yet. Dr. Greg doubled back. Well, what States than other parts of the -If you bring your pets along for
about yesterday? Leah mentioned the pizza she’d had at Micah’s country. But, as mentioned on the hike, make sure to inspect
birthday—a meat-lover’s concoction of pork, beef and a heaping the department’s website, it’s them as well.

DISPATCHES
aren’t aroused by outside stimuli and will even sleep through being
touched and handled. Bears, on the other hand, go into a shallow
state of torpor driven by ambient temperature and food availability.
Their metabolism slows—they can and do survive for months
without eating—but their body temperature drops only about 10
degrees. And they’re often awake. “When I come to the den, they
are fully awake and fully aware that I’m there,” Allen says. “They can
turn that torpor off at the drop of a hat—heart pumping, breathing
hard, and fly out of there if they want to. They just don’t want to.”
So denning bears need a relaxing sedative before an up-close visit
from the friendly bear biologist.
“I don’t want to crawl into a den and get my face slapped,” Allen
says.
On warmer winter days in Arkansas, days like today, male black
bears, known as boars, and sows with older cubs may venture out of
the den, nibble on any available goodies and stretch out on a warm
rock to soak up some rays. But Mariah is a sow with two young cubs
(twins are the norm for black bears) that were born only a few weeks
ago in mid-January. She’ll be in the den, drowsy and slumbering
through April and maybe into May. Her cubs are growing incredibly
fast, thanks to her rich, fatty milk, but they won’t be big enough to
follow her over the ridges for several more weeks.
Though taxonomically in the order Carnivora, black bears (Ursus
americanus) are omnivores, which means they’ll eat just about
anything. Arkansas black bears rely largely on mast—soft mast
such as berries and other fruit in spring and summer, hard mast like
acorns and hickory nuts in fall and winter—to survive, while most
of a bear’s animal protein comes from insects. Do bears sometimes
act as predators in Arkansas? “Yeah, but for the most part, our bears
aren’t going to exert the energy to chase down and kill something,”
DISPATCH FROM IZARD COUNTY
is to keep from sticking myself,” Allen says, carefully loading the Allen says, “not when they can roll a rock or tear up a stump and
syringe dart, which sports a 2-inch needle, into the dart gun. “That’s get all the protein they want.” Bears will also occasionally predate
State of the Bear my method.” As for sticking bears, it’s all about dart placement and livestock, he says, but only during stressful times—years of poor
needle length. Bears have a thick layer of fat and tough hide, so the mast production or drought.
needle must punch through and embed in muscle tissue rich with With the dart ready, Allen creeps up the hill, gun in hand, and
blood vessels in order to transport an immobilizing agent to the
nervous system. “If you dart them in fat, it will take longer,” Allen
Ursines of growth in
the Arkansas backwoods
says, “or they may not even go out.”
“What’s the test for when they’re out?” I ask.
-
story and photography By Johnny Carrol Sain
“They don’t move,” Allen says with a casual dryness. “I’m going to
dart her, then back off for five or 10 minutes. This is the first time Arkansas is now home to more
I’ve used this mixture, so I don’t know exactly what it does.”
than 5,000 black bears.
T
here’s spring in the morning air, but the visuals all say Wait … WHAT? “I don’t know exactly what it does” aren’t words
winter. Leafless limbs stretch for soft, white February sunlight. you want to hear when discussing the sedation of a 200-pound bear
Pines and cedars, along with gray-green lichen encrusted on
timeless Ozark boulders, offer the only signs of photosynthesis in
only 50 yards away. A bear can cover that distance in three seconds.
I need to know exactly what it does.
“[Other bear biologists] have been using this stuff for a few years
This is considered the most
action. The forest is bright but dormant. And just 50 yards uphill, a
mostly dormant female bear, called a sow, is denning with her cubs.
We’re on a steep and stony ridgeside somewhere in Izard County’s
now,” Allen says reassuringly. He tells me a bear exhibits some tell-
tale signs when the drugs kick in: Their heads will drop, and they’ll
successful reintroduction of a
Sylamore Wildlife Management Area. Arkansas Game and Fish
Commission biologist Allen Cathey and AGFC technician Adam
Green are preparing a cocktail of sedatives to ensure that bear
start licking and blinking their eyes. The bear won’t be completely
knocked out; they can still see, hear, feel and smell. They’re just
immobilized. “It’s safer for the bear than putting them completely
large carnivore in history—not
F288—better known to Allen as Mariah—goes into an even more
dormant state. Mariah, who has been collared for seven years, was
under,” Allen says.
You may think a hibernating bear wouldn’t need to be sedated,
in the history of Arkansas or
named after the daughter of one of Allen’s former technicians.
Assigning a number is the most efficient way to organize data on
the 50 to 60 denning sows the AGFC checks in on every winter,
that it would be dead to the world, oblivious to any and everything
as it sleeps through winter. You’d be wrong. There’s a lively discussion
among scientists about whether bears, the star of every kid’s nature
even the U.S., but anywhere
but it’s also a clinical one—and that doesn’t jibe with the intimacy
required of fieldwork. Bearded, broad, baritone-voiced Allen, a 12-
book about hibernation, even really hibernate.
Hibernation is an extended and deep state of torpor induced
in the world.
year veteran with the AGFC, doesn’t seem the sentimental type, but
then he says this: “Most of [the bears] are named after someone who
by hormone changes related to reduced hours of daylight. For
true mammalian hibernators, such as ground squirrels, metabolism
bottoms out. Their body temperatures drop and hover just above the
-
means something to us. “I’ve named one after my grandmother.”
I ask about the method involved in darting an animal. “First thing freezing mark on the most frigid nights. Animals in hibernation

DISPATCHES
and even hair gel. Fetching up to $1 per gallon in 1834 ($29.32 driven away immediately to prevent inbreeding and to prevent
with 2018 inflation), thousands of barrels of Arkansas bear oil were competition among the young males. After the cubs have moved on
shipped to New Orleans through the 1800s. Oil Trough, Arkansas, to their own lives, the sow cycles again, breeds again, and hopefully,
in Independence County, got its name from commercial hunters two new cubs will be born in her winter den.
storing bear grease in troughs made from hollowed logs and readied “If they make it to yearlings, they more than likely make it into
for shipment down the White River. “Not a lot of people know that,” our population,” Allen says. “That doesn’t tell us that we know we
Allen says, but Allen knows. He’s from Oil Trough. have 5,353 bears in our state. It lets us know that reproduction is
It wasn’t just the commercial hunting, though. As wilderness fell to going on like it should.”
the ax and plow, rapidly changing land practices in Arkansas altered In some years, nothing is going on. A 2009 ice storm, for example,
and often destroyed habitat. All in all, it was a lethal combination shut down a lot of bear reproduction in the Ozarks. “What we
for what was once a booming population of bruins. By 1927, when saw that year was that bears that should have had cubs didn’t have
the AGFC officially ended hunting season for bears, it was almost anything,” Allen says. “Bears that should have had yearlings had
too late. By 1942, only an estimated 40 or 50 had survived, mostly cubs again because the yearlings didn’t survive. And when we keep
found in the vast, swampy hardwoods of the lower White River hunting them like we do in years like that, we could put ourselves
bottoms with a very few others scattered here and there through in a hole real quick.”
the Ouachita and Ozark highlands. Overall, the Arkansas bear population is growing, albeit slowly,
At this lowest point, two key political developments likely saved with bears spreading into areas where they haven’t been seen in
black bears in Arkansas. One was the Federal Aid in Wildlife decades. It’s a bittersweet development. All the work by the AGFC
Restoration Act of 1937. More commonly known as the Pittman- has produced exactly the desired results, but it also means the
peeks into the den, which is really nothing more than a stony lean-to. Robertson Act, it created a tax on guns and other hunting equipment bear population has run up against really the only barricade to its
Mariah and her cubs are literally denning under a rock. It’s just a big earmarked for wildlife and habitat management. The second, growth: people.
flat stone, probably 10 feet by about 15 feet, resting at a 45-degree Arkansas Constitutional Amendment 35, came along in 1944. It “We could support double, triple, quadruple the amount of bears
angle against a boulder. On another trip with Allen a few weeks created autonomy for the AGFC, allowing the agency to manage with the habitat we have,” Allen says. “People are the limiting factor.
ago, we found a sow and cubs under a root wad. In eastern Arkansas, wildlife independent from legislative oversight and to use revenue The more bears we have, the more their territory will expand into
where flooding is an issue, most bears will den high in a hollow tree. generated from license sales for regulation and management. It’s more urban areas, and then more people are moving into rural areas.”
In the Ouachitas, they just dig out a hole in the side of the hill. entirely possible that without these two groundbreaking conservation It’s a recipe for conflict. Just this summer, a sow and cubs moved
Most Arkansas bears take their winter naps in unassuming places. measures, Arkansas would be bearless today. into a rural neighborhood near my hometown. All was well until the
I wonder how many I’ve walked past, oblivious, on winter hikes. Records are shady on details of the first bear translocations to sow decided to help herself to some pigs. She evaded AGFC traps
After surveying the scene, Allen steadies the compressed-CO2- Arkansas. There was no public input, and publicity was limited by but was ultimately destroyed by the pigs’ owner. It’s a story that’s
powered pistol, which looks not unlike a paintball gun, takes aim design. This was, after all, only a generation or two removed from a been retold over and over ever since the dawn of animal agriculture.
through a holographic sight and pulls the trigger. Response from time when Arkansas was the Wild West, and the only good varmint Large predators and livestock don’t often mix. Figuring out the
the den is silence. Allen watches for a minute or so, then quietly was a dead varmint. But letters on file at the AGFC show that the
walks back down to us. And we wait. first four translocated bears were released in Arkansas in 1949—two
Allen says the gold standard for knowing when you can enter a in Stone County and two in Franklin County. Though one of the
sow’s den is hungry kids. “When you start hearing those cubs squall Stone County transplants was promptly shot, documents indicate
is the best indication,” he says. The sedative stops secretion of body that there were other bears present in the area and that sightings
fluids, including lactation. And sure enough, about 10 minutes after peppered the Ozarks through the early 1950s. In 1958, the AGFC
darting Mariah, the sound of impatient youngsters reaches our ears. made a bold (and also hidden-from-the-public) move by trucking
That sound, though frequent around these parts these days, 40 Minnesota bears to their new home in the northwest quarter of
wasn’t always so commonplace. Mariah’s cubs, born weighing 12 Arkansas. More bears were released in the Ozarks and Ouachitas
ounces and measuring 8 inches long, will be a continuation of during the summers of 1962 and ’68, with some from Minnesota
an incredible conservation story. But like all conservation success and some from Manitoba.
stories, a conservation tragedy preceded it. Best estimates are that a total of 254 black bears came to Arkansas
from the North, and those bears prospered. Within just a few
T
here was a time when black-bear numbers in Arkansas were decades, the population had grown to the point that the AGFC
considered incalculable and inexhaustible. Before Arkansas reinstated bear season in 1980. Allen says Arkansas is now home to
became The Natural State, before it was the Land of more than 5,000 black bears. This is considered the most successful
Opportunity, the Wonder State, the Bowie State and the Toothpick reintroduction of a large carnivore in history—not in the history of
State (those last two nicknames refer to the fearsome knives common Arkansas or even the U.S., but anywhere in the world.
during a rougher time in our state’s history), the state’s unofficial Bear management must be closely monitored because bears
nickname in the 1800s reflected a wilder character: the Bear State. reproduce only every other year. To track bear numbers, the AGFC
As a backwoodsman in Thomas Bangs Thorpes’ 1841 tall-tale “The tries to keep 50 to 60 sows collared statewide for den research. Adult
Big Bear of Arkansas” said, black bears were “about as plenty as sows are trapped in summer and marked with ear tags and tattoos,
blackberries, and a little plentifuller.” and a tooth is pulled for aging. Biologists note whether the sow has
No one has a number for bears in those days, but legend speaks yearlings (cubs born the year prior) or cubs, or is on her own, and
of a legion of outsized brutes. Native Americans hunted bears for then she’s fitted with a radio collar.
food, clothing and for the ornamental and ceremonial use of their When biologists visit the sow’s den in winter, they’re looking for
claws and teeth. Euro-American settlers in Arkansas saw the bears cubs. If the sow has yearlings, biologists just need to know if the
as a vital component of survival and the frontier economy. Bear meat, cubs survived. “She’s taught them all summer how to live, find food,
including bear bacon, was a staple, and bear skins were valued for water, how to be little bears,” Allen says. “Then she’ll den with them
durability. But the top prize from Arkansas wildlands was bear oil. again the next winter.” When the cubs emerge during that second This ad paid for with
state and private regional
Rendered from bear fat, bear oil had a longer shelf life than butter spring, the sow sends them on their way. Sometimes female cubs association funds
and a multitude of uses, including fuel for lamps, insect repellent will stay with their mother for a while, but young boars are always

DISPATCHES
delicate balance between bears and people than a decade.
promises to be one of the bigger challenges Mariah is 9 years old, weighs 225 pounds
for the AGFC going forward. and exhibits some of those Northern genetics
in her cinnamon coat. She rests peacefully
M
ore help arrives at the den throughout the research, mostly untouched
site in the form of A.J. Riggs, by Allen and his help. From time to time,
AGFC biologist supervisor, and Allen crawls into the den to check on her.
a couple other assistants. Allen is under “I’m in there hugging up on bears quite a
the rock, gently administering drops to bit, sticking them with needles, taking their
Mariah’s eyes and covering them with cubs out, but they’re more than just research
Band-Aids because the sedative mixture animals,” he says. “Having some passion in
stops tear production. He then lifts her what you do means more than anything.”
muzzle, ensuring that she doesn’t inhale The line between professional and personal
any dirt. I crawl around the den’s edge, blurs a little, but maybe that’s the hallmark
scrounging for a good camera angle, and of a well-chosen career.
discover that Mariah’s body heat has made The fuzzy little beasts are weighed while
the den a toasty little haven for her cubs. resting in a potato sack. Paws and heads are
Allen says it’s a sustained 80- to 90-degree measured and numbers recorded with only
environment, which is why we wrap the a few bawling squalls punctuating the soft
cubs in blankets as they blink hard in the scratching of pencils and whispered dialogue.
bright sunbeams and cool winter air, their And then each member of the crew enjoys a
first look at and feel of a world beyond few brief moments of pure bliss with a bear
their den. cub nestled against their chest. Call it a perk
Before he weighs them, Allen says most of the job.
cubs weigh between 5 and 6 pounds. But As things wind down and before Allen
Mariah’s cubs come in a little lighter than administers oxytocin to Mariah to get that
expected. The male cub weighs 4 pounds milk flowing again and satiate the hungry
even, and the female weighs 3 pounds and cubs, I ask if I can crawl in there with her
12 ounces.With their sky-blue eyes, shiny for a bit. Allen nods.
coats and looks of endearing bewilderment, And so I do, cautiously. It’s not anxiety
the cubs remind me of 4-week-old puppies. I’m feeling. I’m not worried about Mariah
And like 4-week-old puppies, the cubs’ coming to, her snarling muzzle and claws
charms prove irresistible. Before you know turned on me like so many folks envision
it, I’m holding the swaddled twins and any encounter with a bear to be. It’s more of
grinning like a fool, trying my damnedest a warm buzzing anticipation.
to fight an urge to snuggle them up to my I’m going to touch a wild bear in her den.
cheeks. Allen says it’s a normal impulse. Actually, I do more than that. I crawl closer
Those cute cubs will grow into large and run my fingers along her skull to the
and intimidating animals. Adult black tip of her rubbery dry nose and back to her
bears range from 4 to over 6 feet long rounded ears. I bury my nose in her shaggy
from nose to rump and measure 35 to reddish fur, inhaling deeply of a pleasant
48 inches at the shoulder when standing scent that smells a little like my dog, a little
on all fours (big males can be 6 feet tall like the mountains and a lot like something
when standing erect). Arkansas black unknowable, ineffable and wild.
bears, with their Northern genetics and I leave Mariah after a long rub of her head
Southern easy living, are among the largest and wish her luck for the coming year with
in the nation, but their weights can vary the cubs, with the acorns and with the grubs.
considerably over the course of a year based I tell her I’m glad they’re back, here in The
on food availability—males can exceed 600 Natural State, that we’re a richer, better place
pounds but typically range from 130 to because of it. These hills belonged to her kind
300 pounds, and adult females clock in at before my ancestors walked upright. Finding
100 to 200 pounds. The boars will roam a way to share the hills with Mariah, her
far and wide searching for food, often offspring and the generations to come seems
with a territory of up to 50 square miles. the least that we can do.
Sows tend to live on about half that range
and sometimes less. “If a female has good
water, mast, denning and refuge habitat,”
Allen says, “she may never leave a certain
drainage.” Writer Johnny Carrol Sain is from the River
And they’ll be roaming the land for Valley/southern Ozarks of Arkansas. He hunts,
a while. Black bears in captivity have fishes and wanders the hills and creeks with
survived for 25 to 30 years. Here in the camera in hand, and bear hugs are his new
wild, the cubs will probably live for more favorite thing.

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◜ O F A L L THE ◝
Gin Joints,
I N A L L T HE
Towns,
I N A L L T HE
World...
… we’re happy that these 26
bars—past, present and future—
PHOTO COURTESY OF BELLA VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
◟ belong to us Arkansans
◞
THE PAST ARKANSAS BARS
seeing how long they could sit perched in a stand of trees outside a
cave. For this bout of last man standing, a physician came by daily IT COULD BE bar, a bandstand with room
for up to 16 musicians, and a
Notes from the

with a ladder, checking the participants so they wouldn’t have to wooden dance floor, effectively
vacate their places for a checkup. This went on for some 212 hours,
just shy of nine presumably sweltering, assuredly miserable days in
RAUCOUS, transforming the sprawling,
miles-long cave into something
early August, with the last three boys eventually agreeing to call it
quits and split the $100 prize.
AND IT COULD that would have been previously
all but unfathomable.
The other story, however, was considerably more interesting—and
destined to have much more far-reaching implications for the area. BE ELEGANT. By all accounts, Wonderland
was an eclectic place in those
Underground
On April 6, 1930, sharing page 39 of the Gazette with “Arkansan early years. Officially, frosted
Received Confederate Patent” and “Sam Houston Was Familiar IT WAS A grape juices and tonics were
Figure in North Arkansas,” just below the fold, there was an article served alongside chop suey.
headlined “Bella Vista’s Unique Cave Cabaret.”
“An improved and modernized replica of a famous Paris ‘caveau’
PLACE WHERE (Editor’s note: The Southern
Foodways Alliance has a
will be opened this season at Bella Vista, the largest resort of the
Ozarks,” the story began. It went on to say that during the fall of
PEOPLE FOUND wonderful podcast all about
this.) Unofficially—mind you,
1929, just as the nation’s economy was screeching to a halt, a local
businessman, C.A. Linebarger, had taken a trip to Europe with his THEIR LIFE this was during Prohibition—
there might’ve been a few folks
wife. While there, he’d been inspired by that Parisian nightclub and carrying flasks and doing their
had decided to attempt something similar, albeit with the process
reversed: Rather than making a nightclub look like a cave, he’d make
PARTNERS AND share of tippling. Legislators
f rom the Arkansas House
HURLED THEIR
Reflecting on Wonderland,
a cave look like a nightclub. and Senate convened there
Late that year, and on into the spring of 1930, C.A. and his during a special session in
similarly monikered brothers C.C. and F.W.—who’d spent the past
13 years developing a resort on their 200-acre property in modern- EMPTIES INTO the summer of 1931 (though
apparently not without the
Bella Vista’s nightclub in a cave THE DARK.

day Bella Vista—developed the nightclub, installing electric lights weather interfering—one
along walks and stairways, Chinese lanterns, a 30-foot marble newspaper account mentions
that a morning meeting had
to be pushed back a few hours
after heavy rains made the
cave inaccessible to autos). It
B Y J O R DA N P. H I C K E Y was always between 60 and
62 degrees. There were dances
from midnight until 3 a.m. It
was dank in the way that all
caves are, an issue that led to the
T
wooden floors buckling and the
HIS IS AN ODE to a bar we’ve never known. Not one decision to use poured concrete
we’ve lost, not a long-ago bar from our high school instead. It could be raucous, and
or college days that would serve cold cans of beer, it could be elegant. It was a
physically and metaphorically under the table—not even one that place where people found their
our parents are old enough to have known (at least in the bar’s life partners and hurled their
heyday). In a sense, it’s a bar that we miss the idea of. It’s a place empties into the dark.
whose particulars we can only imagine—its atmosphere, the chatter For all those reasons, it can be
of those who made the descent into its depths, again, physically a little tough to gauge exactly
and metaphorically—placing us among the very many who wish what the vibe might’ve been like.
they could’ve been around for its tenure. More than anything, it’s a And likewise, as the years have
bar that lives up to its name: It is and was a Wonderland, for those gone by and the cave’s legend
who knew it and those of us who will only know it in our dreams. grown, solid information has
PHOTOS COURTESY OF BELLA VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
become increasingly difficult

◆ to come by—something not
D
helped by C.A.’s apparent
URING THE SPRING and summer months of 1930, proclivity toward exaggeration.
reporters for the Arkansas Gazette were called out to
a remote stretch of road off U.S. Highway 71, about
15 minutes north of Bentonville, for two very different stories. The
one that was more prototypically local-newsy concerned a group of
10 youngsters—nine boys and a girl—who’d taken the challenge of

THE PAST ARKANSAS BARS
Early advertisements, for example, proclaimed that the cave was “500 three daughters and installed modern lighting, restrooms and an
feet below the surface of the earth,” when in fact it was closer to 83 expanded bar.
feet. In addition to the occasional mention of Jesse James, who some But even knowing all of those changes have come to pass doesn’t
say was reputed to have used the cave as a hideout, big-band legends soften the blow of seeing what the cave looks like now.
such as Duke Ellington and Cab Calloway are often mentioned as For the final minute of an amateur documentary about the cave
having made appearances there—though no small amount seems posted on YouTube in 2010, there’s a mix of video footage and
to have stemmed from hearsay. photos that provide a glimpse into the cave as it was at the time.
One thing is for certain, however: Much as C.A. and subsequent Any sign of elegance has been stripped away. Time and vandalism
owners tried to make the cave something more than what it is, those have left the place in ruins. Broken bottles litter the stairs. Graffiti
efforts never quite stuck. The cave was always a cave. mars the white stone walls. There are no more working lights. The
plumbing is a splintered mess of white plastic. Somewhere even
◆ deeper still, past the ballroom, there’s a cache of barrels held over
W
from the fallout-shelter days.
‹
HAT’S IT LIKE now? As one might expect, a great In fairness, it’s probably different now. Since 2012, largely owing PHOTOS COURTESY OF BELLA VISTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY
deal has changed in the 60-some years since the to new ownership, there’s been a renewed interest in seeing the cave
club’s Depression-era heyday. In the mid-’50s, after restored. Volunteers have spent hours cleaning out beer bottles and LEFT: CLARENCE
an ailing Linebarger sold the property, there seems to have been a scrubbing the rocks. Although it seems funding has been hard to LOVE, WHOSE
shift in aesthetic, with Alice and residents of Wonderland appearing come by, there’s a chance that at some point, the cave might be a
behind the bandstand, and cutouts of the Queen of Hearts and the destination—albeit with more of a family-oriented bent. But for us, BAND PLAYED
cards taking up posts at the ends of benches. Later, as the shadow it’ll always be the same as it ever was. For us, it’ll be Wonderland. AT THE OFFICIAL
of the Cold War loomed, the cave was turned into a civil-defense OPENING DANCES
fallout shelter, with 17.5-gallon barrels of water brought in. In the
late ’80s and early ’90s, there was one last grasping attempt at life, as AT WONDERLAND
two men from Bentonville bought the property from Linebarger’s IN JUNE 1930.
THE PRESENT ARKANSAS BARS
I F W E W A N T T O C H AT U P I F W E W A N T TO B E A M O N G F R I E N D S
A CERTIFIED SOMMELIER I F W E W A N T A TA S T E
H WINE BA
RUS
O F FAY E T T E V I L L E H I S T O R Y
Wanna
& KEET C R
PETIT
NE’S TAP ROOM
Look. We crush on Crush for plenty of reasons, but it’s not just MAXI
You’ve watched Somm, right? because, when asked about the rotating craft beer selection, they’ll
The Netflix docuseries about ask if you’d like to take a look in the fridge. It’s not because that You likely came to Maxine’s in college, elbowing your
the rigors and rigmarole of patio is one of the great hidden gems in Argenta (and also a great way up to Maxine Miller’s 50-foot bar for a Solo cup of
IF WE’RE
Grab a
becoming a master sommelier? place to see the likes of Raising Arizona and Aliens projected on the Bud Light before queuing up some Merle Haggard on
FEELING WHISKEY
Petit & Keet’s Susie Long may big screen). It’s not just because, on certain nights, you may walk by the jukebox. And while that Maxine’s is gone, the craft-
not be a master, per se—there cocktail bar filling in today has kept its dive-bar roots very
VAU LT
and see the place still lit up, still aglow and thumping with a dance
are only 274 master sommeliers party. We love it because, well, it’s a great neighborhood bar—and much intact. It’s still in the family, for one, and the stool
in the world—but she is a it’s one we’re proud to call our own. (318 N. Main St., North Little Maxine sat on every night for five decades has assumed
certified sommelier and one of Rock; “Crush Wine Bar” on Facebook) a place of honor on the wall behind the bar. The place is
First: There’s a wall of whiskey.
the few working in the state. still dark and cozy, just the way Maxine liked it (though
Second: It’s in an actual vault,
Drink?
Which means: She’s someone you no longer have to worry about your shoes sticking to
in the basement of a former AGASI 7
you need to know, or at least the floor). The main difference? You can now sip some of
bank on Fayetteville’s Center
someone you need to know the finest cocktails in the state while waiting for “Okie
Street. Third: It’s the brainchild
when you’re after a wine- From Muskogee” to come on. (107 N. Block Ave., Fayetteville;
of Modus Studio’s Chris
pairing light-bulb moment. Put facebook.com/maxines.taproom)
Baribeau—who, like, really
yourself in her capable hands
loves whiskey—and two of his
🖝
when dining at this west Little
bourbonophile buddies, so the
Rock bistro, or just pull up a
space is swank in a way that
seat at her bar—either way,
only an architect can deliver.
your mind (and palate!) will be
Four: It’s not just whiskey.
blown. (1620 Market St., Little
Here’s where
The barman, Shaun Traxler,
Rock; petitandkeet.com)
is mixing up some of the tip-
toppest of craft cocktails in the
state. Five … Hell, just save us
I F W E ’ R E O N LY
we head when
a seat at the bar. (112 W. Center
DRINKING FOR
St., Suite B001, Fayetteville;
THE BAR FOOD
facebook.com/vaultbarfayetteville)
F LYWAY
I F W E W A N T TO
DRINK LIKE IT’S 1905 someone (bless BREWING CO.
Usually, when we ask for a
OHIO CLUB
them!) asks us
“menu” at a local brewery, we’re
after blonde ales and IPAs.
And while, yes, they’ve got a
It’s an overused adage, “if these rotating menu of solid small-
our favorite
walls could talk.” But man, if batch brews at North Little
those walls could talk at the Rock’s Flyway Brewing Co.,
Ohio Club in downtown Hot we’re more curious about the
Springs, they’d tell stories food.“How are those lavender- IF WE WANT SOME VINO WITH A VIEW
question
about folks with names like salt pretzels?” we ask. “The
AGASI 7
Sammy Davis Jr., Mae West duck confit nachos? The gumbo
and Al Capone—tales of fries? The bacon-wrapped
backroom gambling, bathtub quail-breast sliders?!” And
gin and Babe Ruth-occupied upon hearing the answer, we If you’ve ever driven down Third Street at juuuust the right moment
bar stools. But even 113 years order one of each, please and in the early evening and seen the sunset reflected and multiplied
after opening its Central thanks. (314 Maple St., North hundreds of times over on the fragmented facades of downtown
Avenue doors, the Ohio Club’s
still got plenty to talk about:
B Y K AT I E B R I D G E S Little Rock; flywaybrewing.com) Little Rock’s high-rises, you’ve probably wondered, Where can I
pull over and grab a drink? The answer is Agasi 7, the city’s only
namely, nightly live music and rooftop watering hole (and it just so happens to be nestled among
an onion-ring-topped burger those aforementioned kaleidoscopic high-rises). And while sunset
that’s as big as your face. is magical, you won’t be disappointed with a nightcap, either,
(336 Central Ave., Hot Springs; especially once the heaters and fire pits come on. (322 Rock St., Little
theohioclub.com) Rock; facebook.com; agasi7littlerock)

❤
I F I T ’ S DA T E N I G H T
UNDERCROF
THE T
Since Bentonville began its renaissance some sevenish
years ago, there’ve been plenty of new spots that’ve made
us think, Wait, are we still in Northwest Arkansas? But
this place—a darkly sophisticated drinking den tucked
beneath the brightly beautiful The Preacher’s Son off the
square—might be the most transportive of the bunch.
Pull up a leather stool or slip into one of the velvet I F W E W A N T A FA R M - T O - P I N T B R E W
banquettes, and not only is it not Northwest Arkansas,
STONROSE FAR M
it’s not 2018. It’s 1963, and this is Manhattan, and your
date is Don Draper. Or at least he is tonight. (2o1 NW A PRE
St., Bentonville; undercroftbar.com) AND BREWING CO.
They take their farm-to-table-slash-glass pretttttty literally at Paris’

Prestonrose Farm and Brewing Co. Those Hatch peppers in the
recent Jenny’s El Hefe release? Raised within spitting distance of
where it’s being poured. Those heirloom veggies on the table of the
weekly rotating beer farm menu (baby winter squash gratin! stuffed
heritage pork loin!)? Same deal. Suffice to say, pretty well anything
you’ll order at Mike and Liz Preston’s very-necessary-pilgrimage
destination was either grown under your nose or somewhere not far
from it. (201 St. Louis Valley Road, Paris; facebook.com/PrestonroseFarm)
I F W E W A N T T O N E R D O U T O N C L A S S I C C O C K TA I L S
RANGE • TRIO'S
BIG O
Most of what we know about the craft of cocktailing came from the
folks working the stick at either Big Orange-Midtown or Trio’s, two
eateries that, quite unexpectedly, are the top places in Little Rock
to find an old-fashioned Old Fashioned or any other time-honored
tipple. Not that they’re only about the classics, though: You’ll find
inventive offerings on both menus, mixed up with ingredients
that’ll have you asking, What’s that? And what can I do with it at
home?, because you’ll know you’ve just met your cocktail senseis. ONE ELEVEN AT THE CAPITAL
(bigorange.com; triosrestaurant.com)
I F W E W A N T A R E A L LY G O O D W I N E B Y T H E G L A S S
IF WE WANT SOME “SPIRITS”
R QUARTER BA ONE ELEVEN

U
FO R AT THE CAPITAL
The storefront housing Argenta’s Four Quarter Bar has lived several It’s quite a thing to behold, the bar at One Eleven. It’s topped
lives: It was a dirt-floored brothel (aka Miss Birdie’s), a mortuary, with zinc—surely a nod to chef Joël Antunes’ native France—and
a Prohibition-era speakeasy, a coffee shop and a nightclub before backed by case after case of back-lit bottles: wine, whiskey, various
becoming the tin-ceilinged music venue we know and love today. aperitifs, digestifs … but mostly wine. You might not notice at first,
And though the location’s days as Miss Birdie’s were fleeting, they what with all the bling-bling beauty on display, but tucked into the
sure left an impression—in particular, that rather unseemly murder left-hand corner, there’s what appears to be a simple wine fridge.
of one of Miss Birdie’s girls, a young Anastasia, by a lovesick patron. It’s not. It’s a contraption called a Cruvinet, and it keeps uncorked
These days, it seems Anastasia’s been too stubborn to move on, wine fresh for weeks, eliminating waste. That might not sound too
and folks have reported doors opening of their own accord, lights sexy now, but it most certainly will once you learn that you can
flickering willy-nilly and cold spots at the foot of the stairs. Maybe snag some prettttty glorious by-the-glass wines—some dating back
you’ll get spooked from your perch at the bar; maybe not. Either to the early aughts—because of it. (111 W. Markham St., Little Rock;
way, get a burger. (415 Main St., North Little Rock; fourquarterbar.com) oneelevenatthecapital.com)

I F W E ’ V E G OT F R I E N D S I N TOW N IF IT’S MUSIC WE’RE AFTER
TH ON MAIN T E WAT E R TAV E R N

SOU WHI
We know you’ve had this kind of visitor—the kind who’s “never
been to Arkansas” and just wants to have “a real Southern Maybe it’s the 40-year history, maybe it’s the cheap drinks. But
experience!” If you’re in Little Rock, this one’s easy: Take your if we had to guess, we’d say it’s probably the consistent and
visitor to the Oxford American-affiliated South on Main, especially consistently fantastic concerts that have packed the house at this
if there’s live music (and certainly if that music is coming out of Little Rock dive night after night. From CeDell Davis and Levon
frequent performer Rodney Block’s trumpet). You’ll give ’em a Helm to Amasa Hines and Adam Faucett, if they’ve made a name
triple whammy of Southernness: remoulade-smeared fried oysters, for themselves in the Arkansas music scene, you can probably bet
Sazeracs that’d make NOLA proud and sweet, sweet music. they’ve played the White Water Tavern a time or two. We’re still
(1304 S. Main St., Little Rock; southonmain.com) kicking ourselves for missing that Leon Bridges show back in 2015.
(2500 W. Seventh St., Little Rock; whitewatertavern.com)
IF WE WANNA GET COZY

LA TERRAZA RUM & LOUNGE
STONE HOUS
THE E
It’s not just a clever name. This Eureka Springs wine bar is precisely
what it purports to be: a two-story stone house (circa late 1800s!)
snuggled up to the bluff that backs Main Street. Inside, it’s all
stone and cherry wood and low-ceilinged coziness; outside, it’s all
stone and bistro lights, the perfect patio on which to enjoy a flight
of grower champagnes and a brie-laden cheese plate. Not a wino?
Beer lovers will find plenty to whet their whistle, though those
in search of a martini might do better down the block at Local
▲
Flavor (another of our favorite Eureka spots). (89 S. Main St., Eureka
Springs; search “The Stone House” on Facebook)
I F W E ’ R E R E A DY TO
THROWDOWN ON SOME CORNHOLE
I F W E W A N T TO
EKSIDE TAPROOM SLIDE SOME BISCUITS
CRE
THE HOLLER
You know your state’s craft-brew scene has reached a critical mass
when folks are angling to open native-beer bars. That’s exactly what A “third place” if there ever was
Keith and Rhonda Rutledge did with their Siloam Springs taproom, one, this newish Bentonville spot
where 21 taps feature a rotating lineup of brews from 17 Natural at the booming 8th Street Market
State breweries (there’s Arkansas wine on the menu, too, just FYI). is equal parts coffee bar, meet-
But it’s not just about the beer: It’s also about the taproom’s lovely I F W E ’ R E R E A DY TO RU M
up spot and late-night hang—
Sager Creek-side lawn—and it’s definitely about the cornhole. They say nothing of its menu chock-
take it seriously here, with double-elimination tourneys and eight-
week competitive leagues. But even if you’re not serious, we’re sure
full of mac-and-cheese burgers, LA TERRAZA
chimichurri wings, queso- RUM & LOUNGE
they’ll still let you practice your Half Paducah Pancakes. (100-2 E. smothered nachos and local craft
Alpine St., Siloam Springs; creeksidetaproom.com) beer on tap. But the real draw, if We thought we weren’t “rum people” until we ordered a mojito on
we’re being honest, is the three- the tree-shaded patio of this Kavanaugh Boulevard bistro, and then
lane shuffleboard court, which has BLAMMO! Rum people. (We also became empanada and arepa
day-drinking destination all over people that night, BTW.) It’ll probably happen to you, too—there’s
it. Bring friends. Come thirsty. just something about that deck, the small plates and those sweetly
(801 SE Eighth St. , Bentonville; sour sips that’ll get a hold on you. Be sure to follow La Terraza’s
alocalhangout.com) Facebook for upcoming events—rum people are apparently a whole
lot of fun and love mojito theme nights. (3000 Kavanaugh Blvd.,
Little Rock; search “La Terraza Rum & Lounge” on Facebook)

THE FUTURE ARKANSAS BARS
A Bar is Born
of the game is international a giant skylight? A cellar program featuring high-end wine, beer
travel—think Singapore slings, and spirits? We don’t need to be psychic to see many visits to The
caipirinhas, Negronis, absinthe Foreman in our future.
and the like, served alongside
international bites such as
ham-and-butter baguettes HOT SPRINGS SAKE COMPANY
and chicken satay. The drink-
around-the-world concept
Wanna know what’s being

WHAT’S ON TAP: Sake | WHERE: Hot Springs | WHEN: Summer 2019
THE RAIL YARD isn’t a surprise, considering
the venture is helmed by Tony We’ve been following Ben Bell’s ambitious sake project since we
WHAT’S ON TAP: Beer garden Poe of the Poe Travel agency, first started hearing rumblings about it in 2014, back when he
served up next for Arkansas?

who plans to decorate Atlas traveled to Japan to apprentice for the Nanbu Bijin sake brewery.
WHERE: Little Rock’s East Village
Bar with various tchotchkes But now, Ben’s dream of opening a brewery to craft sake from
WHEN: Open now! and souvenirs from his father’s Arkansas rice and Hot Springs’ famous waters appears closer to
adventures around the world. realization than ever. With the help of George Wied, Ben’s new full-
So did we
There’s been something missing
time business partner, he hopes to begin construction on the Hot
in Little Rock. At least that’s
Springs Sake Company by the end of the year and have the first
what sisters-in-law Murry and
kegs ready by next summer. Ultimately, Ben says he’d like to see
Linda Newbern, along with
multiple sake breweries launched throughout the state in an effort
Murry’s aunt Virginia Young,
to establish the Arkansas Delta as a sake rice-growing region, akin
thought when they decided to
to Napa Valley’s relationship to wine grapes, and give rise to an
go into business together. And
Arkansas sake trail like Kentucky has for bourbon.
BY WYNDHAM WYETH after a visit to Texas Truck
Yard in Dallas, they knew
what it was: a never-ending
backyard bash complete with
barbecue, booze and baggo
its original spot on downtown’s Ninth Street to a second location— that they’re calling The Rail
this one in Little Rock’s Stifft Station neighborhood, just down the Yard. Business partners and
block from The Oyster Bar. The brewery actually did a bit of a trial popular local food truck Count
run in the area this summer by setting up a temporary taproom
during the neighborhood’s PopUp in the Rock event, an initiative
Porkula will provide the ’cue THE FOREMAN
and serve as the urban beer
to stimulate development in stagnant areas, and the response was so garden’s house kitchen, while
positive, Stone’s Throw decided to make the expansion permanent. WHAT’S ON TAP: Cocktail bar
an ever-rotating roster of food
Considering that two of our staffers live in the neighborhood, we’re trucks will ensure a unique and WHERE: The 1907 in Rogers
excited to have a new happy-hour destination. delicious culinary experience WHEN: End of 2018
every time. And The Rail Yard’s
There’s plenty to be excited
REBEL KETTLE BREWING large indoor/outdoor gathering
space just down the street from about when it comes to
Cathead’s Diner means there’s The 1907, the forthcoming
WHAT’S ON TAP: New brewing space and canning room for all your friends and
then some. We know where
redevelopment of the old
Dollar Saver building in
ARKANSAS DISTILLERIES
WHERE: Little Rock’s East Village | WHEN: 2019
we’ll be this weekend! Rogers: Onyx Coffee’s new
Thanks to the state’s flourishing craft-beer scene, more and more headquarters, the reopening WHAT’S ON TAP: Spirits of all kinds | WHERE: Helena-West
Arkansas breweries have been progressing from business models of Jason Paul’s acclaimed Helena, Rogers and Hot Springs | WHEN: 2019
centered around taprooms and keg-producing operations to ATLAS BAR Heirloom restaurant, the
canning and bottling in an effort to meet popular demand. And Doughp bakery (that’s not a It seems like a new Arkansas brewery is opening just about every
now it looks like Rebel Kettle Brewery, located in the capital’s East WHAT’S ON TAP: Cocktail bar typo, mind you; try saying it day, and now distilleries appear to be following the same trend.
Village, will be the next one to make the jump. Earlier this summer, out loud) that lives up to its In addition to the three distilleries currently operating in The
WHERE: Little Rock’s
the brewery acquired a massive warehouse space on 17th Street, not name. But we’re particularly Natural State, three more are on the way. Fox Trail Distillery will
too far from its current location, which will allow the brewery to South Main District looking forward to grabbing craft, barrel-age and bottle small-batch bourbon at a site in Rogers,
STONE’S THROW BREWING exponentially increase its production and distribution. While the WHEN: December 2018 drinks at The Foreman. If where whiskey fiends will be able to sample offerings in the tasting
existing taproom and restaurant will continue to operate as usual, the mysterious, curio shop- room and dine at a stable of local food trucks. In Hot Springs,
plans for the new space include a larger-scale version of Rebel As if Little Rock’s SoMa inspired branding wasn’t Crystal Ridge Distillery is tapping into the Spa City’s history by
WHAT’S ON TAP: New location Kettle’s sour program and a dedicated room for barrel aging. We’ll District wasn’t already one enough to pique our interest, producing the spirit most common during the city’s Prohibition-
WHERE: Little Rock’s Stifft Station neighborhood | WHEN: End of 2018 drink to that. of the best happy-hour owner Brendon Glidden’s era heyday: moonshine. Strong drink is coming to east Arkansas
destinations in the city, a plans for the space sure are. as well, where Delta Dirt Distillery is planning to craft vodka and,
Despite having one of the tinier taprooms among Little Rock craft new Main Street cocktail Experimental cocktails? An later, bourbon in an old grocery store being renovated by Little
breweries, Stone’s Throw Brewing still pours more than its fair spot is upping the ante once elegant, intimate lounge with Rock architect Tommy Jamison on Helena-West Helena’s Cherry
share of pints. So many, in fact, that the brewery is expanding from again. At Atlas Bar, the name tufted leather banquettes and Street. Distill our hearts!

AN EXCERPT FROM PATSY
WATKINS’ IT’S ALL DONE GONE:
ARKANSAS PHOTOGRAPHS
FROM THE FARM SECURITY
COLLECTION, 1935-1943

N A COLD MORNING IN OCTOBER 1935, THE ARTIST BEN
SHAHN WAS IN ARKANSAS, ON A TRIP TO FIND MATERIAL
HE COULD USE IN DESIGNING MURALS AND POSTERS FOR Post Wolcott, John Vachon,
A NEW DEAL GOVERNMENT AGENCY. SHAHN HAD Carl Mydans and Edwin Locke.
ARRANGED TO TAKE PICTURES OF A GROUP OF COTTON The FSA was a government
PICKERS GATHERING EARLY FOR THE WORKDAY IN THE agency in charge of farm relief
FIELDS. IT WAS ABOUT 6:30 AND CHILLY ENOUGH THAT and assistance projects; in the
alphabet soup of New Deal
SHAHN COULD SEE THE PICKERS’ BREATH.
programs, it had evolved from an
earlier agency, the Resettlement
Administration (RA), which
was created to tackle the crisis
“The sun was low, just rising, and it was beautiful,” Shahn told a in agriculture. The leadership
Smithsonian historian years later. The pickers were prepared for the of the RA maintained the
hot day to come and had filled large milk cans with water. Shahn photographs were intended to
began to take photographs, shooting about a dozen frames, some of be public information, to inform
the whole crew, others of small groups standing around together, and Americans about the extent
one or two of pickers sitting by themselves. The pictures Shahn took and severity of rural poverty
that day and in his journey across the South were so stunning in their and document the federal
depiction of the destitution that plagued the poorest farmers in the projects designed to address the
TOP LEFT: Russell Lee’s image of midst of the Great Depression that they were included in a file of problems effectively. However,
workers bent over to pick cotton critics of the RA—and later
photographs used by the government to promote agricultural relief
suggests a graceful rhythm in the
rounded shapes flowing easily programs. That file, over eight years from 1935 to 1943, accumulated the FSA as well—attacked the
into long cotton sacks. However, more than a quarter million photographs showing hundreds of photos as propaganda meant to
the job was hot, back-breaking, thousands of Americans across the country as they coped with the unfairly manipulate opinion.
debilitating labor. The RA/FSA photographers,
impact of the most severe economic crisis in US history.
(Russell Lee, September 1938) Farm Security
in recording the extreme Dorthea Lange called this photo from Conway,
Administration Photograph Collection, Prints Since the 1930s, these pictures have become known as the Farm
“Arkansas Hoosier.” She quoted this woman at
& Photographs Division, Library of Congress, Security Administration (FSA) Photograph Collection and now are poverty conditions they length, noting that she was born in 1855: “My father
LC-USF33–011671–M2
the foremost representation of the nation’s visual memories of life discovered in their assignments, was a Confederate soldier. He give his age a year
TOP RIGHT: Dorothea Lange visited during the Depression. Many of the photos have become familiar developed a style later called older that it was to get into the army. After the
“social documentary,” defined war he bought 280 acres from the railroad and
the cooperative farm at Hillhouse symbols associated with those years, such as Dorothea Lange’s cleared it. We never had a mortgage on it. In 1920
in 1936 and 1937 where she picture titled “Migrant Mother” and Arthur Rothstein’s shot of a as pictures that were factually the land was sold, the money divided. Now, none of
photographed a number of the accurate in depicting those who
Arkansas farmers, such as this
dust storm in Cimarron County. my children own their land. It’s all done gone, but
man, who had been evicted from Arkansas is represented in the Farm Security Administration were poor and disadvantaged, it raised my family. I’ve done my duty—I feel like I
have. I’ve raised 12 children.”
the Dibble plantation. Hillhouse Photograph Collection by about 800 pictures, a small percentage of but taken with a sensitivity
was settled by both white and the whole, but among them are many images well known to Americans to their humanity. Few (Dorothea Lange, June 1938) Farm Security Administration
Photograph Collection, Prints & Photographs Division, Library of
African American farmers who photographers at the time had
shared in the work and in the
through their repeated use in books, articles, documentaries and Congress, LC-USF34–018289–C
profits. exhibits about the Depression. The FSA photographers who took attempted to use their pictures
(Dorothea Lange, July–September 1936) them later became some of the most influential documentarists, to call attention to the unseen
Farm Security Administration Photograph
artists and photojournalists of the mid-20th century—Walker Evans, “one-third” in American society,
Collection, Prints & Photographs Division,
Library of Congress, LC-USF34–009374–C Dorothea Lange, Ben Shahn, Russell Lee, Arthur Rothstein, Marion those referred to by Franklin

Roosevelt in his second
inaugural address as the “one-
third of a nation ill-housed, ill-
clad, ill-nourished”; therefore,
the approach was unfamiliar
to people. The style became
associated closely with RA/
FSA photographs and proved
to be key to their endurance
as powerful images that have
resonated with viewers over
more than three-quarters of a
century.
F ONE PERSON
could speak
knowledgeably about
the quarter of a
million images in the
RA/FSA photography
collection, it was Roy portraits, however, were the best
Stryker. In the 1973 of the “adjectives and adverbs”
book, In This Proud Land, he that he said were “our kind
mused over the meaning and of photography”; that is, the
significance of the project with particular RA/FSA style. They
Nancy Wood: were among the images that
But the faces to me were the most Stryker thought would prove to
significant part of the file. When be of greatest value in the end,
a man is down and they have though they might have been
taken from him his job and his overlooked in the 1930s. “You
land and his home—everything can’t have perspective when
he spent his life working for— history is your bedfellow,” he
he’s going to have the expression told Wood.
of tragedy permanently on his The portraits are indeed
face. But I have always believed among those most appealing to
that the American people have the us now, the ones that offer a path
to a deeper understanding of the the right moment, catching a TOP: Dorothea Lange wrote
ability to endure. And that is in
that Clarence Weems had
those faces, too. lives of ordinary Arkansans in revealing gesture or the fleeting been relocated from Arkansas
These faces are seen in the 1930s. Ben Shahn knew this look in a person’s eyes, reflected to Hillhouse Delta cooperative
the portraits throughout the and told Doud in their 1962 his admiration for the French farm in Mississippi, and that he
interview that statistics alone photographer Henri Cartier- could remember the evictions
collection, many of them among
of farmers’ union members in
the “immortal pictures,” as couldn’t convey the impact of Bresson, who was known for his Arkansas, where his father was
Richard Doud characterized the Depression to Americans ability to anticipate the “peak beaten and then disappeared.
them in his 1960s interviews as effectively as telling the story moment of action” for pressing (Dorothea Lange, June 1937) Farm Security
with Stryker. Or as Stryker of one individual’s experience. the shutter. Shahn’s mastery Administration Photograph Collection, Prints
& Photographs Division, Library of Congress,
put it, the photos that “give Shahn came to Arkansas in of this technique can be seen LC-USF34–017338–C
your heart a tug.” Most of 1935 prepared to take pictures in his Arkansas photographs,
the pictures in the file were of cotton farming, bringing particularly among those of BELOW: Shahn’s “portraits” of
three members of a sharecropper
the routine assignments along a pile of books on cotton his most familiar images—the
family—mother, child and doll. TOP LEFT: Man relaxing on sacks of horse and mule fee in a Parkdale BELOW: Shahn took a series of photos of this young girl as she picked
demonstrating the good work he had been studying. But Boone County rehabilitation (Ben Shahn, October 1935) Farm Security store, 1936. cotton. He and other RA/FSA photographers emphasized the age range
done by New Deal agencies; overall, he was much more client, the few remaining Administration Photograph Collection, Prints
(Carl Mydans, June 1936) Farm Security Administration Photograph Collection, Prints & Photographs of fieldworkers.
they were straightforward interested in the people he residents of Zinc, and his LC-USF33–006032–M1
Division, Library of Congress, LC-USF33–000670–M3 (Ben Shahn, October 1935) Farm Security Administration Photograph Collection, Prints &
records of activities, something found and in their humanity sharecroppers and cotton Photographs Division, Library of Congress, LC-USF33–006218–M3
TOP RIGHT: A sharecropper family gathered on their front porch

like the photojournalism that rather than in their role in pickers.
on a day off, taken near Little Rock.
Stryker called the “nouns and cotton cultivation. Shahn’s skill Lange’s portraits have a
(Ben Shahn, October 1935) Farm Security Administration Photograph Collection, Prints &
verbs” of photography. The at taking a photograph at just different quality from those of Photographs Division, Library of Congress, LC-USF33–006025–M3

other RA/FSA photographers, stating he wanted to do a book
but she of course had a different on migrant labor. According to
way of approaching her C. B. Baldwin, FSA assistant
subjects, according to Anne administrator at the time,
Whiston Spirn, in Daring to Steinbeck was referred to
Look. Whereas others sought Stryker, who spent several days
an “honest image” by catching with him going through the
people off-guard through the photo file. An FSA official then
use of right-angle camera took him into the field, dressed THIS PAGE, TOP LEFT: Cotton pickers
devices or distractions, Lange’s as a migrant worker. From fashion homemade knee pads
honest image meant having these experiences, Steinbeck for fieldwork at Lehi in Crittenden
County.
a direct connection with her produced The Grapes of Wrath,
(Russell Lee, September 1938) Farm Security
subject. She told her apprentice which was published in 1939. Administration Photograph Collection, Prints
Rondal Partridge, “I never Baldwin considered the book & Photographs Division, Library of Congress,
LC-USF33–011620–M1
steal a photograph. Never. and subsequent movie as terrific
All photographs are made in promotion for the FSA. Stryker THIS PAGE, TOP RIGHT: This
collaboration, as part of their also recalled the incident and photograph, one of Walker
thinking as well as mine.” talked about it with Wood in Evans’ best-known shots, shows
refugees from the 1937 flood in
Lee took only the occasional In This Proud Land: the lineup for food at mealtime in
portrait in his many photos of I remember when Steinbeck the Forrest City Red Cross camp.
resettlement farms, including came in and looked at the pictures (Walker Evans, February 1937) Farm Security
a few of individual farmers. for a couple of days. Those tragic, Administration Photograph Collection, Prints
Though those pictures have beautiful faces were what inspired LC-USF33–009217–M3
Lee’s particular touch of him to write The Grapes of

OPPOSITE PAGE, LEFT: A young boy
EVERYTHING THE
humanity, his more fascinating Wrath. He caught in words
portraits don’t even show faces. everything the photographers were
picks cotton at the Lake Dick PHOTOGRAPHERS
resettlement farm.
He told Jack Hurley in a 1973 trying to say in pictures. Dignity (Russell Lee, September 1938) Farm Security WERE TRYING TO
interview, “I was interested versus despair. Maybe I’m a fool, Administration Photograph Collection, Prints
& Photographs Division, Library of Congress, SAY IN PICTURES.
in how people lived… . I felt but I believe that dignity wins LC-USF33–011667–M4
that the inside of a house was a out. When it doesn’t, then we as DIGNITY VERSUS
OPPOSITE PAGE, RIGHT: Woman
very important part of showing a people will become extinct. and child in a sharecropper’s DESPAIR. MAYBE
how people lived. Of course, cabin.
the outside was important too.
I’M A FOOL, BUT
(Ben Shahn, October 1935) Farm Security
You could tell about people by Administration Photograph Collection, Prints

I BELIEVE THAT
how the flowers were placed LC-USF33–006026–M5
DIGNITY WINS OUT.
and how things were kept up. I
became concerned with details.” ACROSS: Dorothea Lange wrote WHEN IT DOESN’T,
that this cotton worker was
In Portrait of a Decade,
Excerpt courtesy University
dressed in Sunday clothes. THEN WE AS A
Hurley relates a story about
John Steinbeck visiting the
of Arkansas Press. For more (Dorothea Lange, June 1937) Farm Security
Administration Photograph Collection, Prints PEOPLE WILL
information, visit uapress.com/ & Photographs Division, Library of Congress,
RA/FSA offices in 1938 and product/its-all-done-gone/. LC-USF34–017363–C BECOME EXTINCT.”
69
CRAVINGS
72
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OOPS! I FORGOT TO
MAKE THANKSGIVING
DINNER!
Trey Lamberth, Digital Advertising Director | tlamberth@arkansasonline.com | 501.690.3871
Don’t let this happen to you—
order ahead from these Little
Rock eateries for a fuss-free
Thanksgiving feast
by katie bridges
ARKANSAS | TEXAS | MISSOURI | TENNESSEE | NORTH CAROLINA

NOVEMBER 2018 69 Arkansas Life
THE DRESSING: CORNBREAD
DRESSING FROM SOUTH ON MAIN
With a name like South on Main, this eatery’s
an obvious choice for good ol’ fashioned sides
like cornbread dressing, squash casserole, THE PIE: HONEY PIES
creamed greens and giblet gravy. They’re also
smoking a limited number of Grass Roots Co-op We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again:
turkeys—but hurry, those birds go fast. (Email Honey Pies can do no wrong. Pumpkin.
amy@southonmain.com) THE TURKEY: THE BIRD & THE BEER Pecan. Sweet potato meringue. Chocolate
PACKAGE FROM LOST FORTY BREWING fudge (oh, the chocolate fudge!). Or just
grab a few all-butter crusts and take a
Know this: The folks behind Lost Forty shortcut when making grandma’s recipe.
Brewing can smoke some meats, and tur- And don’t forget the freshly whipped
key is no exception. They’re slow-smoking cream. (myhoneypies.com)
turkey breasts this year, and you can take
one home along with four housemade
sides (butternut-and-potato gratin, dress-
ing, green bean casserole and barbecue
cranberry sauce) as well as a 12-pack
of Lost Forty brews to share with your
THE CRANBERRIES: JEZEBEL guests. Or keep for yourself. We won’t
tell. (Packages are limited; email turkey@
CRANBERRY SAUCE AT CAPERS lost40brewing.com)
Fresh cranberries and a kick of horse-

radish are the stars of the show in this
takeout relish, available at the Market
at Capers. Also on offer: spinach gra-
tin, four-cheese mac, turkey gravy and
coconut-and-pecan-topped sweet po-
tato casserole. (Call (501) 868-1182)
THE BREAD: ROLLS AND THINGS
FROM SIMPLY THE BEST CATERING
Sister Schubert rolls? Cornbread muffins?
Buttermilk biscuits? Why choose when you
can have all three! Also available through
this North Little Rock-based caterer:
whole roasted turkeys, andouille-spiked
cornbread dressing, roasted-garlic mashed
potatoes, War Eagle Mill cheddar-cheese
grits—and y’all, that’s just a taste. (Call
(501) 955-2020)
THE CASSEROLE: ESCALLOPED EGGPLANT

CASSEROLE FROM FRANKE’S CAFETERIA
We’d be pleased as pie to make room for anything
from Franke’s on our holiday table, but we’ll be
especially happy to serve their cornbread-y, tomato-y
escalloped eggplant casserole, long a fan favorite.
But really: You could fill the whole buffet table with
Franke’s goodness, as they’re offering everything from
roasted turkey breasts and pit ham to sweet potato
and pumpkin pies. (Call (501) 372-1919 for the down-
town location; (501) 225-4487 for Rodney Parham)

CORK DORK H Serving duck this
season (or just enjoying
DUCK
it at Ira’s Restaurant,
HUNTING as we did at left)? Some classic pairings are clas-

You’re gonna want a sic for a reason: Pinot just goes
pinot. with duck, whether it’s farmed
THE or wild, cooked with an Asian
glaze or smoked on the grill
PERFECT Wine wasn’t on the table at the winemaker’s style.

(and even those duck jalapeño
poppers that always show up at
so common in Chinese cuisine.
PINOT those post-hunt lunches and The true key to pinot noir’s Those are the same notes the
potlucks). For a classic pairing,
wine gets from spending time
dinners of my youth, but now, success at the dinner table, I like to look for a classic wine,
in oak barrels, which lend just a
as an adult, wine never leaves though, comes from the wine’s like Domaine Gachot-Monot’s
hint of spice and warmth to the
the table. Maybe it’s the same naturally high acidity. As any Côte de Nuits-Villages ($39), a
Why you only need French pinot that’s as silky as
wine’s finish.
at your place. But with proteins good home cook can attest,
one grape to get ranging from deer to duck to acid cuts fat, and it’s this same
the ripest peach and earthy as a
through hunting fistful of wet, mossy mud. Duck, VENISON
pheasant to—gasp!—squirrel, principle that makes the wine when cooked well, serves as the
season trying to find the right pairing work with food. Its f ruity perfect launching pad for the Just as each vineyard site has
can seem like more work than character neutralizes the off- wine’s lofty notes of wet leaves its own special terroir, so too
By Seth Eli Barlow and spiced cranberry. Keep in can venison be influenced by the
the hunt itself. putting gaminess that some
mind that French wines are more acorns, leaves and herbs the
Don’t worry, though: There’s people fear in wild game, while
commonly labeled with the place deer ate in its lifetime. Grilled
only one grape you’ll need to remaining light enough that it they’ve been grown rather than or roasted, venison is the kind
get you through hunting season, won’t mask the unique character with the varietal—if you’re look- of protein that begs for a cherry
and chances are you already love each protein brings to the table. ing for French pinot, look for the sauce and a fruit-forward wine.
it. As it turns out, pinot noir, the So which bottle should you word “Burgundy” or “Bourgogne” Banshee Wine’s Sonoma County
cherry-scented fever dream of be looking for? Well, that’s on the label. Pinot Noir ($20) is the perfect
wine geeks around the world, is where we come in. match, as venison’s subtle
a hunter’s—and a cook’s—best GAME BIRDS muskiness is a perfect foil for
the ripe, sour-cherry notes of the
friend.
G
rowing up in rural wine. Think of it as an Abbot-and-
Generally considered one Turkey might seem like the go-to
Cleveland county, it Costello pairing, each one bounc-
bird for the holidays, but for
of the more difficult grapes to ing off the other into a woodsy,
seemed like almost those in the know, this season is
grow and produce, pinot noir really all about quail and pheas-
fruity fusion of earthy flavor.
everyone fell into one of two
originated in France but also ant. Naturally fattier than turkey,
categories: You either spent
the fall on a deer stand or in a
makes world-class wines in its these game birds can stand up ELK
adopted homes of California to a high-heat pan roasting—
duck blind, or you spent those throw in a little Chinese five With only 29 public-land permits
and Oregon. Unlike cabernet
months cooking whatever was spice and a basting of butter, up for grabs each year, elk might
sauvignon or merlot, whose
brought in from the hunt. and you’ve got one of my favorite be one of the hardest hunts to
distinctive bitterness and
I fell mostly into the latter holiday dishes. For a meat like cross off your bucket list, but for
weight are key signifiers of this, I look to Oregon and its those who’ve done it, the hearty,
group, spending hours in
their varietals, pinot noir can beautifully distinctive pinot noirs, beeflike taste is hard to forget.
my grandmother’s kitchen
be as light as a feather, offering which bridge the elegance of Elk is undoubtedly king of the
watching her cook whatever
elegance and grace, where other French pinots with the verve and Arkansas forest, and an animal
animal my cousins had excitement of New World wine. that regal deserves a wine to
wines might show power and
succeeded in bagging. At the The Stoller Family Estate’s Wil- match. Arista Winery’s Russian
strength. Much like the wide
time, I was in such awe that lamette Valley Pinot Noir ($26) is River Pinot Noir ($70) is more
range of dishes that turn up on a perfect example. It’s light and than deserving. It’s rich and
the woods surrounding her
our tables this season, pinot noir delicate and full of brambly fruit, ripe, like floating down a river
home could be so full of things
can shift in style from light- like walking through blackberry of luscious, tart-black-cherry
to eat, and I would long, each
bodied and racy to rich and and raspberry bushes in full juice. It’s the kind of wine that,
year, for the crisp fall weekends bloom. But don’t forget the five even if you aren’t a hunter, will
elegant, depending upon terroir,
that would signal something spice—that blend of pepper, cin- have you considering taking up
the location of the vineyard or
delicious. namon, fennel, anise and clove the sport.

75
WISH YOU WERE HERE
82
AFIELD
84
MAKING THE MOST OF YOUR WEEKEND
CULTURALIST
WISH YOU WERE HERE
ROCKING THE BOAT

When we want “lake” and
“serenity,” we usually steer
clear of busy Lake Hamil-
ton. Thennn we tried it in
the offseason
by Katie Bridges

WISH YOU WERE HERE
h In the main house’s kitchen, the gray to the main house.

cool navy, crisp white and plenty of Standing in the living space,
nautical nods give off a distinctly
there are cozy couches and
coastal-New-England vibe.
leather club chairs behind
us, a teetering stack of board
games (Scattergories! Trivial
Pursuit! Something called
Hugger Mugger!) to our right,
that pot of chili bubbling on
the stove to our left. Needless
to say, we’ve got all we could
need for Instagrammable rainy-
night coziness. But there’s
something in front of us that
beckons in a way that none of
us really expected: There’s a
wall of windows, an expanse of
fairway-tidy lawn, and beyond
that, a misty Lake Hamilton
dock.
And with that, we grab our
bowls of chili and a couple
bottles of wine and head
I
outside.
“I
t almost feels
t’s raining. like we’re on a
It’s raining, boat,” Arshia, our
it’s gray, photographer, says, and it
does, the way the floating dock H With an expansive
and it’s bobs rhythmically beneath deck, airy living room,
October, We’re at Lake Hamilton, to be specific, a lake I’ve long maligned us. The sun has dipped below ample views and
plenty of spots to lay
for its busyness and commerciality, preferring the relative quiet the horizon, the bowls of chili
and we’re of nearby Lake Ouachita. I grew up near a U.S. Army Corps of licked clean, and yet we’re still
your head—including
the cute-as-can-be
at the lake, and you Engineers lake (much like Lake Ouachita), and therefore grew sitting on the edge of the dock, bunkroom, left—the
know what? We don’t accustomed to those scraggly, piney lake shores with their tangles our ankle-booted and sneakered main house is the hub
of unkempt, chigger-rich wilderness concealing homes and cabins feet just threatening to graze the of the three-building
mind it one bit. beyond. Lake Hamilton, in contrast, with its manicured lawns and midnight-blue surface. It’s the property.
labyrinth of docks, had always seemed less a “lake” and more a closest any of us have ever been
waterside subdivision. to Lake Hamilton, and dangit if
But I digress, because at Lake Hamilton am I. it doesn’t feel serene. We know
I should start by saying that we Arkansas Life-ers didn’t exactly we’re only 2 miles from Central
pick this place—the Lake Lodge, a three-home compound of Avenue, and we know we’re
sorts—for its access to Lake Hamilton. (It’s October—not exactly only a handful of yards from
swimming weather.) We picked it because we’re the kind of people the neighboring property. And
who get worked up over shibori-dyed linens, concrete tiles, kilim sure, there are lights across the
rugs and teensy-tiny pots of succulents. We say things like, “I’m dying water—lights that twinkle in
over those open kitchen shelves.” We use social media hashtags like an almost Gatsby-esque East-
#heyhomehey and #housegoals. In short: We took one look at the Egg/West-Egg way—and yes,
Lake Lodge’s VRBO photos, and we knew we were home. Or at there’ve been boats on the water,
AERIAL DECK PHOTO BY 3WIRE PHOTOGRAPHY
least home for the night. albeit only two, and neither of
After dropping our bags and getting a pot of Texas red chili them was exactly making wakes.
warming on main house’s gas range, we wander the property, quick- Regardless, we feel very much
stepping between the low-hanging branches we use as pinch-hit away.
umbrellas. We ooooh and ahhhh and snap photos with our phones as As the sky darkens and a
we claim rooms, which is admittedly quite difficult, given that there few stars escape the clouds
are six spread across the property’s three homes (a main house, a overhead, our conversation
guest house and a cabin). Territories staked, we head back through turns to lake stories of our

WISH YOU WERE HERE
h The cabin, far left,
has three bedrooms
and a full kitchen; the
guesthouse, at right
and below, is a studio
with a kitchenette.
(Both are as glam as
youths—tales of moonlit swims the rest of the place.)
and “desert island” exploration
and tubing expeditions gone
awry. Sitting here on this dock,
glasses of wine in hand, it’s
obvious we’re feeling lake-y, and
not at all in that manicured-
lawn, waterside-subdivision
kind of way.
“Huh,” I say. “I really wasn’t
expecting this quiet. I guess it’s early-morning clouds. Taking a
because it’s the offseason?” seat on the overstuffed couch, I
Everyone shrugs. Could be can only see water—that’s how
the fact that’s it’s offseason, close to the shore the main
we’re all thinking. Could be house is. Repeating Arshia’s
the weather. Or it could be this sentiment from the previous
place. Whatever the reason, evening, I feel like I’m on a boat.
we’ll take it. And maybe that’s why I
We’ll also take the fact that start noticing all the references
when it’s time to turn in, it’s just to nautical life I’d missed on
a few chigger-free strides up the my initial walk-through of
lawn to reach our little havens. the house: the oil painting
of a schooner in the kitchen,
I
wake up to the sound of rain the ship’s wheel propped up
and acorns hitting the roof. in the fireplace, the knotted
I’m tucked into a linen- ropes, the blue-and-white-
sheeted king-sized bed in the striped everything. Or maybe
main house’s master bedroom, it’s because I didn’t come here
and it’s dark, dark, dark. Quiet, thinking, Lake. But now, even in
too. Just those raindrops and the rain, even in the offseason,
those acorns. it’s inescapable. It’s everywhere.
We’re scattered across the You’ve done it, Lake Hamilton,
property, which is essentially a I think to myself. And I don’t
ring of three clapboard cottages mind it one bit.
skirting a tree-shaded (hence
the acorns) gravel drive. The
homes are so well-designed,
so meticulously detailed, that THE LAKE LODGE
it’s hard to tell if they’ve been
LAKE HAMILTON, HOT SPRINGS
renovated or custom built
from the ground up. I imagine SLEEPS:
it’s a combination of the two. 18 in six bedrooms
The furnishings are a mashup and a bunk room.
of old and new, too: a lot of
Restoration Hardware, a little AMENITIES:
Tree-shaded serenity, 100 feet of
Etsy-chic vintage and so many lake frontage, a covered dock, a
ethnic textiles you almost feel huge deck, a fire pit, fully stocked
like you’re in a souk. kitchens (two, plus a kitchenette!),
Early riser that I am, I have top-of-the-line everything, the
coziest linens, a fully stocked toy box
the main house to myself for a and basically everything you’d ever
spell. And though it’s hard to need for a lake trip, ever.
CABIN PHOTO BY LAURA KELLERMAN
pull myself out of those linen

sheets, I’m rewarded with one RATES:
$599 a night
heckuva morning view. It’s
misty and gray again, and the INFO:
forested ridge across the lake vrbo.com/1076268
is almost smothered by lacy

WISH YOU WERE HERE
H With fire pits, cozy

LAKE blankets and comfy
HAMILTON-ING couches, the deck is a
IT UP perfect spot to perch,

even when the weather
isn’t exactly “lakey.”
Exploring the other
side of Spa City
Modern and Contemporary Art from the Martin Muller Collection
Captain Jack’s Lake Cruise

No boat? No prob. Captain Jack will
pick you up from the Lake Lodge’s
dock and cruise you around on his
10-person pontoon. And Jack’s in
the captain’s chair, so you can enjoy
that sunset with a side of sauvignon
blanc. (captainjacklakecruises.com)
Garvan Woodland Gardens

550 Arkridge Road
It’s gorgeous no matter the season,

but we’ve got a soft spot for late-
fall visits to our favorite botanical
gardens. Show up around sunset—the
Lake Hamilton views are drool-
worthy—and then linger a bit while
the twinkling holiday lights set the
forest aglow, beginning Nov. 18.
(garvangardens.org)
Ouachita Outdoor Outfitters

112 Blackhawk Lane
Lake Hamilton in the summer? BUSY.
Lake Hamilton in late-fall to winter?
Serene. Now’s the time to try your
hand at kayaking or SUP-ing, and
this nearby outfitter has everything
you need to get out on the water.
(ouachitaoutdoors.com)
The Rib Cage

5429 Central Ave.
Yes, we know: McClard ’s Bar-
B-Q. We’re super-fans, too. But
this Central Avenue food truck is
more than worth expanding your
horizons, especially your beef-brisket
horizons. (facebook.com/ribcagehs)
Luna Bella
104 Grand Isle Way
Locals rave about the on-point steaks
and Little Italy-worthy pastas at
this romantic Italian-American
spot. Order some martinis and
arancini, and settle in for a night
of serious caloric splurging. (It’ll be
worth it.) (lunabellahotsprings.com)

ARKANSAS NATURAL AUDUBON ARKANSAS
HERITAGE COMMISSION This one’s for the birds, literally.
If ornithology tickles your feath-
Thanks to the Arkansas Natural
ers, consider working with Audu-
Heritage Commission, 73 areas
bon Arkansas as a community
around the state have been set
scientist. The organization hosts
aside for the preservation of
bird watch and count programs
Arkansas’ original natural land-
throughout the year that are
scape—to protect threatened
open to birders of all degrees of
plant and animal species, and
experience. Do hummingbirds
provide essential habitats. But
set your heart aflutter? Keep an
those species need stewards to
eye out for these avian pixies
help continue their survival. From
and their feeding sources from
simple cleanups and mainte-
nance to species monitoring ARKANSAS MASTER NATURALISTS the comfort of your own home.
Or join 16,000 other citizen
and habitat restoration, there
In addition to their outdoor volun- scientists in counting birds that
are many ways to preserve
teer service and outreach efforts, visit your feeder from November
Arkansas for future generations.
the Arkansas Master Naturalists through early April. You can even
Got a group of conservation-
have made it their mission to submit sightings to the eBird
minded friends? Check out the
better educate the public about online database, a partnership
commission’s Adopt a Natural
the ecology and management of between Audubon and Cornell,
Area program. (naturalheritage.
our natural resources. But before no matter where you are. (ar.
com/Get-Involved/volunteer)
you can teach others, you’ve audubon.org/get-involved/volun-
gotta be well informed yourself, teer-us)
OZARK HIGHLANDS right? Start your path to master-
TRAIL ASSOCIATION hood as a Naturalist in train- BUFFALO NATIONAL
ing, where through 40 hours of
Not surprisingly, world-class both classroom instruction and
RIVER PARTNERS
trails like the Ozark Highlands practical application in the field,
Are you as obsessed with the
Trail don’t just spring up of their you’ll learn about everything from
first national river as we are?
own volition, and they certainly meteorology and public land use
Maybe this volunteer opportunity
don’t maintain themselves. It to trail maintenance and stream-
will float your boat. The Buffalo
takes the work of folks like those quality testing. Training typically
National River Partners have
at the Ozark Highlands Trail Asso- starts in January, but you’ll want
made it their mission to advo-
ciation, who’ve put over 350,000 to apply to the program early
cate for and conserve one of The
volunteer hours (40 years worth!) to reserve a spot. (wordpress.
Natural State’s most precious
into crafting and controlling this arkansasmasternaturalists.org/
resources. The organization
behemoth of a trail, picking up how-do-i-join)
hosts frequent river cleanups
where the U.S. Forest Service
and invasive-species-removal
left off after funds dried up in the
early ’80s. But members of the
KEEP ARKANSAS BEAUTIFUL projects, where volunteers can
pitch in to help keep the Buffalo
OHTA also believe in the “work
As the name suggests, Keep as pristine and natural as pos-
hard, play hard” philosophy. In
Arkansas Beautiful aims to sible. The best part? You get
addition to all the day-long main-
preserve The Natural State’s to enjoy the river yourself while
tenance events on their calendar,
scenic quality by preventing litter ensuring that future generations
there are just as many day hikes
and promoting recycling. The will get to do the same. (bnrpart-
and overnight backpacking trips
organization, a state affiliate of ners.org)
so that members can thoroughly
AFIELD Keep America Beautiful, offers
Love hiking the Ozark Highlands enjoy the fruits of their labor (aka
a ton of opportunities to pitch
Trail? (That’s it pictured here, near some of the most scenic views in
LAND OF OPPORTUNITY
in. Join other volunteers in the
the Arbaugh Trailhead.) Maybe it’s the Ozarks). And isn’t that what
fall’s Great Arkansas Cleanup or
time to lend a hand to the kind it’s all about? (ozarkhighland-
spring’s nationwide Great Ameri-
folks who keep it clear. strail.com/membership)
can Cleanup litter pickup events.
Volunteering to help conserve Arkansas’ (Last year’s initiatives collected
a total of 175,635 pounds of
natural resources has never been easier litter!) Or if you’d rather organize
CAPTURE ARKANSAS | MICHAEL STANDRIDGE
an event for your own community,

By Wyndham Wyeth
sign up for the Litter Grabber Pro-
gram to receive a free cleanup
kit, which includes gloves, trash
A
rkansas has long been lauded for the richness of its natural landscapes—its plentiful forests, rivers
bags and T-shirts to get your
and streams. But you don’t have to be an environmental-science expert to know that maintaining crew started. Every little bit
such a commodity requires a bit of give and take—meaning that if we want to keep The Natural makes a difference. (keeparkan-
State as natural as possible for as long as possible, we’ve got to do our part. So if you’re ready to pitch sasbeautiful.com/get-involved/
in, these organizations could use a hand. volunteers)

CULTURALIST 11.7
WHERE TO BE THIS MONTH
11.1
KEITH URBAN AT VERIZON
ARENA IN NORTH LITTLE ROCK
11.10-11
11.2
BELLA VITA JEWELRY’S 10TH
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION GRIN AND
DURING 2ND FRIDAY ART
NIGHT IN DOWNTOWN LITTLE
ROCK BEAR
11.2-3, 9-10
PETER PAN AT
WALTON ARTS CENTER
GRYLLS IT Four times a year, Oxford American gives us Arkansans one
more thing to be proud of: the fact that the National
Magazine Award-winning quarterly calls Little Rock
THROUGH 12.2
11.3
HARVESTFEST IN LITTLE
Been a few decades since
home. Once a year, it’s our turn to give back, and that’s by
supporting the lit mag’s efforts at its annual fundraising RESPECT:
CELEBRATING
your scouting days? Forgot
ROCK’S HILLCREST gala, Books, Bourbon & Boogie. Not that it’s exactly a
how to use a compass,
tough sell—especially this year, with Arlo and Sarah Lee
11.8
CRYSTAL BRIDGES
start a fire (sans a
Duraflame!), build a lean-
Guthrie providing the entertainment. (Bonus: It’s the
50th anniversary of the folkster’s Alice’s Restaurant. Just one
50 YEARS OF
MUSEUM OF AMERICAN
ART’S DISTINGUISHED
to? The friendly rangers at
Pinnacle Mountain State
more reason to celebrate!) (oxfordamerican.org) AFRICOBRA AT
SPEAKER SERIES: ARTIST
JULIE MEHRETU
Park are hoping to rectify
this during their annual MOSAIC TEMPLARS
11.2-30 11.8-10
Survival Skills Weekend,
CULTURAL CENTER
MOUNTAIN VIEW
where $20 gets you all the
know-how you’ll need to 11.16 IN LITTLE ROCK
JOSHUA ASANTE’S BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL rough it in the wild, wild
“THIS FILM SHOULD

wilderness—scout’s honor.
MY SELVES 11.9
BIKE RACK RECORDS
(arkansasstateparks.com/parks/
pinnacle-mountain-state-park)
IN CONSTANT RELEASE PARTY AT THE
11.3-4
DISSONANCE/
RECORD IN BENTONVILLE
11.13
BE PLAYED LOUD!”
MY SELVES IN SUN JUNE AT GEORGE’S
MAJESTIC LOUNGE IN 11.8 It’s this bit of advice that opens The Last Waltz, Martin
Scorsese’s 1978 concert-film masterpiece that captures
PERFECTED FAYETTEVILLE IAMGE COURTESY OF MOSAIC TEMPLARS CULTURAL CENTER
the historic farewell performance from one of the greatest
11.15 MOLLY rock outfits of all time: The Band. And Little Rock’s
HARMONY AT THEA JOHN PAUL WHITE AT SOUTH
BURCH AT
Ron Robinson Theater is taking that advice to heart this
month with a 40th-anniversary screening of the film
As in, mountain bikes? If so, get thee to the first-ever
FOUNDATION IN ON MAIN IN LITTLE ROCK Kessler Mountain Jam (formerly known as the Slaughter
SMOKE & featuring Arkansas music legend Levon Helm (drummer Pen Jam, when it was held, you know, there) for a weekend
IMAGE COURTESY OF THEA
11.20-25
NORTH LITTLE
and vocalist for The Band)—not to mention guest of communing with other mountain-bike likers. Expect
LOVE NEVER DIES AT BARREL IN performances from fellow Arkansan Ronnie Hawkins, bike races, ride clinics (for the newbies!), live music and
ROCK ROBINSON CENTER IN

LITTLE ROCK FAYETTEVILLE
as well as Bob Dylan, Eric Clapton, Joni Mitchell, Muddy
Waters, Neil Young and more. (cals.org/ron-robinson-theater)
cold beer—all along one of the area’s top trail systems.
(fayetteville-ar.gov/kesslerjam)
U.S. Postal Service, Statement of Ownership, Management
and Circulation (Requester Publications Only) 1. Publication
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Percent Paid and/or Requested Circulation (15c divided by 15f
times 100): 66.41%; 70.79%. 16. Not applicable. 17. Publication
of Statement of Ownership for a Requester Publication is
required and will be printed in the November 2018, issue of
this publication. 18. Signature and Title of Editor, Publisher,
Business Manager, or Owner: Larry Graham, Vice President
of Circulation, October 9, 2018. I certify that all information
furnished on this form is true and complete. I understand that
anyone who furnishes false or misleading information on this
form or who omits material or information requested on the
form may be subject to criminal sanctions (including fines and
imprisonment) and/or civil sanctions (including civil penalties).

One Take
In which we gave Little Rock
photographer Stephanie Parsley
a Polaroid, eight frames of film
and one take to get the shot.
LOVE OF LIFE: A STUDY

I kept going back and forth over the course of a week—I was like, What do I love more than
any other thing? Because I could easily be like, Photography! But there are other things in
my life that I love more than that, too. My animals, the little details in my home or
music. My chickens. I think that I’ve just found a balance somehow that I’ve never
really had. I just moved into this house. Work is going so great, and I’m able to travel
and do all the things that I love and be able to provide for us. Michael and I just
moved in together, so love life is awesome, there’s balance there. I really love my life
right now. That’s how I’ve especially been feeling here lately. It’s just been, like, I’m
going in the right direction.
As told to Jordan P. Hickey

Photographed by Stephanie Parsley
To see the other photos Stephanie shot for this issue, visit arkansaslife.com.
NOVEMBER 2018 iii Arkansas Life

NOVEMBER 2018 iv Arkansas Life

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HOW TO TA K E WAYS TO GI V E ON T HE HUN T

T H A NK SGI V ING BACK TO T HE FOR W IL D-G A ME

NATURALLY CURIOUS | November 2018 | VOLUME 11, NO. 3

Cheers to One Eleven—that’s it on our cover,

NOVEMBER 2018 2 Arkansas Life NOVEMBER 2018 3 Arkansas Life

It’ll be OK, I could’ve said. It’s

9 FIVE THINGS FIRST

hat—heart pump- 72 Are you game for some wild pairings?

At the lake? Sounds perfect.

Email us at katie@arkansaslife.com, tweet us

NOVEMBER 2018 4 Arkansas Life NOVEMBER 2018 5 Arkansas Life

EDITORIAL PATSY WATKINS

CREATIVE DIRECTOR EMMA DEVINE U of A journalism emeritus faculty and

M ARKETING & EVENTS DIRECTOR

NOVEMBER 2018 6 Arkansas Life NOVEMBER 2018 7 Arkansas Life

FIVE THINGS FIRST

PHOTO OF MARTIN MULLER BY VIVIAN SACHS, COURTESY OF MODERNISM, INC.

NOVEMBER 2018 8 Arkansas Life NOVEMBER 2018 9 Arkansas Life

wall that links them together:

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Martin credits Marcel Duchamp,

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NOVEMBER 2018 14 Arkansas Life NOVEMBER 2018 15 Arkansas Life

Boy Erased, which boasts the heavy

THE WRITING’S ON THE WALL

The film adaptation of Garrard Conley’s

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(AKA LET’S BURN OFF

DREAMLAND proximity to post-ride pizza and beer).

Cast a line at the Red River Trout Dock in Heber

Saddle up for a horse-drawn hayride at Rimrock

Pack a picnic lunch (that leftover turkey isn’t

2008.12.063, DORAMAE RICKS COLLECTION, MOSAIC TEMPLARS CULTURAL CENTER

To celebrate their centennial, the (AKA I’M STILL FEELING

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Surprisingly, they didn’t notice it the

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IT’S NOT CALLED

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areas of the body.

NOVEMBER 2018 26 Arkansas Life NOVEMBER 2018 27 Arkansas Life

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NOVEMBER 2018 30 Arkansas Life NOVEMBER 2018 31 Arkansas Life

NOVEMBER 2018 32 Arkansas Life NOVEMBER 2018 33 Arkansas Life

Looking for the perfect holiday gift? Share

For $20 A YEYEAR, Arkansas Life will show you new

new reasons to love the place we call home.

FROM OMES AWAY

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Guests can enjoy well- and Grill is the perfect spot to

Notes from the

Bella Vista’s nightclub in a cave THE DARK.

become increasingly difficult

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Usually, when we ask for a

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They take their farm-to-table-slash-glass pretttttty literally at Paris’

R QUARTER BA ONE ELEVEN

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I F W E ’ V E G OT F R I E N D S I N TOW N IF IT’S MUSIC WE’RE AFTER

TH ON MAIN T E WAT E R TAV E R N

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Wanna know what’s being

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