Where to go for summer vacation? Well, it all started with a report on CBS Sunday Morning about the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas. The museum was built by the Walton Family. The girls thought it looked cool, so we started planning a trip to that area.
Here is the news piece we saw:
Taking a look around on AirBnB, we found a lake house on Lake Brittany in Northwest Arkansas.
The lake house featured a three-headed shower!
One of the main attractions for renting the lake house was the opportunity to go kayaking on the lake. The weather was VERY uncooperative for our trip, so we had to take to the water early on our first morning in Arkansas.
Amy
Chloe
Essie
Essie
Chloe
This really cool chapel was built by a man in memory of his wife. It was just a couple of miles from the lake house.
The Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art (picture courtesy of museum website)
Admission to all except the special temporary exhibit was free thanks to the Walmart Foundation.
An art installation inspired by the opening to the US Constitution, made with hundreds of multi-colored shoelaces hung by museum guests.
"Rosie the Riveter", by Norman Rockwell
Portrait of Alexander Hamilton, by John Trumbull
"Winter Scene in Brooklyn", by Francis Guy, painted in 1820. The streets depicted are now under the Brooklyn Bridge.
Marquis de Lafayette
Essie and Chloe participate in a light study exhibit.
Turkeys painting by John James Audubon
"Free", by Emma Marie Cadwalader-Guild
One of the first pieces of art acquired for the museum, "Kindred Spirits", by Asher B. Durand
"Sierra Nevada Morning" by Albert Bierstadt
"Rooster", by Gustav A. Dentzel
"Milking Time", by Winslow Homer
Dad found a painting by one of his favorite artists, Henry Ossawa Tanner - "The Good Shepherd".
Tiffany lamp
Portrait of Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife, by John Singer Sargent
Piece by Diego Rivera
"The Holy Grail" - regarded by many to be the single greatest quartz cluster found in America
Special meeting space attached to the museum
"Mille-Fleur" - an installation by Kim Dickey made up of individually hand-painted ceramic rosettes
Closeup of "Mille-Fleur"
Highly-refined senses of humor on display
A house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright was donated and transported to the museum from New Jersey.
Essie poses with a painting of the Radiator Building in New York, by Georgia O'Keefe.
"Depression Bread Line" - a sculpture by George Segal. A bronze cast of this sculpture is part of the Franklin Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C.
"Eagle", by Luis Alfonso Jimenez
This portrait of Andrew Jackson, "The Cost of Removal", is pinned with strips of broken treaties between Native Americans and the United States government.
One of a series of 3-dimensional art installations using a screen door, by Jamie Wyeth. This one features an image of Atticus Finch and Scout from the film "To Kill a Mockingbird".
"Our Town", by Kerry James Marshall
Portrait by Kehinde Wiley, probably best known for her portraits of the Obamas, based on the 16th century "Portrait of a Florentine Nobleman" by Francesco Salvieri.
"Autumn Wind", by Hung Liu
This sculpture of an alien-like spider is called "Mama" because it reminded the artist of her mother?
Chloe made a friend.
A family of deer joined us on the museum trails.
Of course, you can't visit Bentonville without checking out Walton's Five & Dime and the Walmart Museum.
A new flavor right up Amy's alley.
Finally, a couple of hours of sunshine on the lake!
The hosts encourage their guests to add to this piece of art in the lake house.
Here is Chloe & Essie's contribution.
On the way home, we stopped at Lambert's Cafe in Ozark, Missouri - the Home of Throwed Rolls
They just dropped by a heap of fried okra for the table.
Yum!
We were supposed to stop and go hiking on the way home, but the weather did not cooperate. So we stopped off at a movie theater and watched Top Gun: Maverick instead!
An enthusiastic two thumbs up from these ladies
Now, home to Kentucky!
