We have a family member who has been performing in Opera in the Ozarks, in Eureka Springs, in northwest Arkansas. If not for her, no way I would have gone to Arkansas in July. We assumed it would be hotter there than at home, but we had a ferocious heat wave going on at home (seven days at 104 or above) and missed about half of it, so it turns out it was a lot cooler there. But the humidity…

We went to two operas, Verdi’s La Traviata, and The Crucible. They were both excellent. I saw Arthur Miller’s The Crucible when I was in high school. This opera was based on the play. Apparently, Arthur Miller decided he would write the opera, but someone told him it would take him twenty years to learn how to write an opera. So someone else, Robert Ward, wrote the music, and Bernard Stambler was the librettist.


On the day in between, we drove to Little Rock and visited Little Rock Central High School and the Clinton Presidential Library. The high school is still a functioning school and therefore closed to the public, but catty corner from it is a NPS center with exhibits. It was very well done and worth visiting. If you are unfamiliar with the history of the school, look it up on Wikipedia. The Clinton Library was also interesting. My favorite part was seeing the gifts from foreign dignitaries and ordinary people. There’s also a replica Oval Office. You could get your picture taken in there for $15. I took my husband’s picture for free. To enter the library we went through security screening very similar to that at an airport.

We did go birding one morning. It was soooooo humid. Later we met our family member for lunch and I had to change my clothes - they were just drenched in sweat.

We decided Eureka Springs is probably nice in Spring or Fall, and the trees there are magnificent. Also, surprisingly, no mosquitos!

1. Travel outfit - Lee cropped jeans, LLBean linen shirt, Adidas Campus sneakers, navy Eddie Bauer Travex windbreaker (not shown) for cold airplane and airports. On the trip home I wore nearly the same outfit except for the striped Talbots top (see finds)
2. Opera outfit - Vince Camuto top, Style & Co cropped jeans, Naot Sandals, navy Charter Club linen jacket (not shown). I wore a similar Charter Club paisley top the second night. I was right in the middle, in dressiness, and felt fine.
3. Little Rock outfit - Lands End tee, International Concepts shorts, Teva Tirra sandals, Patagonia waist pack.
4. Little Rock Central High School
5. NPS visitor center and vintage Mobil gas station (where reporters called in their stories on the pay phone)
6. Clinton Presidential Library along the Arkansas River
7. Replica Oval Office
8. Saxophones given as gifts
9. Immature Eastern Bluebird

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Authentic Talbots Bateau Neck Tee - Savanna Stripe
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