Good Morning Greenwood -- well at least a farm near it. It's a gorgeous morning and my sweetheart is moving much quicker than I. I'm taking a few minutes to enjoy my time in bed. Upon rising, apparently Mister is peeking through the windows at me --- such a peeping Doug.
Peeking back a few minutes later --- he is washing the windows on the car and preparing for another day of driving.
That's it -- Mister has us packed up and we are on the way into Greenwood, where we have located a coffee shop for this morning.
"St. Scholastica Convent (called the Monastery since 1986) was officially founded January 23, 1879, in Shoal Creek. These pioneer Sisters cleared the sandy, rocky soil and could say honestly that they "lived by the sweat of their brow."
As young women began to join the Sisters in their log cabin, additions to the structure were made. By 1898 a quadrangular building surrounding a courtyard was completed, as well as several other buildings. The Sisters moved the motherhouse to Fort Smith in 1925 because of a number of difficulties: lack of water, isolation, poor roads, and inaccessibility to health care. The other option the Sisters had considered for a new motherhouse was Little Rock, the capital city. (The original quadrangular building at Shoal Creek, including the laundry, parish church, school, and rectory were all destroyed by fire November 20, 1940; the buildings spared were the Infirmary, Guest House, and one wing of the former St. Joseph's Academy then used as a chicken house. A few sisters were living at Shoal Creek at that time, but none were injured in the fire.)
Although Sisters in Europe were more contemplative communities, the pioneers in America at first had the primary ministry of educating the children of immigrants. The Arkansas Fort Smith Benedictines helped the Bishop fulfill the 1884 Council of Baltimore mandate to build a school in every place where he built a church."
Well, one Texan briefly considered putting up a fight. It was Dale Barker, publisher of the Zavala County Sentinal that sent Bowles an unsigned postcard reading "Greetings from the spinach capital of the world -- Crystal Springs, Texas," thus announcing that they had since 1937 been and continued in 1987 to be, thanks to the local Del Monte cannery; and by the way THEY had a statue of Popeye, the cartoon patron of all things spinachy, in the town square and therefore they and not the hillbilly usurpers were the true and legitimate Spinach Capital of the World, thank you very much.
Bowles tried to stir up some publicity by fomenting a good-humored rivalry between the towns. He shipped a package of Popeye Brand spinach (Allen Canning is the official licensee of the Popeye trademark.). Also in the package was a bundle of Arkansas soil and a bottle of Arkansas water (Texas has for years tried to buy agricultural water from Arkansas.). Bowles never heard back from Crystal City. I have to conclude that they would have been embarassed to contest Alma's claim.
Just to drive the point home, Bowles commissioned Alma's own eight-foot statue of Popeye and a four-foot base for the town square. Here it is across the street from City Hall, next door to the water company. The work was done in papier mache by Red Moore of Mountainburg, assisted by his wife, Barb. For his work, Red got $2400, about half of which was donated by Allen Canning. The statue was unveiled at the town's annual May Daze Festival and was shortly thereafter stolen, probably by kids from Alma High School (home of the Fightin' Airedales), just a hundred yards away. The sailor man was later recovered from a Wal-Mart trash bin.After he was stolen again a year later, Bowles printed up a sign offering a $500 reward for information about the stolen Popeye. The sign now hangs in Kustom Kaps (run by Sharon Bowles) just a couple of blocks north of the statue. Popeye later turned up in the middle of the street, as if directing traffic
Enough was enough. And after all the wear and tear and two-years' exposure to the weather, Popeye was getting a little soft in spots. He was spruced up and given a hard shell of fiberglass, which served to make him much heavier and harder to steal. He was also chained to his base, where he has remained ever since."
We stopped at Popeye's Garden for a couple of reasons -- one, because it's funky and funny and two, because I need a silly selfie for my BINGO card. Don't ask.
"The overwhelming spinach-packing volume of Allen Canning and the officially licensed Popeye statue ought sufficiently to legitimize the Spinach Capital claim. Just in case it doesn't, though, in 1991 Alma arranged for a distinctive new paint job for its water tower as seen in the lead photo of this story. It's the "World's Largest Can of Spinach" a million gallons worth, which can be viewed by motorists driving east on I-40. The artwork on the water tower was painted by Fort Smith painter William Bland, who also transformed the Rancho Viejo, TX water tower into a teed-up golf ball. When I look at that water tower I imagine the city council meeting where they decide to save a buck by just painting over the old lettering with a shade of green that's SURE to blend into the old paint." We then hunted down the green water tower only to find that it is no longer wonderful. (The picture I've shown is from history - here is the tower now and yes. we went all the way around to make sure.)Part of this process has Mister locating this sign. Well, dang, that's just an invitation, right?
There is a gate inside it -- odd for a keep away -- and even odder --- a Frisbee Golf course inside. Yep, a head scratcher. We ARE inside the gate when taking the picture of the water tower above and you can see one of the golf areas. At any rate -- nice view. This is looking across and doesn't make it appear that the bluff is very high, but it is.
Another impromptu adventure behind us and the road is ours again. As we are driving (and I have no idea where we are), I spot the words "Quilt" and "Fabric" on the front of a building.
Mister quickly turns the car around and a stop is made. What a delightful fabric shop and Patty was fun to visit with. Piece of Heaven is her shop and you can see all the wonderful inside parts by clicking on my separate post LINK. Yep, just click that link and you'll see the pretties. As we continue our path down the road, all of a sudden there is a "Scenic Turnout" on the side of the road. These have been rare and we take advantage BUT - there is a guardrail and chain link fence with barbed wire on top all across the way. So, the word scenic usually denotes "good picture" but they have done their best to ensure that this doesn't happen. They haven't met me. First, I walk up to where I can get above the fence with my camera. That gives me a couple of pictures that are decent. Have I mentioned how foggy it is today?
For the last couple of pictures, I am standing on the top of the guardrail post and Mister is holding onto me. I'm sure those driving by got a smile. Several others stopped, but when they saw the fence, just kept going.
My belly wants food -- plain and simple. At the same time, West Mountain Brewing in in Fayetteville comes onto my radar -- two birds with one stone. Now it is dang chilly as well and misty out to boot.
Bentonville Brewing Co. is next and a potty break is required. Now, sharing that is not something I do often, but . . . just a word out there that I LOVE these type of stalls. Why can't this just be the norm AND then add a place to wash hands inside each one? That would be an ideal world. Back to Mister.
Should we go in? Ahhhh --- so wonderful.
The detail in the room is so fun. Dragonflies appear in many places.
A little restaurant hunting and relaxing takes place and we've chosen Thai for dinner.
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