Things To Do
Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art
Incredible art museum fueled by (as with most things here) enormous amounts of Walmart money through the Walton family. The museum, the surrounding property, and the touring exhibits are consistently incredible. They even up and moved a Frank Lloyd Wright house to be on the premises. A HOUSE. Really great place, and very highly recommended!
Scott Family Amazeum
Great family friendly museum geared towards creativity and learning. Plus its right next door to Crystal Bridges! So you could kill two birds with one stone and visit both. Or better yet, leave the birds alone!
Dickson Street
Being a college town, we've got plenty of bars. Dickson street is directly next to the University of Arkansas, making it fairly easy for the college students to forget what they learned in class at the end of a long day. It's a cool place with food, drinks, and a lively nightlife. It's also where the wedding will be!
The Walmart AMP
Another perk for living near the Walmart headquarters! The Amp is an outdoor concert venue right off the interstate in Rogers, Arkansas. We go here many times a year. There's a few shows around the time of the wedding, in case any of the artists float your boat. They usually add shows all summer long, so check in to see if there's one you'd like!
Biking and Mountain Biking
If you're into biking, you won't believe what Northwest Arkansas has in store for you! Not only do we have incredible trails for mountain biking, but we also have all major towns in the area connected by a paved, fully illuminated, and really nice bike path. We also have a very nice mountain biking park called Centennial Park that's located just off the interstate in Fayetteville.
Hiking
Arkansas is called 'The Natural State'. Here's why!
Lake Fayetteville Park
A favorite place of ours. A small lake on the north end of Fayetteville. There's a great paved 5 mile path that we like to take the dogs on. Aryn also does all of her volleyballin' here. It's a great spot to spend an afternoon.
Botanical Garden of the Ozarks
At the edge of lake Fayetteville, the Botanical Gardens are a nice place to stop and look at plants. While that may sound as fun as watching paint dry and grass grow, it, shockingly enough, can actually be interesting sometimes! It's a really nice place, especially if the weather outside is agreeable.
Beaver Lake
If you're into lakes, we have one of those!
Devil's Den State Park
Around 30 minutes south of Fayetteville is Devils Den (awesome name, right?), one of Arkansas best state parts. There's hiking, scenic views, and caves that unfortunately you can't go into anymore because of the bats. But caves nonetheless! A favorite spot of ours and the dogs. Ask Aryn about the drone incident with June if you want a laugh.
Mount Sequoyah
A few minutes drive from downtown Fayetteville, Mount Sequoyah is both a stunning view and very challenging to type without autocorrect. Thanks Google! The view from the top is worth the trip up, and showcases our beautiful town perfectly.
The Grove Comedy Club
Great local comedy club which we try to go to whenever we can. As a bonus, its right next to Goat Lab Brewery, which makes beer and pizza and is a favorite spot for Aryn's volleyball friends.
Walton Arts Center
Another great venue brought to you by ...drum roll... Walmart money. The Walton Arts center is an outstanding place for music and plays. Aryn and Brice saw Hamilton there a few years back, and Aryn listened to the Hamilton soundtrack on repeat for months after. She still does from time to time (and time and time again, in between Taylor Swift albums).
TheatreSquared
While the Walton Arts Center gets the bigger shows, TheaterSquared is home to smaller, more quirky plays. And sometimes good ones!
War Eagle Mill
What at first glance sounds like an awesome name for a metal band, is actually a historic and quaint flour mill just outside of Rogers. There's a restaurant, general store, and some history... but the best part is their yearly craft fair. It's a bit past the wedding date (it starts October 17th), but worth a look if you're both crafty and for some reason stay an extra week.
Eureka Springs
Very cool and quirky town higher up in the mountains. Eureka Springs is a great vacation spot full of attractions (zip lines, haunted hotels, cave tours, exotic wildlife, crafts) and things to do. It's a bit further outside of town, but a fun place to spend a weekend.
The Walmart Museum
Walmart paid for many of the cool things in the area, so you might as well pay them homage! This is the site of the original Walmart store and there's a cool museum they built to show their history. That's cool and all, but the real value is being right in the middle of downtown Bentonville, a great place itself with many outstanding restaurants!