A FREE museum that you would expect to find in Chicago or New York City, Crystal Bridges is full of world-class art in a beautiful setting nestled in the hills. If you are staying at the 21c hotel, you can easily walk here using the trail just in front of Wright's BBQ in downtown Bentonville. We'd recommend grabbing a coffee, walking the trail down to the museum, and enjoying the next 2+ hours walking through all of the exhibits. There is a restaurant inside the museum, Eleven, that has some great lunch in a very pleasant setting, or you can walk back up the trail for lunch downtown.

We love to spend Saturday mornings walking the trail and enjoying a coffee at Airship Coffee that is only accessible by foot or bike along the trail! There are also several mountain biking trails surrounding the primary paved trail, if you want to bring (or rent) some bikes! There is a parking lot at the north end and the south end, both about a 1 mile walk to Airship Coffee.

Located inside The Ledger Building is the temporary location of The Walmart Museum. A fun, interactive 45 minute tour taking you through the history of the world's largest company (and Nick's employer) from its humble beginnings as a 5 & Dime store to it's current place as #1 on the Fortune 500. After your self-guided tour, grab a coffee and walk up the ramps of the Ledger building to the rooftop overlooking downtown Bentonville.

Hands down our favorite BBQ spot in Arkansas

We highly recommend the Onyx Delight!

If you are coming into town early and looking for a fun day of walking, shopping, eating (and drinking), and maybe a tour of the most haunted hotel in America, look no further! Less than a 1 hour drive from downtown Bentonville, Eureka Springs is a fun escape into what feels like a small European town.

If you just want to check it out for a few hours, it's a beautiful drive and you can knock out all the boutique shopping, exploring, and lunch in about 4-5 hours. You could roll out Friday morning and be back for an afternoon nap (Emily's favorite) before dinner and the welcome party.

For the full experience we recommend staying Thursday night in one of the many historic, 100+ year old hotels (Basin Park, New Orleans, The Crescent) and enjoying dinner and the kooky nightlife. Nick and Emily have stayed at the Basin Park and highly recommend a morning at their in-house spa. Nick and Emily have also enjoyed drinking moonshine on the rooftop of the New Orleans hotel, but that was with the owner and unfortunately an experience we cannot offer to our wedding guests.

"America's most haunted hotel", The Crescent, sits atop the hill overlooking downtown and you can stay there for the night and sign up (in advance!) for a ghost tour of the premises. Nick and Emily did this last year and their pro tip is that the Crescent actually has a pool (with a pool bar) and is a great way to spend the afternoon relaxing following a morning of shopping and people-watching!