(The Two Towers of?) Eureka Springs Arkansas

A few weeks ago my wife and I took a trip to Eureka Springs Arkansas. I hadn't visited there in approximately 30 years, but it still seemed the same, at least according to my mind's eye. I'm sure that the city being placed on the National Register of Historic Places is a big reason for the sameness over the past four decades. We stayed at the Oak Crest Cottages in a pleasant Monet's Garden themed cabin. There is a uniqueness and authenticity to Eureka Springs that I haven't experienced at very many other locations in the States. Much of Eureka Springs feels like being transported to a time past, especially at turn-of-the-century landmarks such as the Crescent Hotel, the Carnegie Public Library, and the former Roxy Theater. 

My wife thought that a visit to Eureka Springs wouldn't be complete without taking one of the advertised "ghost tours" at one of the local haunts (I know, very bad pun), and I was game to visit one of the old hotels. Anyway, we took this type of tour at the Crescent Hotel. As beautiful as the hotel was, it did have a certain creepiness about it. The lobby had a very Gothic design with a foreboding fireplace, which reminded me of the interior scenes of Hades' mansion in the movie Percy Jackson & The Olympians: The Lightning Thief. 

The ghost tour guide advised the group to have our cameras ready and not to delete any bad pictures, as previous tourists had supposedly noticed apparitions and other anomalies in their images. Hmm, I wonder if there could be any correlation between poor images and anomalous images...? Anyway, we enjoyed hearing about the history of the hotel, as checkered as some of it was, and neither of us noticed any odd objects in our digital camera images or even felt an unexplained tap on our shoulders. I guess if all of the bright neon lights would have been turned off in the basement our hairs would have raised on end, but as it was, it felt like any other work place. To me the most interesting thing about that area was seeing the huge washers and dryers - something most of us don't see during hotel stays. Back to the "hauntings". I believe that just like Luke Skywalker visiting Yoda's cave in The Empire Strikes Back, people often project their own fears onto dark and mysterious places. 

In supposedly haunted locations, I believe that the most important thing is to treat the deceased with the utmost respect and not to generate entertainment and money about the ills and troubles of our predecessors. The old adage "rest in peace" strikes me as a continuance of the Golden Rule! The last thing we did was visit the Christ of The Ozarks statue. As with the former Roxy Theater, the statue is another prominent memory from thirty years ago. Not to denigrate it or the Crescent Hotel but given the hills and valleys of Eureka Springs and some of the creepiness of the hotel, I couldn't help but think about The Two Towers, J.R.R. Tolkien's second volume of the Lord of the Rings, both physically and symbolically. The two structures even appear to face each other from opposite sides of the city. We love Eureka Springs!