A day in May in lower Arkansas
I’m back from a Saturday packed with events in the territorial capital of El Dorado. Territorial? El Dorado has been called Arkansas’ Original Boomtown and Cadillac City, but when the oil money faded, south Arkansas began to be treated more and more like a territory. Which is OK with me.
Things were popping downtown on a perfect day in May, and Vertis and I couldn’t wait to get outside.
We began by watching around 50 women cutting the rug to “Dancing Queen” from “Mamma Mia!” in the middle of Jefferson Street in the heart of America’s best Main Street Downtown. These gals weren’t just shuffling to the music; they were perfectly choreographed, and the cheering crowd was so appreciative that they repeated the performance.
That was just part of El Dorado Main Street’s “May on Main.” With crawfish, sidewalk cafes, and plenty of other goodies, the day ended with a production of “Showdown at Sunset.” This gunfight on the courthouse Square is better than the O.K. Corral one in Tombstone, Ariz. The El Dorado gunfight hasn’t had a zillion-dollar Hollywood movie made of it … yet.
We had breakfast in beautiful Corinne Court at Off the Rails Restaurant, and this Best in the City Breakfast Place is certainly unique. Back a couple of decades ago we found an 1878 Central of Georgia Railway coach and a Texas and Rio Grande Railroad caboose in the middle of a cotton field in south Texas. They were once part of a historical railroad museum.
We hauled them to downtown El Dorado, hooked them together (the caboose is the kitchen), put up a train shed, and today Off the Rails is the top breakfast place around. (Think Eggs Benedict.) And breakfast is free if you are staying at Downtown Guest Quarters next door.
After breakfast, we walked a couple of blocks south to Murphy Arts District where, under a large pavilion stretching some 100 yards parallel to the new amphitheater, Willie Nelson and Family will pack some 8,000 fans in on June 22. A combination of a Master Gardeners of El Dorado plant sale and the Farmers Market at MAD had shoppers flooding in. After a sample or two or three, I nearly filled my Sierra Club green mesh bag.
The veggies, fruits, and watermelons are just beginning to come in, and in the next weeks the market will hit its stride; bring several shopping bags if you have sworn off plastic bags.
The Market also has farm-raised meats and eggs. Crafts are always plentiful, and there are dozens of custom bird houses, which would make the nesting birds around your house the envy of all the others in the neighborhood.
And as a bonus, live music was playing.
The adjacent amphitheater with its wide grassy viewing area makes it a perfect place to let kids play while shopping. Or they can cross the street and play in the largest Playscape in the state. If you come after Memorial Day, they can cavort around a huge Razorback where multiple fountains spew water. Kids love it!
The variety of special plants for special situations on display at the Master Gardeners’ sale was impressive. There were dozens of tables covered with virtually every plant you can imagine—including native Arkansas plants—and a lot you can’t imagine. The crowds were elbow to elbow, and customers were standing in line to buy them.
Up the hill from MAD and two blocks from Main Street was the Mayhaw Festival. This year it expanded down Jackson Street past the Newton
House Museum (the city’s oldest house, open for tours) where dozens of booths were set up, with Mayhaw jelly topping the list of about a dozen food and beverage offerings along with arts, crafts, minerals, and fossils. If you like the little tart fruits, you can buy and plant a Mayhaw tree. Around noon and a couple of blocks away, May on Main was getting started. The setup on Jefferson Street across from the courthouse drew crowds to chow down on mudbugs and enjoy entertainment on a stage on the courthouse steps.
As I greeted friends and neighbors, it occurred to me that this is what a small town in the South is all about. Although every day can’t include festivals and markets, the stores, restaurants, and shops will be there.
This is what makes life worth living, and this is the perfect-size town. We don’t need to get any bigger, because we might lose this precious gathering. My thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of “Mamma Mia!” as I looked at Vertis and said, “We don’t get many days any better than this.”
She smiled and nodded, as another friend stopped by to chat.