Day One-Hundred-Thirty-Nine to One-Hundred-Forty-One - A Summer of Bluegrass, Camping and Friends - Friday 09/13/2024 - Sunday 09/15/2024

It was misty, dark, and 60° at 6 am on Friday, September 13th, for my 257th walk of 2024. It was my final walk in Branson for this trip. Darkness gives you ample time to reflect. I found this quote fitting... "Ambition is the path to success. Persistence is the vehicle you arrive in." -- Bill Bradley

We departed Branson MO on Friday September 13th. I said an extra prayer that morning for safe travels... not that I am superstitious or anything! Bob & Tammy and Tim & Debbie did a great job getting us out of the campground and on the road for our first of three moves on this caravan.

On our drive to Mountain View, I gave the directions from our road log over the radio. I also interjected information about the area and interesting points we were passing. Here are just a few.

Buffalo National River was America’s First National River. Established in 1972, Buffalo National River flows freely for 135 miles and is one of the few remaining undammed rivers in the lower 48 states. The river includes running rapids to quiet pools while surrounded by massive bluffs of the Ozark Mountains.

Harrison was named after Marcus LaRue Harrison, a surveyor who laid out the city along the Crooked Creek at Stifler Springs. The community has a sad history of racism. There were two race riots in the early 20th century and an influx of white supremacist organizations during the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Because of this, a few sources have called this town “the most racist town in the US.”

The history and Folklore of Searcy County Arkansas states that St. Joe was originally called Monkey Run. No one liked that name. Around 1900 when six miners from St Joseph Missouri, received the largest quantity of mail to come into the post office, the town name of St. Joe was adopted.

We arrived at the church across the street from Mt View Guest House and RV Park and the caravanners started unhooking their tow cars, while I got together with Shawna and determined the order that the caravanners had to enter the park and get into their spots, so no one blocked anyone else from getting in.

Shawna does a great job assisting us while we are in Mt View. She caters a lovely pizza dinner with entertainment from her friends, Roni & Scott. 

Since the weather was not cooperating, the music was unplugged in the rally room and we enjoyed the pizza, salad and music as a cozy group of friends.

The rain showers scrubbed the Friday night music at the courthouse and there were very few pickers in the park... dampness, rain and stringed instruments do not mix well. So, several caravanners went to the Jimmy Driftwood Barn. Jimmy Driftwood's features folk, gospel, country, and bluegrass music performed by local performers and friends from around the country. 

James Corbitt Morris, known professionally as Jimmy Driftwood, was a prolific American folk music songwriter and musician, most famous for his songs “The Battle of New Orleans” and “Tennessee Stud”. Driftwood wrote more than 6,000 folk songs, of which more than 300 were recorded by various musicians. Jimmy Driftwood was born in 1907 in Richwoods Valley seven miles from Mountain View, Arkansas. He grew up working on his parent's farm. As a small boy he wanted to be a school teacher. When he was sixteen he finished the eighth grade and took the county teacher’s examination and got a three month’s summer teaching contract at $40.00 a month.

They say Jimmy wrote his first poem when he was eight and his first song when he was 12. There were no libraries in the hill schools, so Jimmy wrote poems, tales, songs and plays for his own students, In 1936 Jimmy wrote a song for his students, The Battle of New Orleans, in an attempt to get his students interested in learning history. In 1957 he recorded the song for RCA in an album. When recorded by Johnny Horton, the song was #1 of the Billboard Top 100 for the entire year of 1959. That song and others took Jimmy Driftwood out of the public schools and into concert halls over much of the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Ozarks Jubilee, the Louisiana Hayride, and he was a member of the Grand Ole Opry.

Jimmy was an environmentalist, and led a successful fight to block the United States Army Corps of Engineers when they planned to dam the Buffalo River near his home in the beautiful Ozarks. He had a major role in preserving Blanchard Springs Caverns which later came under management of the Unites States Forest Service. After leaving the Grand Ole Opry in 1962, Jimmy returned to his home in Timbo, Arkansas, and was instrumental in establishing Mountain View Arkansas as the Folk Music Capital of the World. He built the Jimmy Driftwood Barn where folk and mountain music is still played today by local and visiting musicians.

There was an off and on mist for my 258th walk of 2024. Saturday the 14th of September, it was my first walk in Mountain View for this trip. I went back to my happy, peaceful place here, the stone amphitheater. "Energy and persistence conquer all things." - Benjamin Franklin

I talked about it in an earlier blog, but it is such a special place, it is worth mentioning again. It stands to reason that the Folk Music Capital of the World, Mountain View, Arkansas would have an amphitheater.  They do and it is quite unique!  It was built using stone quarried from the area. Mountain View is also in Stone County. There is not much water in the creek right now, but in the spring it can be very full! 

Shawna has coffee and donuts for us every Saturday morning that we are here with our caravan. We get to enjoy a leisurely morning at the campground before everyone heads out to see what they want to see on their free day in Mountain View. There is so much here to enjoy, besides music! 

We have an entire free day in Mountain View, after our donuts and coffee! You can visit McSpadden Mountain Dulcimers Shoppe. McSpadden Mountain Dulcimers made their first mountain dulcimer in 1962. Their craftsmen have over 75 years of experience among them. They use their hands at every stage of dulcimer making, thus you’ll find evidence of careful quality construction.

The dulcet tones and harmonious drones of the Appalachian dulcimer have been an important part of American music for over three hundred years. It is classified as a diatonically fretted “zither” – a “zither” being an instrument with strings stretched across a box from end to end and having no neck as do guitars and violins. Autoharps and hammered dulcimers are also zithers. 

This year our visit coincides with the annual "Off the Beaten Path Studio Tour." This year’s studio tours were on September 13, 14 & 15, the same days we were in Mt View! You could visit the private working studios of local talented artists located “off the beaten path” within a 30 mile radius of the Historic Stone County Courthouse Square. This is the 23rd year of this free self-guided driving tour through the scenic Ozark Mountains which showcases the many talented artists in this region. You can step inside the private studios of painters, potters, weavers, jewelers, hat makers and more to see up-close and personal how and where art is created. Select one of a kind creations directly from the artists to take home and treasure.

They could visit the Ozark Folk Center. Which is located at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. This facility is dedicated to perpetuating the music, crafts, and culture of the Ozarks. The park offers visitors an opportunity to watch artisans work, to stroll through the Heritage Herb Garden, and to hear live Southern Mountain music. In the Craft Village at Ozark Folk Center, more than 20 working artisans demonstrate, create, and sell handmade items Handcrafted items like flame-painted copper jewelry, leather purses and goods, baskets, brooms, stained glass, ironwork, pottery, knives, weavings, quilts, wood carvings, spun yarn, soap, candles, and more are made onsite. 

Music is at the heart of this park. Fiddle, banjo, guitar, mandolin, dulcimer, and autoharp are just some of the instruments that combine to produce that enduring Ozark Mountain sound. While you're in the Craft Village, check out live music on the Blacksmith Stage throughout the day. You don't want to miss the talented local musicians that perform in this intimate setting. The Heritage Herb Garden is where old-time pass-along plants, medicinal herbs, native plants, and edible herbs are grown. The Garden functions as a living classroom for workshops and programs.

While in Mountain View, if history is your passion, be sure to check out the Stone County Museum. Volunteers host the museum on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday from 1-4 PM. Stone County Museum is housed in the historic Mountain View school building built in 1928. The building was placed on the Arkansas Register of Historic Places in 2004. Settlers to our area came down the river, by wagon, and by horseback. Many suffered greatly on the long, bumpy trail to what is now Stone County. Displays in the museum include items these settlers used to set up house including the all-important rocking chair, oil lamps, quilts, and iron cookware. The City Barbershop was a popular spot for locals. Howard Engle operated the shop for years. The museum is home to his barber chair and sink along with a shoeshine stand. This display is new to the museum and will feature many photos and photo displays of Mountain View. Current photo displays include “The Stone County Court House Through the Years” and “Homes and Hotels of Mountain View.” There is a model of the Stone County Academy which was erected in 1895. It is built to scale using wood from the original building. The Academy was a combined free and tuition school, and at one time had more than one hundred students which were boarding in Mountain View and attending the Academy. In addition to the three R’s, student learned Latin, Greek, philosophy, and physics. 

Every Friday and Saturday night you can enjoy the music on the square. 

It's literally in front of the Stone County Courthouse. 

Tonight is Rewind Band - they are playing hits from the 60's, 70's, 80's and 90's. The rain held off long enough for a good portion of our caravanners to enjoy the music and the mild night!

Tim even captured a beautiful picture of the moon!

72° at 6 am on Sunday the 15th. It was perfect weather for my 259th walk of 2024. As I talked to God, I was reminded that there are no such things as coincidence. My Amazon music shuffle played 'Breaking Boundaries' and 'People Like Us' back to back. Both are anthems to my journey of change. “The only journey is the one within.” – Rainer Maria Rilke

I started my walk early, so I had ample time to get ready for our trip to Blanchard Springs Caverns with the group. Blanchard Springs Caverns is located in the Ozark–St. Francis National Forest

It is one of the most spectacular and carefully developed caves found anywhere. You enter a "living" cave where glistening formations like stalactites, stalagmites, columns, and flowstones are still changing.  These crystalline formations are the result of minerals deposited by dripping water.  Blanchard Springs Caverns has a constant year-round temperature of 58°F and nearly 100% relative humidity.

Blanchard Springs Caverns is a three-level cave system, two of which are open for guided tours.  Actually, the 2nd tour is currently closed, as the bats are beginning to hibernate there. We took the Dripstone Trail Tour. This trail travels through two huge rooms filled with an incredible variety and number of crystalline formations – sparkling flowstone, towering columns, curtains, and delicate soda straws. We strolled through the large, beautifully lighted rooms with handrails and paved trails for comfortable walking.

After the cave tour, we stopped at Blanchard Springs. There is a wide stone trail path where you can walk into the woods and see where Blanchard Springs spills out of the cave. A short flight of steps leads down to the water. Blanchard Spring then forms Blanchard Creek, which goes on to fill Mirror Lake, which then flows into North Sylamore Creek.

Then we headed off to Mirror Lake. The lake is accessible by boardwalk and stairs. The water is a beautiful deep turquoise due to mineral deposits from the nearby springs and caves.  The lake is stocked with rainbow trout and is a picturesque place to spend an afternoon fishing in the Ozarks.

One hundred fifty feet from the lake is the site of an old grist mill originally built by John Blanchard. Blanchard came from Kentucky after the Civil War in search of peace and solitude, and he no doubt found it in the secluded canyon of Blanchard Springs. His mill was replaced by Steve Mitchell’s mill in 1900, which operated until 1928. The Civilian Conservation Corp planned to restore the mill to operating condition, but World War II put an end to their plans. The walls have been stabilized to slow the deterioration.

We had a bit of down time before our travel log review and our departure for dinner at Anglers. So, a few games were played in the rally hall!

The dinner at Anglers never disappoints. The group basically had a large room to ourselves!

The service is outstanding and the portions are huge! Did I mention our guests could enjoy an alcoholic beverage if they so desired. 

Anglers is considered a private club, and even though it is located in Stone County, a dry county, they can sell and serve alcohol.

A few of us ventured down to the square to see a little bit of pickin' in the park at Washington Square Park. Not much activity... I am sad that many on this trip did not get to experience the pure music that comes from the everyday average people pickin' in the park.

Stay tuned for more #TwoLaneAdventures