Weekends in Arkansas
Thanks to the travel influencer program SHRPA, we were recently hired to cover two neighboring towns in Northern - Central Arkansas the past two weekends.
The first weekend we (my best friend Jacklyn and I) spent in Hardy, Arkansas, a town of 771 that was hosting it’s 32nd annual Homesteaders Day, as well as a Art & Craft Festival.
The second weekend we spent in Cherokee Village, about 10 minutes away or so. I would say the distance between Marion and Carbondale.
Anyways, these towns were honestly very different despite being so close to one another.
Cherokee Village is Arkansas’ first recreational community. Geographically, it is much larger than Hardy. Where Hardy’s feature is it’s Historic District, that district is only two miles in total. Cherokee Village, however, has 7 lakes, 4 recreation centers, 2 golf courses, and an abundance of lake houses. Hardy has more stores close together in this district, but the majority of the stores are antique or similar. Cherokee Village is more spaced out, and there is a lot of traveling winding roads tucked around the lakes to get to attractions. There is an abundance of side-of-the-road camping spots built into this area too. While Hardy may seem to have more businesses, Cherokee Village has more to do.
One thing they both had in common were that the restaurants seemed to be local (aside from one McDonald’s, Pizza Hut, and Casey’s), but none were open for dinner or on Sundays in Cherokee Village, and Hardy had limited options after 8pm. No real Doordash drivers.
The Homesteaders Day was incredibly interesting and a bit sweet, the people of the town truly get into it with costumes and free food like beans and hoecakes. There were demonstrations of blacksmithing, butterchurns, special hogs. A live band played the entire event, and there were giveaways all day long.
The Arts and Crafts fair was your typical event, lots of handmade goods like painted wooden signs, Cricut crafts, homemade baked goods and fudges, artisan soaps, metalworks, jewelry, and more. After attending both events, we decided to walk the shops in the area and the town was so surprisingly busy during this time! But otherwise, this is a VERY slow little town with not a lot to do. It would be a nice weekend trip if you wanted to kayak or float on the river, go visit other destinations but come back and stay in Hardy, or if you are looking for that slow vibe.
Cherokee Village is definitely one to be visited in Spring or Fall (Summer in Arkansas is not for the faint of heart in terms of heat and bugs). It is an area that the nature is the main attraction, not restaurants, shopping, etc. If you love focusing vacations around activities like being on the lake, fishing, golfing, kayaking a river, swimming at the rec center pools or your lake side rental, this is absolutely the place to go. It is just shy of four hours from Carterville, you are in the foothills of the Arkansas Ozarks, and after Poplar Bluff it becomes slow, curvy, and easy highways (if you are scared of the interstate, honestly take the Cape bridge down 55 to Corning, AR and you will have no problems).
All of this being said, is this the vacation for everyone? No, definitely not. But the people this is for will LOVE it. And those people are the kinds that prefer a nice, slow time in a slow town with no traffic, only seeing people when you want to. Connecting with nature and the folks you brought along. Grabbing groceries on the way down because you know you’re going to have to cook your dinners, but you’re doing it on a grill lake side so who really minds?
We are probably really boring to most people, but we just aren’t one for big cities. We were miserable along the main drag of Gatlinburg, and we don’t like crowds. We don’t understand overpaying for small portions in a trendy atmosphere, and I am such an anxiety-ridden sleep diva that hearing my neighbors or sounds of a city drives me nuts. Our last few vacations we have played bags in the yard, went for scenic drives, fished and kayaked at the property, golfed.
If we sound like you, definitely check out some of my recommend AirBNB and lodging links below!
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