Bentonville, Arkansas

Almost immediately upon crossing in to AR, the scenery and the landscape turned from flat to hilly, from brown to green, and from totally to only somewhat depressed. Two hours or so spent driving through the Ozarks, with dark, thick green trees (they looked like broccoli) lining the highway. Armadillo appears to be the most common variety of road kill. An odd site. Made a quick stop in Fayetteville to take a look at the University of Arkansas and to get some coffee. Drove by the football stadium, through campus, and down Dickson, a street almost exclusively lined with bars on both sides. Unbelievable that we couldn’t find a coffee shop among the various drinking establishments. Nada one. A few miles out of town we stopped at Arsaga's and got our fix.

Less than an hour later we found ourselves in Bentonville, home of Allison and Todd, friends of LVL’s from middle/high school, and the location of Wal-Mart’s headquarters. A/T’s home is really cute, and sits at the end of a cul-de-sac and adjacent to a park. Perfect for Avery (6) and Eva (4), A/T’s two adorable – and ceaselessly energetic – little girls.

We unpacked, hung out for a few minutes with Alli and the two girls, and then piled in A’s minivan on our way to drop the kids off at their grandparents’ office. Hung out there for a while, saying hi and checking out Allison’s dad’s incredible collection of baseball memorabilia. Fun seeing the check signed by Babe Ruth, the signed Barry Bonds ball, and the Doug Glanville book.

Allison, LVL, and I settle on Ron’s Hamburgers and Chili as our dinner spot. The place is an unpretentious cafeteria style joint, with bright lights, wooden tables and booths, and a menu of burgers, chili, and other unhealthy comfort food. To start, we order chili cheese fries with jalapenos (chili on half of the fries). Eh. LVL’s grilled cheese was dry and not too exciting. Never fear, my “Big Daddy” smothered in chili provided all the excitement necessary. Overwhelming, to say the least. Todd, back from a biz trip to Minnesota, arrived just in time to join us for dinner. Great to meet him and to have a bit more time with Allison. A really fun, if gut-busting, meal.

We finished the night by picking the kids up and heading back to A/T’s place. Kids danced around, “showed off,” in the words of their mom, and refused to go to bed when asked.** Though all exhausted, we all stayed up for a while, chatting, looking at hilarious old pictures, and humoring the girls. So much fun.

** One of their favorite toys is the “Flarp,” a little jar of putty (or something) that makes a farting noise when you stick your fingers in it. Never gets old, especially when the girls say things like “wait for it…wait for it,” and then “phhhhhhhhhfffffffffft.” Hahahahahahahahaha. Farts.

Up early to find the girls are still wired, still dancing to kids music on the TV, and still fun to watch. They changed in and out of their dance outfits, and played around as Allison, LVL, and I drank coffee and ate bran muffins. Maybe to distract/placate the kids, we head out to the Station Cafe. Very similar to Ron’s, minus the chili. Breakfast croissants for LVL and me, Mickey Mouse pancakes for the girls. The very friendly owner (?) greets us and then brings the kids vanilla ice cream after we eat.

After breakfast, we took a quick tour of the Wal-Mart museum. Lots of Sam Walton worshipping, and a timeline of Wal-Mart’s development, and knickknacks to represent the current state of the company, including stuff from India, China, and other international locations. Allison thinks that Sam, who does appear to have been a humble, pretty good guy, would “roll over in his grave” if he could see Wal-Mart and Bentonville today. I’m not so sure. Anyone who was as ardent a capitalist as he was (as evidenced in a small way by the Moon Pie/high volume products he pushed) probably wouldn’t be too upset with the kinds of profits the 2010 version pulls in.

From there we walked around the Bentonville town square, where we took a bunch of pictures and checked out the statute in the middle of the square honoring the confederacy. Though B-Ville is a cute, quaint, friendly small town, its conservative, hyper-religious, very deep-south vibe is a bit of a turn off.