Diamonds in Arkansas

By Elena Coates

What to do with several days and two sharp-eyed children who like to dig in the dirt?  If you live anywhere near Arkansas, I recommend a visit to Crater of Diamonds State Park! 

Crater of Diamonds is one of the few diamond mines in the world and the only one open to the public. The park is set in lovely southwest Arkansas and features an open field where lava flowed from the core of the earth a bajillion and some-odd years ago. It's here, among all sorts of debris, one can find raw diamonds RIGHT ON THE GROUND. 

The park staff plows the field a few times a year, just to stir things up, and visitors are welcome to hunt for gems by looking for them on the ground, panning for them in a stream, or digging for them (but be careful – diamonds may be hard to scratch but they're easy to break). And if you're a complete novice at this activity, no worries – the staff will show you a video, give you a live tutorial, and look at your rocks, just in case you really do find something.

We traveled from Houston, Texas, where there are only two seasons - summer and Groundhog Day.  So, on that fall day, as we drove north on U.S. Highway 59 it became increasingly scenic: suddenly there were hills and the trees actually changed colors. And when we hooked a right in Texarkana, it was apparent that we really weren’t in Texas anymore.

We hauled our two boys to a newly-constructed Old West Town called Diamonds Old West Cabins, just 5 miles north of the park in Murfreesboro.

As the name implied, Murfreesboro is a very small town (about 1,600 people). Still, everything we needed was found at either the Rehkopf’s grocery store or the Dollar General next door.  There’s even a good Mexican restaurant, Los Agaves, with great service and tasty food.  But be aware:  Pike County is dry, so if you want alcohol you need to bring your own. 

Back at the Diamonds Old West Cabins we stayed in the Blacksmith shop, a small one-bedroom outfit with a loft for the kids. It came with a full kitchen, an electric fireplace for warmth and atmosphere, and a fire pit outside (wood provided). Also worthy of mention is the hot water heater, which was first-rate; especially since the temperatures dipped into the 20s and conditions were extremely icy in late November.  Owner Misty was wonderful, and the playground on the property was a huge hit with the kids.   When we arrived and went into our cabin, our older son actually shouted, “This is the coolest place I’ve ever been in my whole life!”

From there we spent a cold, wet, windy, but fun day searching for diamonds in the park.  Conditions were extremely muddy, and I recommend knee-high rubber boots if it has rained within a week of your visit.  Inside the visitor center lobby, there was a video showing the park’s more significant finds which was encouraging, but we left with our hands full of only quartz and jasper.

Not to be deterred – and eager to avoid the black ice on the roads – we next hiked around lovely Lake Greeson which is just a few miles north of Murfreesboro, and in the afternoon visited Ka-Do-Ha Indian Village, just 5 minutes down the road from our cabin.  Don’t be put off by their unsophisticated website – it’s worth a trip!  They have an interesting gift shop with items ranging from cheap chotskies to Native American pottery, jewelry, and crafts.  They also have a modest but fascinating museum display in the adjoining room that includes pottery, weapons, and several burial mound replicas.  The mounds are especially great; they show reproductions of the skeletal remains of native people and the stuff they were buried with.

If that’s too historical for your young’uns, don’t fret. The shop also sells pre-stocked buckets of sand that ensure finds of polished stones, semi-precious gems, and – for the right price – an actual cut diamond.  Our kids had a blast sifting through their buckets in spite of the freezing temperatures, and they love their treasures.

No doubt we will return to Arkansas in the summer, when Houston’s hot, muggy flat-ness becomes overwhelming. But good weather is only part of the reason we’ll go back. Everyone we encountered was friendly and helpful and the facilities were fantastic. Searching for diamonds in Arkansas, who knew we’d find so many?

Finding Dubrovnik

“Eastern Slavonia? Sure, I’ll go, where is it?”  On the other end of the phone there was silence; then the lady from the State Department said, sardonically, Yugoslavia.

In the summer of 1996, after volunteering for the United Nations mission in the former Yugoslavia, I stepped off the plane on to the hot tarmac in Zagreb, Croatia. But my first impression of the old country was one of perplexity. I’d never been to a state in civil war. The airport looked abandoned; there was no hustle and bustle of air travel, just an eerie silence and waves of tall grass bending to the wind. Fortunately, the United Nations efforts were successful and the fighting changed to peace; what also changed were my feelings. I warmed to the hospitality of the people and their peculiar Balkan ways but it was visiting Dubrovnik that captivated me.  

For more than 1000 years, Dubrovnik has been the jewel along Croatia’s Dalmatian coastline. Yet several years after the conflict, “war-torn” was a tough prefix to scrap keeping most folks from venturing a toe into the former Yugoslavia. 

In 2001 we were leaving a London hotel to catch a flight to the Balkans. Our concierge asked us about our follow-on destination and we told him Dubrovnik, Croatia. This was met with an odd look, then he said, “Well, don’t get shot.” Fortunately, that misperception about Croatia was laid to rest long ago letting old Dubrovnik shine, once again, as the Pearl of the Adriatic.

Today cruise liners deposit nearly a million folks a year on the shores of Dubrovnik. During the apex of the season, hundreds of tourists swell the streets almost daily. As soon as one boat leaves another takes its place and the cycle repeats. So, knowing the cruise ships schedule can be helpful for planning a stay:

www.croatiatraveller.com/southern_dalmatia/Dubrovnik/cruise-schedule.html

If you do visit, I have a few recommendations:

Where to stay? There are many fine hotels but my personal favorite is the Villa Dubrovnik http://www.villa-dubrovnik.hr/.  Situated just outside the Old City, all rooms have spectacular sea views. And from April until October guests can take the hotel’s Venetian Vaporetto Speedboat shuttle to the city as well as to some of the local islands.

Where to eat? For an essence of the cosmopolitan coupled with exquisite dining, the Restaurant Nautika is the spot www.nautikarestaurant.com/. Located along the western entrance to the Old City, the kitchen is supplied with the daily catch of local fishermen. Also, when dining there, don’t be surprised if you see some head of state, or a movie star, or the Pope even.

When to visit? It all depends on your mood. If you like lively activity, then the summer festival is for you www.dubrovnik-festival.hr. Music, theatre, and art invigorate the warm nights as well as a nightcap at one of the many restaurants along the ancient Placa street. If a more halcyon setting is desired, late fall and winter offer the right mix of tranquility and splendor in the Old City. Under these atmospherics, an artist can find inspiration by simply living day-to-day. 

So what is this?

What is e-Consigliere? It’s travel advice with lagniappe; that little something extra that make personal adventures singular. 

It settles the debate on: the second Bellini at Harry’s Bar in Venice; riding the rapids or bungee jumping over the Zambezi River in Livingstone, Zambia (or doing both); taking an elephant ride in the jungles of Sri Lanka; booking midnight trains from Zagreb, Croatia to Amsterdam.

As the name suggests, e-Consigliere is here to give trusted travel advice to the boss; and the boss is you.

Party to the heavens in San Miguel, literally!

 

Mardi Gras, Super Bowl, and the 4^th of July all start on the same day in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. In late September the city celebrates its patron saint, the Archangel Michael, with a seven-day festival that reaches its apex on the weekend and packs the small mountain town with a jubilant crowd.

Normally, the population of San Miguel is near 70,000. When we arrived, on Saturday September 28, there may have been that many people lining a single street watching what seemed to be a never-ending parade. The electric feeling of this shindig was highly infectious because everything was music, dancing, fireworks, and more fireworks - and then there were the church bells.

Several beautiful and long standing churches, one dating back to 1564, grace the old city. Most have bells, which swung freely during the celebration. One of particular note is the architectural marvel, La Parroquia de San Miguel Arcángel.

Seated in the El Chorro neighborhood, La Parroquia is opposite of the Jardin (or Main Garden) in the center of town. With its Neo-gothic façade flanked by two tall towers, this parish church tolled its gigantic 17^th century bells, along with the other abbeys, throughout the festival day and well into the night. Staying just a few blocks away, we also heard them clearly throughout the festival day and well into the night.

That evening each clang from the cloisters seemed to be followed by a massive aerial explosion and vice versa. It was as if a sort of competition was being waged between man and the divine. But around midnight the weather changed and that’s when the battle really started.

Across the mountaintops came a fast moving storm monster, which swooped into town without warning and dumped goo gobs of cold rain along with rapid-fire lighting strikes. Who knows, maybe the Almighty had had enough of the racket coming from this highland town; so game over, right?  Not a chance. With each streaking bolt and thunderous burst from the heavy weather, there followed an explosion of fireworks and the eruptions of church bells. What’s not to love about this place?

On Monday morning, this swollen festival town returned to its normal charming size and self. It was as if a giant plug had been pulled; the pedestrian packed streets were now drained and replaced with the quiet business of the everyday. Once again, life and the living took up the normal and hummed along on the near 500 year old narrow cobblestone lanes. Make no mistake though; San Miguel de Allende is no one-trick pony. This city has a rich and vibrant culture of art and music, which is accentuated by the cosmopolitan air of some 8,000 to 12,000 foreign residents. Still, with its upscale restaurants, grand hotels, and effervescent nightlife, San Miguel does not come across as pretentious. And with the annual archangel clambake, how could it?

Reptiles, Art, and Money - or is it just Guanajuato?

Some bar, Guanajuato, Mexico - This was our first trip to Mexico and we used the beautiful San Miguel de Allende as our base for the week. From there, the city of Guanajuato was about an hour and ten minute drive Northwest. So, at 9 am we were picked-up by our guide/driver, Dhali, and for the next few hours we enjoyed the many quirky stories about the beautiful and mysterious “Hill of Frogs.”

Guanajuato’s nickname has a number of variations (Hill of Frogs, Mountain of Frogs, Place of Frogs) and said to have been named so because of the shape of the mountain it sits upon. It also happens, Guanajuato sits upon silver mines that are reported to have produce 30% of the world’s sliver for the last 250 years. Seems kissing this frog really did produce a prince.

The eccentricities of the place started as soon as we entered the city - through what use to be part of the underground sewer system. This intricate scheme of tunnels was originally crated to control the serious flooding that plagued the town until construction of a dam in the 1960s solved the problem. Today the well-lit subterranean byways serve to relieve the city of automobile traffic.




Our short visit started at the statue of El Pipila, a local hero in the Mexican War of Independence. From that spot a spectacular panorama of Guanajuato presented itself to our view. Next, we ventured into the city to visit the birthplace of perhaps its most famous resident, Diego Rivera.

Born Diego Maria de la Concepcion Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodriguez, the rest of the world simply calls the artistic genius Diego Rivera. His childhood home has been converted into a museum containing works spanning his brilliant artistic career and, as we learned from our guide Dhali, stories of his colorful life.

In 1933, Rivera (a long-time communist) was commissioned by Nelson Rockefeller (a titan of capitalism) to paint a mural for Rockefeller Center. What could possible go wrong?

According to Dhali, when Rivera started the mural, Man At The Crossroads, Rockefeller kept an eye on him but as events would show, not close enough. No one was aware of the final images Rivera painted on the mural until it was unveiled. That’s when Rockefeller and others saw the father of Communism Vladimir Lenin staring down from the painting. Naturally, Rockefeller and the American public went nuts. So, the mural was covered with drapery and later it was destroyed. Of course, Rivera was furious but the blow may have been softened a bit after he received full payment of $21,000.



 
Our tour ended at the majestic Juarez Theatre. Opened in 1903, after only 31 years of construction, the beauty of the neoclassical façade crowned with eight Greek muses was certainly matched by the elegant décor inside. And again, our guide Dhali provided some very interesting details.

On each side of the stage there were three levels of box seats. Back in the theater’s heyday, Dhali said, well-dressed and attractive “ladies of the evening” would occupy these seats at the behest of theater management. The women were placed there so they could flirt, wave, and make eyes at all the gentlemen. I guess it was their form of pre-game and halftime entertainment. But I don’t imagine the wives in the audience liked it much, nor the husbands when they got home.