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.