Bentonville becoming an American classic destination

When Visit Bentonville announced that June is Art and Culinary Month in the northwest Arkansas town, it was hard not to laugh. Try finding a month when art and food aren’t the focal point in Bentonville, about a four-hour drive from Wichita.

Sure enough, event organizers (www.downtownbentonville.org/events/art-and-culinary-festival) have planned special programming, from chef demonstrations to live music performances to film workshops, to boost what has emerged as a respected art, cultural and culinary destination for couples, families and friend getaways.

There’s one reason Bentonville has made it to the list of many travel advisors’ must-see lists: Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. It’s not just the $800 million museum, it’s that the community has used the museum as a catalyst for creating a fun, accessible and affordable recreational tourism destination. The museums are unique to our region – and mostly free – the high south cuisine is abundant and adventurous, and there’s plenty to do outdoors and indoors within walking distance.

When discussing Bentonville tourism, there’s before Crystal Bridges and after Crystal Bridges. Before Crystal Bridges, most visitors to the area were business travelers visiting the headquarters of retail giant Walmart. After Crystal Bridges opened in November 2011, tourism increased. To date, 1.6 million visitors have gone through the doors of the museum, while the Walmart Museum that was drawing 55,000 visitors a year now attracts 250,000. Before Crystal Bridges, Table Mesa Bistro was one of the first new restaurants to open on the downtown square – the center of tourism in Bentonville. Today there are numerous high south cuisine restaurants with award-winning chefs and, food trucks with diners regularly waiting 40 minutes in line to order a crepe. More eateries are under construction. The museum also attracted 21c Museum Hotel, the third in a luxury boutique chain voted among the top in the world. Located just off the downtown square, 21c is the perfect base for a weekend in Bentonville.

With about 40,000 residents, Bentonville is part of a larger regional area of nearly half a million people that stretches from Bella Vista to the north, Rogers to the east, Springdale 15 miles to the south and the college town of Fayetteville 20 miles south. Benton County and its first town, Bentonville, date back to 1836, the same year Arkansas became the 25th state. But the most important day in the history of Bentonville happened in May of 1950. Sam Walton was scouting northwest Arkansas for a place to open a business because it was not too far from where his wife grew up in Oklahoma. He found a seller on the west side of the square, and Sam’s family moved to Bentonville to open a new Ben Franklin variety store that he called Walton’s 5&10. It was the beginning for the man who would go on to create Walmart.

The original store is still there; it’s red and white awning is also the entrance to the Walmart Museum. You could spend the day eating your way around the square: steel cut oatmeal from nearby War Eagle Mill with a side of house-made sorghum sausage served at the Hive, a morning beverage from the extensive menu of handcrafted espresso drinks and other hot and cold options at Pressroom, a savory buckwheat crepe or a sweet crepe from Crepes Paulette, a cone filled with Sam Walton’s favorite Yarnell’s butter pecan ice cream, dinner from Table Mesa’s Latin-inspired menu and, finally, a dessert called Trot on Over Here at Tusk & Trotter American Brasserie. The dessert was voted best bacon dish in the South by Southern Living magazine.

From the square, it’s a mile walk or bike ride along an art trail to Crystal Bridges’ 120-acre wooded compound. Thanks to the efforts of Walmart heiress Alice Walton and funding from the Walton Family Foundation, a major collection of American art is finally in the middle of America. It’s accessible to many because Walmart sponsors admission making the permanent collection – with five centuries of painting, sculpture, drawing, photography, and installation art in chronological order – free to all. Occasionally special temporary exhibits, like the current Van Gogh to Rothko exhibit featuring 76 masterpieces by 73 influential artists from the late 19th century to present (on display through June 1), charge a $10 fee. Other temporary exhibits this summer include American Encounters: The Simple Pleasures of Still Life from May 16 through Sept. 14, Warhol’s Nature July 4 through Oct. 5 and Jamie Wyeth, July 25 through Oct. 5.

This story was originally published May 17, 2015 at 2:00 PM with the headline "Bentonville becoming an American classic destination."