Arkansas to your bucket list must. Fayetteville is in the Ozark Mountains in the Boston Mountains range in Northwest Arkansas. The area is known for its highlands, steep-sided valleys, and rugged terrain, forming the southern portion of the Ozark Plateau. The Boston Mountain range is also considered the highest and most rugged part of the Ozarks with forests, deep valleys, and rocky slopes making it perfect for outdoor activities like mountain biking, hiking, and accessing rivers such as the White and Mulberry.

 

 

A College Town with Creative Energy
Fayetteville is also a college town and home to the University of Arkansas Razorbacks.
And yes, Fayetteville does have a college town sports culture vibe along with a strong art and music scene. I also discovered Fayetteville is considered one of the best places to live in the United States.

 

 

Checking In: Moxy Fayetteville
Upon arrival in Fayetteville, I unpacked at the Moxy Fayetteville near Downtown Square.
The Moxy Fayetteville offers a grocery/convenience store, two coffee shops/cafes, and a bar onsite. When you enter the property, the laid back feel is welcoming and you check in at the bar where you will also be offered a complimentary drink.

 

The rooms are configured to maximize every inch of space. There are motion-activated LED guidelights and walk-in showers and wall features for hanging and storage options to complement the compact room design.

 

 

Sunset Views from Mount Sequoyah
Since Fayetteville is an outdoor paradise depending on your arrival visit the Mount Sequoyah overlook where you can take in a sunset, said to be the best in Fayetteville. It mingles the hustle of the city down below with the stillness of nature all around since the overlook is positioned to offer views of Fayetteville as well as other vantage points around Northwest Arkansas.

 

 

Exploring on Two Wheels: The Razorback Greenway
Behind the Moxy is a Fayetteville eBike/Scooter Tour that is worth the time for a spin if you prefer biking to walking. While I prefer good, old-fashioned biking, an eBike is worth doing at least once for the experience. The eBike tours will take you around the downtown area and the University of Arkansas campus. There are self-guided rentals, scenic routes that cover the paved, 6.9-mile Lake Fayetteville Trail and the extensive Razorback Greenway, and guided tours.

 

On my eBike Tour I covered the Razorback Greenway, the Ramble, Fayetteville Public Library, TheatreSquared, Alexander Gallery at the Porter Art Warehouse, Dickson Street Bookshop and Old Main.

 

 

A Literary Treasure: Dickson Street Bookshop
A word about the Dickson Street Bookstore located in Fayetteville’s Entertainment district, if you get the chance, plan to visit. The bookstore is a popular destination founded by Donald Choffel and Charles O’Donnell in 1978. There are over 100,000 used and out of print books on every subject imaginable. They also add new titles weekly.

 

 

The Quirky and Memorable Ball Museum
Another must the Ball Museum located outside of the downtown area in a quiet little neighborhood. You know you have arrived because there is a variety of balls of all sizes in the front yard of the home/museum owned by Kelly and Donna Mulhollan.

 

To begin with, they have a baseball, which was signed by Babe Ruth. From there the museum is full of balls from a variety of categories from sports balls to children’s balls, to eyeballs, and hairballs and the list goes on. There is even a ball made from hundreds of foil gum wrappers and a baseball that broke Kelly’s grandmother’s wrist at a St. Louis Cardinal’s game.

 

Kelly and Donna sat amid the balls while I was visiting and began to play music, which is their profession. The two were folk musicians who toured around the country for over 40 years before settling in among their balls and their collection of lesser-known Ozark folk instruments shown in a small room, also inside their home. The instrument room truly is a memorial to the musicians who created the music in the area. The instruments range from simple homemade fiddles to guitars, and banjos that were made by local music legends with the materials they had on hand to carve and design their creation.

 

It is a by-appointment museum, but once there you will feel the welcome from the owners as they fill your time with stories and music. There is no admission fee, but you can leave a donation or bring a ball to add to the collection.

 

 

Shopping and Sipping Around Downtown
You might also enjoy shopping just off the Downtown Square on Block and Center Street where luxe sustainable fashion to casual everyday wear meets eclectic stores alongside a wonderful place to stop for coffee or a meal.

 

 

Live Music Legacy at George’s
If you are up late at night visit George’s Majestic Lounge. It is Arkansas’s oldest and longest-running live music venue. And before live shows became popular, the locals in Fayetteville were enjoying social events, dances, and music in the old garden dating back to the 1930′s.

 

Fayetteville is the kind of place where you stop for a minute, but you just might end up staying awhile.