While we were staying at Petit Jean State Park we took one day to go into Morrilton to check out the local town. We went straight to the downtown area and walked around looking for shops and restaurants. Most of the shops were boarded up or closed. One had a sign on the door that said, "Working at home. Call xxx-xxxx". We had to laugh. That's not a very tourist-friendly option. The boards on some of the windows were pretty:
There were some art pieces on the sides of some of the buildings:
and a lovely park:
The Depot Museum was only open on Fridays and Saturdays from 10-2, which was too limited to help us:
The only restaurant downtown was a Mexican place, which didn't suit our mood, so we ate at a chain steak house on the by-pass. Then later we ate at a cute place close to Petit Jean State Park called The Outpost:
I didn't get pictures inside, but I did get a picture of the fudge before it was all gone:
We ate at The Outpost again on another day, and I can safely recommend the chicken salad sandwich and the hamburger. They have good food there. And ice cream, lest I forget. I had a single cone of strawberry ice cream that would rival many a double cone in size. We can't spend every day on the trails, and this day made a nice break.
Posts
Looks like a cute little town, but perhaps the get little attention from the tourists that are attracted to the nature reserve. Or perhaps it is just one of those communities that have no street life. Any town with a fudge factory is worth a visit, surely! ;-)
ReplyDeleteThe Outpost was just outside the park; the town was maybe 16 miles away. It felt like Morrilton was trying to build up its downtown area to attract tourists who come through there on the way to the park. The bypass area was typical car-centered development with big box and chain stores and restaurants, but the downtown area was cute. I hope they have success building it up.
Delete