Having a grape time in Altus

After heading to the top of Mount Magazine, there was one last place I wanted to check out before heading home. I drove by these fields filled with some wildflowers (or weeds?) along the side of the road.


Easy to see why the flowers were thriving, seems like they've gotten lots of natural fertilizer...


My next stop was the town of Altus, Arkansas. Altus is probably one of the coolest small towns in Arkansas. You might remember Altus as being the location where Nicole Richie and Paris Hilton embarrassed themselves in the first season of "The Simple Life" a few years back. Going to college just twenty miles away, we used to make many trips to Altus, for several reasons:

1) Food. For being a small town (population 817), there are some great places to eat. The Swiss Family Bistro at Wiederkehr Village is a must. And I'm craving the chicken béarnaise from Kelts right now.
2). Wine. Altus is home to four wineries, including Wiederkehr, which was founded in 1880.
3). Liquor. I went to college in a dry county, so we made a few trips out here for some other types of liquid refreshments. And now Altus is one of only two cities in the state that sells alcohol on Sunday (Eureka Springs being the other).

This was taken along the side of the road north of Wiederkehr Village.

Looking back, I probably should have taken the price tag off before taking the picture.


Another cool thing about Altus is the really neat old Catholic Church. St. Mary's Catholic Church, built in 1902, is filled with lots of neat murals and stained-glass windows. It was late afternoon and the light was pouring into the church.


And a shot of some of the stained-glass windows:


And a shot of the outside of the church, which sits on a hill with a commanding view of the valley and Altus below.


My plan was to get a shot of the church lit up at night, and I sat out there for awhile waiting for it to get dark. It was actually a bit cold up on the hilltop, and it seemed like the church really wasn't lit up all that much. There was a spotlight that shined on the steeple, but the rest looked like it was dark. Tired of sitting alone in the parking lot, I gave up and headed on. At least I got some wine out of it...