Eureka Springs Fall 2002
This weekend started out rough, I finished class Wednesday night at 7:15 and drove to San Marcos to eat, there I locked my keys in the car and had to get a locksmith to get them out. I finished that and completed the drive to Dallas, got to Evelyn's house and slept for 3 hours. She woke me up at 6 am to get ready for the drive to Eureka Springs. I wore a flowery blue dress with white sandals, a bit underdressed for the type of weather we would go into. We left about 8:15 am and headed up 75 to Durant, we went through a drive through at McDonalds and continued on the road. We stopped at a truck stop near Siloam Springs, AR and actually went into the women's room to do our business. I even went to the Burger King in the same place and ordered a small combo meal. We got to Eureka Springs at 3:30, got lost looking for the hotel and had problems finding parking. We checked in, unloaded and freshened up our makeup. By then it was time for the costume party. On the way downstairs we discovered the elevator was broken.
I was the jilted bride. I wore a pearl necklace and earrings, diamond shaped stone bracelet (compliments of Suzi) and the same type stones were in my tiara. I had a veil on too. I wore an ivory short sleeve dress with lace and pearls on the sleeves and bodice. Two of the very first people I met were Michee and Victoria, a couple that lives in Arkansas and they complimented me on my dress. The costumes were great, we had a cheerleader, a cat, Marie Antoinette before she lost her head, a ‘big fairy', a flapper, and even an old biddy! Hehe sorry Becca. Although I didn't win a prize I enjoyed seeing all the beautiful costumes.
Another CD and I went to Shaw's, a local gay and lesbian bar and started partying there. I got hit on 2 times, had my boobs touched 4 times, asked to go to bed 1 time and had 2 beers bought for me. I danced with several of the lesbians also. Several of the women wanted my dress. I saw a lot of things going on and there was even a live band that had a CD for the lead singer. A large group of local people, about 4 lesbians and 3 gay men invited me to go to Chelsea's with them and I went. I danced with 2 of the lesbians there and saw some more things about this really great town. It was a really good night and the only bad thing was all the stairs I had to climb to get back to my room.
Friday morning came early and I got out of bed at 9am, for those that don't know me I am not a morning person. I showered and got dressed, this time in a lilac dress with a built in shawl. I went down to the lobby and met some new people and had breakfast with them. They were Bebe, a GW and Sharon a CD from St. Louis. I met Shalan who is in their chapter also and later Shalon, Sharon and I went shopping. I should have changed out of my 3 ½ inch heels because the streets were very hilly and there was some stairs too. I ended up buying a necklace and pendant, and a stretchy linen thing that could be used as a shawl, dress, wrap, or even a stool cover. We talked to a lot of the locals and they were real friendly to us and some were curious about us. Most of them knew we were there for Diversity Weekend. It was at a dress shop that I learned that most other people from Arkansas knew this town existed but most chose to stay away from there. She told us that Eureka Springs was often refered to as a bowl of Grape Nuts since they had the nuts, the fruits, and the flakes in one place.
We got back to the hotel about 3:45 and changed shoes, went back out and had a soup and salad at a local cafe. The waitress was real pleasant and the food was good. I saw one of the waiters at a club later that evening. We got back to the hotel and split up. I just freshened up my makeup and went back downstairs for the homestyle dinner. They served us fried chicken, homemade mashed potatoes, potato salad if you didn't like the mashed ones, and biscuits and gravy. I ate way too much and got a small head start on drinking. We went to the 6th floor where they have a large dance floor and pool table on separate areas of the floor and most sat around talking and drinking the drinks of their choice. We then went to Eureka Live, another bar and danced again. They had a really cool band there and most of us left at 1. I went back to Shaw's and had a few more beers and danced again with the lesbians there. Again the stairs killed me. I forgot to mention that Eureka Live was down at the bottom of the longest contiunous flight of stairs I have ever seen. There was a total of 69 stairs and to climb that in 3 ½ inch heels and with 8 beers in me was tough. So the second night out till 2:30 am was over.
Saturday morning was harder to get out of bed. My feet and legs ached and it was raining outside, good sleeping weather. I woke at 10 but went back to sleep and got up at 11am. This time I wore a light blue flowery dress with thin jacket and the same white sandals I wore into town. I had lunch with Fiona, who I will talk about later and Elena and Heidi who are from the Dallas MCDC. I had a chicken club sandwich and fries and everything was good. I learned a few things and met new people that I could ask for advice. We went into the atrium room where they were still doing makeovers and wig styling. I got my wig styled and I also bought another necklace that I could use as bracelet also. We split up and I braved the cold and wet and went shopping. I hit 2 lingerie shops, a souviner tshirt shop and a bath and body shop also. I treated myself and bought a salt rub and hand and foot cream and the cream really made my hands soft. I got back to the hotel and showed the cream to some of the other girls and they were really interested in it. It was here that I found out the elevator was fixed. I got back up to the room and changed into my evening dress. I wore a black knee lenght dress with sparkles and glitter on it. This dress also had a lower neck line than what I usually wear. The banquet was great, they served everone their meal choice and I had the ribeye. It was a generous portion but a bit undercooked for my taste. I like my steaks done but it had great flavor to it. After we finished Fiona gave a wonderful speech. I learned a bit from her and hope to do some of what she has done. She told us a few stories and I hope to one day go to Nashville to visit her and experience with her something I can later tell a story about. She is a very self confident, considerate and caring woman. Her profession in guy mode is being a paramedic and has delivered a baby as Fiona. I would love to have her as a big sister to learn from and ask questions of.
We went back up to the 6th floor for more pool and beer and mingled with the gay and lesbian crowd up there. Then a large group of us went back to Eureka live and danced again. This time they played Love train and we made a real long train and went around the bar dancing in a large circle. The band was really cool, same one from the night before. They invited all of us Cder's on the stage and we all danced ‘Super Freak' while the band was on the dance floor. It was really great. I danced with more of the lesbians and even danced 6 songs with a local woman. I asked her later on if we could have our picture taken and we did that and exchanged emails. It was really great. She gave me a kiss and a hug before we all left - 3 kisses actually - and this guy that was by the bar saw the kiss and when I looked at him he was smiling. I could do nothing but smile back. We all made it back just after 2 again and knew we had to go to bed and rest for the trip back home the next day.
We rested up, if you can call it that and at 10 am had our last meal together. They served us a homestyle breakfast. We had eggs, bacon, sausage, bagels, french toast and fruit if you wanted it. They even served champagne with breakfast also. I didn't have that but I did drink coffee since I needed to stay awake to keep Evelyn awake on the way back to Dallas. Saying good bye was tough, I was sad the night before and I was sad again. I hope that everyone I met I will get to see again soon.
My advice is to someone that hasn't been to Eureka Springs is this: Do what you need to do to get to go. I saved money for 4 months without realizing how much of it I was going to need. Also get time off from work or school to go. You will not regret it, you will meet new people and actually get to go into town to go shopping.
To see pictures go to the picture page.
