OffBeat Pathfinder Basecamp

Alright, y’all, listen up. I rolled into Bentonville thinkin’ it was just a Walmart town (don’t come for me), but boy, I gotta eat my words with a side of Ozark barbecue. First thing you see is this Crystal Bridges Museum that looks like a spaceship landed in the trees. Art everywhere. Like, I mean everywhere—even in the dang bathrooms, there’s art. Spent 3 hours tryin’ to act cultured then gave up and asked a kid where the nearest good pie was.
Walked around downtown square—coulda sworn I was in a Hallmark movie except there was a fella playin’ banjo outside a taco truck. Met a local named Burt who claims he’s related to Sam Walton and also Elvis (I dunno, man, Arkansas is wild).
The Walmart Museum is actually fun. Yes, I said it. Free soda in glass bottles and a weird sense of pride you can’t get at Target.
Next day, rode the bike trails with the kind of energy only a breakfast burrito can provide. Nearly met my end on a switchback.
Pro tip: Go to The Preacher’s Son for dinner. It’s a church turned restaurant—y’all, stained glass and tacos, only in Bentonville.
If you haven’t wandered the aisles of 24/7 Walmart at midnight, you have not lived.
What’s the best hidden gem in Bentonville? Best pie? Anyone ever get lost in the Walmart Home Office parking lot? (I did. Twice.)

Crystal Bridges blew my mind. Not sure what was wilder, the art or the birds outside the windows. Ran into a family from Texas who thought it was a spaceship.

Best pie in town? Go to The Hive, thank me later. Also lost my car in the Walmart lot, classic tourist move.

Walmart Museum is weirdly awesome. Still can’t believe they hand out free glass-bottle sodas. Took two for the road.

Stayed at 21c Museum Hotel—woke up with art staring at me from every angle. Kind of unsettling but I slept like a rock.

Only place I’ve ever seen someone ride a mountain bike through a coffee shop. Arkansas, you do you.

Pro tip: Don’t race a local kid on the bike trails unless you want to eat dust. Happened to me. Twice.

Downtown square on Saturday = food trucks, dogs in costumes, and the friendliest folks you’ll ever meet. 10/10 would wander again.

Someone tell me why every Walmart in Arkansas is open 24/7 but you can’t get a biscuit after 2pm? Life’s mysteries, man.