Michele and I wanted to go for a walk, after going to the Native American Museum, and the only place we really knew would be good is the natural area around Crystal Bridges. The Museum was closed but the garden paths are open for walkers, it was surprisingly crowded, with people and art. My favorite piece of art was a Deborah Butterfield, Redstick, which looks to be made of Madrone.

After our walk, we went to an early dinner at The Preacher’s Son, a restaurant in a converted church. It was terrific! (And I’m glad to say they had both Tacos and Brussel Spouts, the one constant across America in hip, new, restaurants in the rebuilt downtown or arts districts.) There were two openings, 5:30 and 8:00, and we choose the earlier so we could see the church in natural light. When we got there, the restaurant was almost empty and it was almost full when we left. The early dinner crowd – crowd being generous – would almost fit in to San Francisco or Silicon Valley. Almost being the operative word, the people are neater here and, somehow, brighter, not as edgy, still, Michele and I felt like we fit it. We had beets in smoked cashew butter – I think they were the best beets I’ve ever had – Chickpea Panisse, and a pork shank with Hanna grits all items that could be on any one of a half dozen restaurants in the Bay Area. Bentonville seems to be in the same Universe as Silicon Valley although in a different corner.

After dinner, we went to the Walton – or Walmart, they seem to be almost one and the same – Museum. For Michele and me, it was slightly interesting but I didn’t walk away with any revelations as to how Sam Walton became so rich (the family is worth about 145 billion). Well, maybe one, Walmart still seems hungry, they are not resting on their laurels. All over town are Walmart Neighborhood Marts and the most notable feature to me was the conspicuous Pickup area which suggests people shop online, just like Amazon, and then pick up what they ordered on the way home. Walking through the museum, the other visitors talked in hushed voices as if they were at a pilgrimage site – especially when looking at The Great One’s office or truck – and I think they thought they were. I walked away more aware of how Sam Walton from Kingfisher, Oklahoma completely changed the retail business. I liked it before the change but that doesn’t negate the fact that he changed our National Landscape and the organization still wants to change it.