Anybody ever been to Mena, AR?

[C-Man 27413]

Random question, I know. For some reason, my ex allowed our kids to go to two different sessions of Camp Ozark this year, which means I get to make two separate trips up there to pick them up at the end. Normally, we drive up to Hot Springs on Friday, spend the night there and head over to Mt Ida on Saturday morning. But we've done this 3-4 times already, including just two weeks ago, so we are looking at an alternative this time. We thought about Broken Bow but that leaves a 2+ hour drive to the camp on Saturday and the place we were looking at is now booked. Available options seem to be $200+/night so that doesn't really enthuse me.

Based on feedback from some others within our kids' school community, Mena is a nice alternative and an easy drive over Sat morning. I'm about to pull the trigger on something from VRBO that is close to the town square/center. Anybody have any experience with Mena at all? Do they have more than jams-and-jellies? Our other option is driving all the way Saturday morning but that means hitting the road around 4-4:30 and that sounds awful any way you slice it.

[Biff Tannen 45786]

Isn't that where that American pilot based his drug smuggling operation in the 80s?  That's all I got.

[baboso 6057]

Barry Seal.  Yes, it was.

[C-Man 27413]

29 minutes ago, baboso said:

Barry Seal.  Yes, it was.

Oh shit, this is perfect!

[workswithseed 2139]

My cousin got married there about 2 years ago. Before that probably 16 years ago, my parents went through there and a KKK rally was going on, so it's gotten better Aparently.

[C-Man 27413]

4 minutes ago, workswithseed said:

My cousin got married there about 2 years ago. Before that probably 16 years ago, my parents went through there and a KKK rally was going on, so it's gotten better Aparently.

I believe it. The drive home from Ozark is through some backwoods (but beautiful) Arkansas where you'll see more Rebel flags than you've ever seen.

[workswithseed 2139]

3 minutes ago, C-Man said:

I believe it. The drive home from Ozark is through some backwoods (but beautiful) Arkansas where you'll see more Rebel flags than you've ever seen.

I actually can't believe it, but we didnt see one those flags up there. Probably wasn't looking hard enough, but it means something.

Yeah, it was pretty, and was nice to different types of tress again than just the coniferous trees out in the PNW.

[C-Man 27413]

22 minutes ago, workswithseed said:

I actually can't believe it, but we didnt see one those flags up there. Probably wasn't looking hard enough, but it means something.

Yeah, it was pretty, and was nice to different types of tress again than just the coniferous trees out in the PNW.

Funny you mention that. We took a little different route home than normal three weeks ago and didn't see a single one. Last summer, I bet we saw a dozen or more.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

Dropped my kids off at Ozark last Sunday.  They are there two weeks.  My wife is from Longview so we spent the night there and drove in Sunday morning before driving back to Houston that afternoon.  It was a long day.

We rented a pretty nice Airbnb on Lake Ouachita for next Friday night.  Waze says it is 40 minutes from the camp.  Assuming you don't need the place next Friday, here you go:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/32954934

 

[C-Man 27413]

2 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Dropped my kids off at Ozark last Sunday.  They are there two weeks.  My wife is from Longview so we spent the night there and drove in Sunday morning before driving back to Houston that afternoon.  It was a long day.

We rented a pretty nice Airbnb on Lake Ouachita for next Friday night.  Waze says it is 40 minutes from the camp.  Assuming you don't need the place next Friday, here you go:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/32954934

 

Neat place. Yeah, we need something for next Fri night. Went ahead and booked a place in Mena, AR. It's the carriage house for an old historic home near the town center. Price is right -- $90/night. Three weeks ago, we spent $250+ or so at The Waters, the nice new hotel in downtown Hot Springs. But it's mostly touristy garbage around there and we've been there/done that 3-4 times already. We were looking for something different. The lake-house is a great idea.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

1 minute ago, C-Man said:

Neat place. Yeah, we need something for next Fri night. Went ahead and booked a place in Mena, AR. It's the carriage house for an old historic home near the town center. Price is right -- $90/night. Three weeks ago, we spent $250+ or so at The Waters, the nice new hotel in downtown Hot Springs. But it's mostly touristy garbage around there and we've been there/done that 3-4 times already. We were looking for something different. The lake-house is a great idea.

Right on.  This is my kids' (7 and 10) first year at Ozark.  They appear to be having fun from the pictures the camp posts.  Safe travels. 

[C-Man 27413]

26 minutes ago, Johnny Sack said:

Right on.  This is my kids' (7 and 10) first year at Ozark.  They appear to be having fun from the pictures the camp posts.  Safe travels. 

Great camp run by a wonderful family (aggy but who cares -- one of the Torn grandkids got into UT and might go there, which is awesome), just a little inconvenient to get to.

[TwiceHorn 31705]

Err'one has a damn blob now.

[Johnny Sack 8397]

2 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Err'one has a damn blob now.

They have six there

[Nueces River Rat 5608]

10 hours ago, Biff Tannen said:

Isn't that where that American pilot based his drug smuggling operation in the 80s?  That's all I got.

 

[Drin 0]

I live here in mena it's a nice quite place. I dont really consider there to be alot to do. However if you are just looking to stay the night we have several places to stay and a few good restaurants.