Ever heard of a Beanfest?

No? Well neither had I until Saturday the 29th of October, two-thousand and the six. For every state like Arkansas which makes a big deal out of its "natural wonders" and so on, there is a town which makes a point of showcasing those things. Mountainview is a town like that in Northern Arkansas, and yesterday I made a trip out there, invited by my friend Liz, and following is the CHILLING ACCOUNT of what happened.



We started this adventure by taking an hour-and-a-half drive up to Mountainview, which is an extremely good thing to do on a sunny, breezy day in autumn. Before long Liz had to stop for gas, and above you can see that when you drive this far off the edge of nowhere, you get to see stuff like really old and outdated gas stations. There was, of course, no "pay-at-the-pump" option.



Here're a few examples of how pretty parts of Arkansas can be. I don't think I've done it justice at all, actually, however. You really have to be there experience the onslaughts of color and the plays of light and shadows on the changing leaves to really understand. Plus driving in a place like this is really a lot like driving on a roller coaster (Liz is too safe a driver to make it exciting like one though).

After driving through Heber Springs (a local resort town with mountains and a lake and a dam and vultures and other neat stuff), we ascended into the long, low hills which make up Mountainview, and parked about a half-mile out of the center of the town. There were tons and tons of people, as Beanfest is a pretty big event (I'll explain what it is shortly).



Anyone who knows me or has read any previous entries on this blog knows that this is what I like to see. Places about which I can say "you never know what you're gonna find" always rank among my favorites. This was on the door of an antique store/fleamarket, which are legion in Arkansas and especially in a place like Mountainview. Here is an example of the weird stuff you find in places like this. Note that one of those cassettes is labled something to the extent of "Porno Pyros" and seems to have an image of a lecherous Count from Sesame Street riding a 1950s space rocket into the massive unknown referred to by most as the 90s. Other stuff I found in that shop included large amounts of old Tonka trucks, stacks of VHS tapes (through which I always must sift), and a gigantic old Howitzer cannon truck toy made by Marx (a defunct toy company which had its heyday when my dad was young). I have no idea what toyline it came from, but it was massive, mostly made of metal, and priced at $75. Needless to say I left it there.



Walking along the street towards the center of Beanfest, we passed many a stand or stall selling various things, anything from giant rugs with marijuana leaves on them to geothermic curiosities. This all, of course, reminded me of the fleamarket in Mobile, which is one of my favorite places on Earth.

Now I'll take a minute to explain what the heck Beanfest is. Mountainview is pretty much a seasonal town, only becoming the booming partyland that it was on Saturday on certain occasions. This particular occasion is, at its core, a bluegrass festival. At the center of town, groups of bluegrass-playing folk of all ages gathered in little circles and just let loose with the jams. All around them the people gathered, eating food and snacks from various little restaurants and diners which only are only open on days such as this. I obliterated my hunger with something I call the Great American Meal, consisting of a gigantic bacon cheeseburger coupled with a generous helping of fried 'taters. I didn't get a gigantic swimming-pool sized drink to go along with it, though. I'm not that American.



The reason it's called Beanfest is because early in the day, large helpings of beans and cornbread are served, and I assume they are cooked with the help of these gigantic things which were standing triumphantly in the town square. We left Searcy after they had already finished with the beans and cornbread, so we missed that. Instead, we drifted around the square, stopping at each group of bluegrass folks to take their pictures and take in their jams. Here's a few pictures of them:



There are a lot more pictures of various parts of Mountainview, I've posted them all on Flickr and the whole gallery can be viewed here.

Now before I finish this first entry of the school year, there's one more anecdote to be related. On the way out, Liz saw this giant tree whose leaves had all turn a particularly brilliant shade of orange. After 1-5 seconds of debating with herself she turned the car around to take pictures of it. It was in someone's yard, but the driveway was empty, so we just pulled into the drive and she got out and took some pictures.



Pretty, huh? As we pulled out of the driveway, an old man in a small car pulled up right alongside us. We both stopped our cars, and after a few minutes of awkwardness, Liz opened her window and he opened his door. Before we could say anything, he said "Oh, I was just gonna take some pictures of the tree!" After explaining to him that that was exactly what we were doing, we took off and had a good laugh.

I got back and that night watched Fiddler on the Roof, which I think was my favorite homecoming musical of the three I've seen so far. A fitting way to end a marvelous day.

And I haven't gotten back into the comic-making mood yet so there's no comic for today. Expect them to return, though.