A 24 Hour Museum in Bentonville at 21c Museum Hotel.

Museums abound all over Arkansas, ranging from historical to artistic to just plain weird. But just one museum I’ve found manages to stay open all the time. That’s the museum at the 21c Museum Hotel in Bentonville.

You Can Find Anything You Want at the Grant County Museum in Sheridan.

Dolls from the 19th and 20th century are collected in
this exhibit that includes a turn-of-the-century writing desk.

There are museums that focus on a single subject, and there are museums that focus on a single time period.  The Grant County Museum, located on the southwest side of Sheridan, focuses on an entire county and everything that's ever happened within it -- everything from

The courthouse exhibit includes the original clock from the
tower, as well as a desk and shelves from the
building, photographs and election paraphernalia.

prehistory to modern times, the Civil War to Operation Desert Shield, politics to domestic life and everything in-between.

The ten acre compound features one gallery after another, organized in a massive building that's seen several expansions; and within a village created from original buildings organized to give children and adults a like a working knowledge of everything Grant County.

The old general store shown here was once home
 to the Grant County Museum.

The Grant County Museum was originally located in an old general store near the heart of Sheridan. Grants and donated land allowed a new facility to be built, and as the collection has grown, so has the museum. The main building consists of several galleries that include everything from

A full-sized replica of a mule is decked with 19th century tack.

clothing from the early 19th century, to displays covering commercial traffic along the Saline River.  Like classic cars? A fine selection of automobiles dating back to the 1920s crowd one large room, with delivery trucks, fast cars and even

Vehicles from several decades are on display in a large room
that also displays signs and bottles from local eateries
and gas stations.

a fire engine. Enjoy taxidermy? There’s an entire hall that showcases critters from the area’s forests, rivers and fields. Dig military history? An entire series of galleries covers local participation from the Civil War to the Persian Gulf.

An entire exhibit is dedicated to ARKLA, the Arkansas-Louisiana Gas Company, which serviced most of the state. Within, you’ll see an original ARKLA truck, various gas-powered appliances over the ages and the desk of Witt Stephens.

A selection of different appliances powered by natural gas
on display in the ARKLA gas exhibit.

Flags overhead in the Jenkins Ferry room are from different
regiments of the Confederate Army.

A downtown Sheridan barber shop is partially preserved within the largest gallery. The entire mirrored wall from one side of the old building is accompanied by an array of different barber and dental chairs. Nearby, a “scoundrel’s gallery” documenting different infamous crimes that took place in

Items brought back from the second World War are on display
 in this hall.

Grant County, offers stories within wood and glass cases.

The northwest wing of the facility hosts a collection of Civil War memorabilia, including items showing what life was like back during the conflict. A special section commemorates the Battle of Jenkins

Vehicles and memorabilia from the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Ferry, the last significant battle of the Red River Campaign. Other galleries nearby contain items donated by Grant County servicemen and women who served in World Wars I and II, the Korean War, the Vietnam conflict, Desert Storm and Operation Iraqi Freedom.

These vehicles are part of the collection donated to the
museum by Richard G. Harrison.

Out back, you’ll find a large hangar packed with military vehicles. This is the Richard G. Harrison Military Vehicle Collection, which may be the largest privately-owned collection of U.S. military vehicles on display anywhere. Harrison, a Little Rock native, drove a Jeep and delivered secret

documents while serving during World War II in Hawaii. He donated the collection in 2002-2003. The selections include Big Bertha, a tank retriever and artillery vehicle; a Navy communications bunker; a Jeep similar to the one that Harrison drove while in Hawaii; and a monolithic camera that enlarged photos taken by planes to use for troop maneuvers and battle plans.

The Hilltown Café, once the Donaldson Café, still contains a
kitchen and different advertisements for cola and sweets.

There’s also the Heritage Square, a collection of buildings from the 19th and 20th centuries that include a blacksmithy and old schoolhouse; the 1935 Toler Chapel; a townhome built in 1904; the 1872 McCool House (a dogtrot cabin); the town’s former Masonic Chapel; the Edward F. McDonald House (which

Visitors can see what a post office looked like in the early part
of the 20th century inside the Edward F. McDonald House.

now houses displays for the town’s post office and doctor’s office) and the Hilltown Café, which was once Donaldson’s Café opened in 1927 on the outskirts of town. The collection also includes the old general store in which the original museum was once housed.

New to the property is a boardwalk that takes visitors out on an elevated walk through a forested section of the land.

This wide selection of preserved animals showcase the
fauna of Grant County.

Exploring the entire museum could take most of a day. School groups are encouraged. Visiting the museum is free for Grant County residents and a donation of $3 for non-residents ($1 for students).

Grant County Museum
521 Shackleford Road
Sheridan, AR 72150
(870) 942-4496
grantcountymuseumar.org
Open Tuesday-Saturday 9 a.m.-4 p.m.

This Is The Museum You're Looking For... If You're A Star Wars Fan.

Hunter and I are exploring Scenic Arkansas Highway 7 from end-to-end this week. Watch my Twitterfeed @TieDyeTravels for updates each day on where we've been and where we're headed.

We like to explore. And

we both have an almost insatiable curiosity. So, when we saw the yellow building on Hobson Avenue Tuesday on our way downtown from Mid America Science Museum, decorated with at-ats, we both made a mental note to check out this place called Galaxy Connections.

Wednesday's rainy start provided a perfect excuse to squeeze a visit into our schedule.  When we entered, the floor got my immediate attention.  Turns out, owners John and Bridget Clower (who also own the pest control business in the back of the building) got the idea from visiting another comic book store.  They

experimented and tried several things before this worked, but it makes a stunning entrance.

We were greeted and asked if we'd like to take the tour.  We signed up.  It's $10 for adults and $8 for kids.  There was another tour ahead of us, so we waited a little while.  Another family came in and joined us.

Galaxy Connections opened November 30th, 2013.  It consists of John Clower's extensive Star Wars collection.  Now, John may not be a superfan, but he's an adept collector with a good eye, and he's managed to put together quite a few great things to make this museum happen.

This map shows where people came from just over the course of a portion of 2014.  While yes, there were a lot of people from Arkansas, there were visitors from the world over.  Our tour guide, Richard, told us about a young man from Russia who got excited about Jabba the Hutt, since Jabba apparently

means "big fat frog" in Russian.

Inside the tour, we first encountered a Stormtrooper -- or rather, a Stormtrooper costume.  Richard shared with us how it was made, what it was for, and how today's 501st wouldn't consider it more than a low-quality version of their high-end recreation costumes.   He also shared with us schematics for the sets for the original Star Wars (or, as we know it today, Star Wars IV: A New Hope).

This room also contained a control panel, which interested Hunter more than anything else.  I suppose having control over whether to destroy whole planets at her fingertips made the child a bit giddy.  That's my girl, I guess.

Richard also showed us an original costume for Darth Vader.  It was a bit shorter than we expected. We had a conversation about David Prowse, the guy in the Vader costume in the movies... and how his voice was dubbed over afterwards by James Earl Jones.  Wonder why?  Check out this video clip before the dubbing.

In the next room, Han Solo's still ensconced in carbonite. Or, there's a version of the famed visage from the end of Empire Strikes Back and the beginning of Return of the Jedi that's been cast from the original mold, along with a perfect model of a Jawa and a rather imposing costume of Boba Fett.  

And, of course, there's Yoda.  This Yoda's not a puppet.  He's actually one of the remaining Pepsi promotional display Yodas that went out to stores as part of a contest.  He fared a lot better than the rest.

The last room of the exhibit is the largest.  It's an entire room full of memorabilia, including a huge case with all the different original trilogy Star Wars toys.  We learned how George Lucas struggled to have action figures created, and how the fledgling Kenner came forward and

started the process.  There's a certificate on display from that one Christmas when the toy set wasn't ready, so many kids woke up and found that certificate rather than a complete action figure set under the tree.  

And there's the X-Wing... which a fan in Memphis actually built for his child's birthday party.  This provides a great photo-op for kids.  While Hunter had been reluctant to pose with any of the costumes or figures throughout the rest of the exhibit, she had to get in on this.

Richard made the tour a lot of fun, answering all sorts of questions and making sure everyone got the photos they wanted to take.  But this was the best.  At the end, he lets families dress up in Jedi, paduwan or fledgling robes and "battle" with light sabers.  You can

really tell he loves his job.

You wouldn't expect to find something like Galaxy Connection in Hot Springs, with no obvious ties to Hollywood or George Lucas.  But it's a great stop, especially if you have a fan in the family.  

Galaxy Connection
906 Hobson Avenue
Hot Springs, AR 71913
(501) 276-4432
Facebook
Website

Renewed Wonder at Mid America Science Museum.

 Hunter and I are exploring Scenic Arkansas Highway 7 from end-to-end this week. Watch my Twitterfeed @TieDyeTravels for updates each day on where we've been and where we're headed.

Like thousands of other Arkansas children, I grew up with the really cool place, the Mid America Science Museum.  Field trips and summer visits offered a world of wonder and lots of chances to play.

Even as an adult, I visited many times.  Over the years, some of the things became routine, but it was always still a great stop.  

A few weeks ago, the newly remodeled museum reopened.  Hunter and I planned a visit for our spring break road trip.  After visiting the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources the day before and having the place to ourselves, we didn't expect all that many people out for the mid-week stop.  Imagine our surprise when we arrived to find people parked all along the road leading to the museum, and a full parking lot as well.  Take a look at all the cool stuff we found inside.

She was excited from the moment we arrived.  Before, even.

On the outside, it doesn't look all that different.

But on the inside, it's a different story.

Right inside the front door, there's a neat video project where kids can hula hoop
or play ball or dance, and it'll loop and reverse.  Notice the difference in Hunter
on the screen and Hunter on the floor.

Could packing peanuts and a trampoline ever be quite this fun?

A lot of the old attractions and experiments are still there, such as this metal
funnel.

Some of the attractions make a lot of noise.

The old skybridge is now called the Light Bridge, and you can see the new
Skywalk from there.  It's unique!

There are a lot of different pieces on the light walk.

This is a frame full of different prismatic glass pieces that distort what lies beyond.

Hunter enjoyed playing with the different colored cels to create different colors.

A two story structure just inside the main building uses water to propel balls
up and down.  It requires a little kid participation.

As you see, that's not a problem.

Hunter launched balls from this contraption up into that spring overhead...

which spun down into this water funnel.  Kids below grabbed balls and put them
on tracks to launch them back up to the top.

Sometimes the balls escape, but that's all right.  There's help getting those back, too.

As you can see, there are a lot of changes to the main area of the museum,

And there were plenty of people there to enjoy all of it.

Without a doubt, Hunter's favorite thing at the museum is this structure.

Here, rubber pieces are piled up and knocked down to create mountains and rivers.

When you hold your hand over it, it rains.

The mastadon is still there...

As is this giant lump of quartz crystal.

You can see what you look like in infrared.

Or check out this ice coil!

The Gyroid is a neat climbing contraption for the kids. Hunter had to get her
shoes off immediately to tackle this.

She never made it to the top, but she sure tried!

Those fabulous Rowland Emmett machines are still on display throughout
the museum.

Hunter got a real shock out of this contraption.

She rather enjoyed connecting circuits in the Tinkering Studio.

We went out on the Skywalk.  It was an adventure... a musical one. 

There were a lot of people out.

Hunter loved the kaleidoscope.

Here's what it looked like inside.

This giant trampoline was the center of attention.

Hunter was far more interested in the tightrope... but after this run, she said never again.

The cafe is still located on the bottom floor of the entry building.

Here's a carbon atom display.

And here's another one of those amazing machines.

There's even a machine to break rocks.  Which is genius, since this allows the kids
to make gravel for the paths... KIDDING...

And of course, we had to check out the gift shop.

If you'd like to learn more about the Mid America Science Museum, check out the website.