When The Barbed Wire’s publisher asked if I wanted to go to Bentonville on an assignment I responded with such a resounding yes that he thought I didn’t hear him correctly.
I’d been wanting to go to Bentonville since 2020, when I started researching areas within reasonable driving distance from Texas that could get me the hell out of my house. Multiple people suggested northwest Arkansas for its natural beauty. I knew Walmart is headquartered in Bentonville, and the Walton family has invested in their community to make it charming, full of art, and family-friendly.
I’d also been influenced by the billboards from Northwest Arkansas Council that taunted Texans with slogans like, “It’s like Austin, but affordable.” Honestly, I respect a state with the audacity to challenge Texans. (Ohio can sit down, though.)
So in late January, I loaded up my toddler and my boyfriend and set off to see what the fuss was about in Northwest Arkansas.
Getting to Bentonville
Flying from Austin to Northwest Arkansas National Airport was a cinch, even with a toddler (there are nonstop flights from Dallas and Houston). The airport is small and easy to navigate — the walk to our rental car was maybe five minutes, then we had a 20 minute drive into town.
It’s also an entirely doable drive, especially from Dallas (about 5.5 hours), the drive through the piney woods made potentially even more scenic by passing through the lake and parkland in Broken Bow, Oklahoma.
Getting around Bentonville
The transportation method of choice in Bentonville is biking — our Airbnb even came with two electric bikes for us to use. However, my shameful secret is I can’t really ride a bike, and given the logistics of car seats, it was easiest to just rent a car. We returned it having used $3 in gas because we could entertain ourselves mostly within walking distance.
Our favorite kid-friendly activities
Our first stop in Bentonville was Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which was particularly striking on a grey winter day. It was founded by Alice Walton with the goal of making good art accessible to everyone, so admission is free. If my toddler did not have the attention span of a gnat, I could have spent all day perusing the walls here. There’s a creator studio with activities set up for kids and outdoor areas where he could run around. He even loved the art, including a giant chicken and the Yayoi Kusama Infinity Room.
The Scott Family Amazeum lived up to our very high expectations. Starting from the entrance, my toddler was absolutely captivated as we traveled through a measurement exhibit, an outdoor playground, a water room, a music room, and, critically, the cab of an 18-wheeler truck, which we had to physically drag him away from. I can’t wait to tell you more about our time at the Amazeum in a future piece.
The Momentary is an extension of Crystal Bridges about art of the moment. We saw an exhibition of pet photography, which furry friends were invited to — obviously a hit with the toddler. The Momentary also puts on Saturday morning cartoons in their theater, complete with cereal and coffee bars, which is a genius idea.
Coler Mountain Bike Preserve is a great natural preserve with a paved walkway and bike trails. We walked about 15 minutes (45 minutes with toddler) over babbling creeks to get to the Airship Coffee, an open-air coffeeshop in the preserve, and let my kiddo run around the buildings and field.
Kid-friendly dining in Bentonville*
Brothers Meethouse is a new but promising barbecue restaurant. The pork belly bites were basically delicious bacon candy and we particularly loved the collards and fried okra. As a native Texan, there are only so many nice things I can legally say about brisket in other states, but it really was quite tender.
We had amazing sweet and savory crepes from Crepes Paulette, and the kiddo also loved watching them get made.
Yeyo’s El Alma de Mexico is one of two 2025 James Beard Award semifinalists in Bentonville, and was the best meal of our trip. My toddler ate more rice, beans, and squash quesadilla than I thought humanly possible, and I loved my panuchos yucatecos and chips and guac.
We also stopped by Markham & Fitz for hot chocolate and chocolate bars, and got some great pastries from Butter⋅Scotch, which was right off the town square (we loved the ultra chocolatey cookies).
The Bentonville magic
On our way out of town, we had one last stop in Bentonville square to grab coffee for the road.
It was a nice 60 degree day with a slight breeze, the sun was shining, and a man was playing guitar in the town square. Several people stopped to listen and chat: a couple who had gotten married the day before, three dancing toddlers and their parents, and even some teens. It was probably the kind of thing that happened all the time in Austin 40 years ago, but life here was such that we could actually slow down and enjoy the moment of community.
Maybe those billboards are onto something.
*Erin Russell’s meals were provided complimentary or at a discounted rate by each establishment.