RIVER VALLEY and OZARK AREA — AIf I had to pick a favorite vacation spot, I would choose backpacking around Italy, which I was lucky to do in college.
While I certainly enjoyed visiting the famous historical cities, the real treasures were more hidden, like my personal favorite, Bressanone, Italy. Bressanone is a picturesque town on the border of Italy and Austria. Since it was once under Austrian rule, natives to the city speak both Italian and German, and alongside pasta and pizza, visitors can also enjoy a delicious spitzbuben cookie or streusel. Although the town looks as if it fell straight out of a fairy tale, there also aren’t many tourists there, which is just one of the numerous reasons I never want to leave when I’m there.
KRISTEN SPICKARD Conway My favorite vacation spots are St. Louis, Mo., and Destin and Orlando, Fla. - St.
Louis Cardinals and Disney World for the win!
DANIEL DECKER Conway If I had to name one favorite vacation place, it would be one of the many smaller islands in the Philippines. They are inexpensive, and the weather is warm during our wintertime.
I also like the Pacific Northwest - from San Francisco up to Vancouver - when it is summer here.
It is way pricey, but awesome and pretty!
STEVEN WARREN Russellville Palm Beach, Fla., is my favorite vacation spot. I especially love the Four Seasons. Amazing!
LAUREN SANDERSON formerly of MaumelleWe like to “staycation” since we live near Greers Ferry Lake, which has three world-class fishing records. We like to camp locally at the Choctaw Recreation Area or sometimes over at Heber at their park. They have great camping on the lake and down by the river.
Another thing we like to do is go up and sit on the Buffalo River after we’ve picked up awesome sandwiches at Coursey’s Smoked Meats. There are several places to go sit on the river banks and picnic. Our other favorite local spot is to go through Blanchard Springs Caverns anytime we can. The caves are in the 60s year-round, and when it’s hot, we go down to the crystal-clear springs and swim and catch crawdads. We just enjoy the natural living up here in the foothills and haven’t bothered to go out yet for our fun!
WENDY RUSS Clinton Honestly, my favorite vacation is just a trip to Greers Ferry, because it’s so relaxing. That sounds crazy with all these great places to go to in the world, but it’s in our state - it’s ours.
We have a house there;
I go every weekend.
TRACY STOCKS Vilonia Las Vegas, Key West and the South of France.
BUNNY ADCOCK Conway next week: QIf you had an extra $100, what would you spend it on?
Answers may be sent to Sasha Cerrato at scerrato@arkansasonline.com or P.O. Box 2221, Little Rock, AR 72203. You can also post them on the River Valley & Ozark Facebook page. Just be sure to include your name and city of residence with all responses. We look forward to hearing from you. Keep checking to see if your “voice” is heard in the River Valley & Ozark Edition.
River Valley Ozark, Pages 146 on 07/25/2010