The end of yet another year is prime time for picking the "bests" in almost any category, with movies and TV shows only the most popular of many topics.
And it's flattering to be sought out as a "bests" expert on some subject or other. So I felt a penumbra of honor this month when a national newspaper solicited my presumed wisdom on a theme I've honed over the last four years while writing the weekly "Are You There Yet?"
USA Today, which conducts quizzes of its readers online, asked me to be one of four Arkansas journalists who covers tourism to nominate the best visitor attractions in the Natural State. Our quadruple consensus created a list of 20 candidates, upon which the paper's readers can cast their digital votes for the Top 10.
My submission began with Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art, which would be the clear-cut choice if I had to select the No. 1 visitor site in our state. And the Bentonville mega-museum indeed is one of the 20 places in the USA Today reader survey.
Of the remaining 19, 10 were among my nominees. But my other nine choices failed to make the voting ballot. I chose without consulting the 200-plus "There Yet" pieces I've written. If I had refreshed my memory, I likely would have included a couple of those nine.
As I size up the 20 finalists, it comes to mind that drawing up a list of "bests" like this one is definitely a case of apples vs. oranges -- with maybe a persimmon or a kiwi fruit tossed in. How can a gorgeous state park fairly be compared to a splendid museum?
Without further ado, however, here are my 11 candidates that made the ballot:
• Buffalo National River
• Crater of Diamonds State Park, Murfreesboro
• Crystal Bridges Museum of Modern Art, Bentonville
• Garvan Woodland Gardens, Hot Springs
• Hemingway-Pfeiffer Museum, Piggott
• Hot Springs National Park
• Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site
• Museum of Native American History, Bentonville
• Petit Jean State Park
• Thorncrown Chapel, Eureka Springs
• William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, Little Rock
My favorites ran extensively to museums. And five of them were among my nine choices that failed to make the ballot, to wit:
• Clinton Birthplace Home, Hope
• Delta Cultural Center, Helena-West Helena
• Fort Chaffee (Elvis Presley) Barbershop Museum
• Heifer Ranch
• Southern Tenant Farmers Museum, Tyronza
• Subiaco Abbey
• Turpentine Creek Wildlife Refuge, Eureka Springs
• Wiederkehr Village
• World War II Japanese-American Internment Museum, McGehee
You might conclude that I need to spend more time outdoors in what is, after all, the Natural State. The majority of the nine non-Schnedler finalists are open-air destinations:
• Arkansas River Trail, Little Rock, North Little Rock, Maumelle and Conway
• Blanchard Springs Caverns
• Downtown Eureka Springs
• Fayetteville Downtown Square and Garden
• Lake Ouachita State Park
• Mount Magazine State Park
• Old Mill at Pugh Memorial Park, North Little Rock
• Ozark Folk Center, Mountain View
• Pinnacle Mountain State Park
Happily, Arkansas has an abundance of worthwhile attractions, natural and man-made. It may be that one or more of your favorites is missing from the USA Today ballot. There is, alas, no provision for write-in votes.
The candidates for best Arkansas visitor attractions can be viewed online at 10best.com/awards/travel.
Weekend on 12/28/2017