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My Hometown

(Are you humming that Bruce Springsteen song yet? 'Cause I am!)

Today my little sister and I got to head down to one of our favorite areas of our hometown: Downtown Van Buren, Arkansas.

Years ago (I guess it was the 80's) when they made those tv mini-series called The Blue & The Gray, they shot the whole thing in the state of Arkansas and the city street scenes right here in our little town. The city/movie company remodeled the entire old part of Main Street to look like the shop fronts of the 1800's and even covered the sidewalks with boards and the street with dirt for the movie shoot.

downtown Van Buren, AR

(I apologize that these pictures aren't better--I was trying to dodge some traffic:)

the old train station--still in use for an excursion train

The street is filled with little cafes, antique shops, craft shops, lots of other unique little shops and mine and my sister's personal favorite: the used book shops! Our favorite is one called Coffee & A Good Book. We could browse in there for hours--and have done just that! I love how they have the store arranged by catagory and antiques to match the catagory of books. It's even a fun place to take my kiddos!
Kari browsing the children's section

It was a pleasant afternoon just walking through the shops *treasure hunting*. I can't say I bought much for myself, I was birthday shopping for my sister. She found some treasures at the new fabric shop there. Just browsing and strolling leisurely is so much fun though!

Now we're off to celebrate Kari's birthday (which technically is tomorrow). We're going to have an awesome steak dinner and birthday cake, then we're going to work it off playing Putt-Putt with the kiddos!

If you get a chance, stop over at Kari's blog and wish her a very happy birthday!!

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