Garvan Woodland Gardens, Arkansas: The Most Beautiful Chapel in the USA

Travel Date: Tuesday, Oct 28 2014

Got up in the morning early, said goodbye to Scott and Dana, and then began the trek to the Garvan Woodland Gardens near Hot Springs Arkansas. 

I heard about this place on a Huffington Post blog: The One Thing You Must Do In Each U.S. State. For Arkansas it was visit the Anthony Chapel in the Garvan Woodland Gardens. I have never heard of it but just looking at the picture in the blog post made me want to go. So I did.

Got to the entrance. Well this looks pretty already.

Parked the car and began walking along the path.

Saw the signs for the Anthony Chapel and Carillon so decided to go there.

The Carillon is quite tall.

Followed the trail.

And got the first glimpse of Anthony Chapel. You can actually see through it before entering.Wow!

Getting excited to enter!

Whoa Mama Mia!

Speechless! And outside the janitor cleaning the chapel, I was the only one here. The chapel is 6 stories high and made of pine beams and floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

The glass walls.

Definitely signing the guest book.

Leaving the Chapel I figured I would walk around and check out the area. Walk past the Carillon.

And follow the trail.

Lets go to the Amphitheater shall we.

Wow.

So peaceful and pretty!

Time to walk to the boat dock.

I see Lake Hamilton.

Getting closer.

Almost there.

Crossing the small bridge

Tada!

I love this reflection on Lake Hamilton.

Note to self. Will live there in that house one day!

I love being the only person here and the quietness of things.

Time to walk back to the car

Walking around I notice another parking lot.

Oh so that is the Garden Entrance. Doh! Shoot I'm almost out of time.

I wish I could spend more time here but I am on a time crunch to reach Dallas, Texas so it is time to head out.

Reflections:

I'm glad I drove here and experienced the Garvan Woodland Gardens. The Anthony Chapel was truly amazing. I would love to spend more time and meditate there, perhaps see it in the night time, or during a light and then heavy rainfall. Just AMAZING!

For those of you near the Hot Springs, Arkansas area this place is a ABSOLUTELY MUST VISIT. It is just a few miles away.

I later found out that there is a fee to visit the gardens. Unfortunately I didn't stop at the main entrance so I had no idea until I was doing research later. Whoops. The fee is $10.00. When I visit back - I will pay an extra $10.00 for the unintentional skipped fee.

Expenses: $0.00