For today’s installment of where did Maria go now, I am taking you to Rogers, Arkansas. This year’s Thanksgiving took my family on a whopping 3,100-mile, round-trip journey. It was epic to say the least.

What took us to Rogers? My cousins we hadn’t seen in more than a decade. It doesn’t end there, but for those of you who have never been, Rogers is the hometown of Walmart. There’s a Walmart Museum, Walmart Café, and I even saw a Walmart Fitness Center — not sure if that was just for employees or meant for anyone. Rogers has so much nature, we enjoyed beautiful hikes daily, great food, history and culture.

My favorite eatery was Table Restaurant & Bar in Bentonville. We started with its Tex-Mex queso, which did not disappoint — we ended up getting two orders. I consider myself a connoisseur of burgers, but when there is a lamb burger present, I must oblige. Let me tell you, it did not disappoint, as you can tell by the sauce on my face.

I blame it on the lamb burger.

Table’s delectable Tex-Mex cheese.

“Orange Tree,” Alexandre Arrechea.

“Making Change,” Monica Mahoney. 1962 Fleetwood Cadillac limousine covered in 30,000 pennies, nickels and dimes.

One of the nights, Sid and I went out to explore the downtown Bentonville area and stumbled upon 21c Museum Hotel of Bentonville. I honestly did not realize it was a hotel until the next day. We were enjoying the streets, taking in the beautiful Christmas lights of the square, snapping selfies and realized we could really use a warm drink. We noticed people walking from a given direction with to-go cups of warm drinks, so we headed in that direction, but before we even made it there, we saw this Cadillac covered in coins. Then, behind us, I noticed this tree sculpture that had basketball hoops, and my art-loving heart starting racing with excitement. We kept walking and saw a treadmill with a tumbleweed, which I found hilarious. I wanted to go inside and assumed the place would be closed, but a man holding the door said we could enter. He even said, “We’re open 24 hours,” and I laughed but walked inside. They had some of the coolest stuff I’ve seen in some time; I also haven’t stepped in a museum since the pandemic hit, so I had a ball. I hope you enjoy these as much as I did. The current exhibit is called Refuge and runs through January 2022. See more here.

Artist and art piece unknown.

Thanks for letting me go on about art and food! Have you stayed at a 21c Museum Hotel elsewhere? I’d love to hear about it!

— Maria Angeles, account executive