Thanks to a recommendation from our wonderful hosts in Fayetteville, Arkansas, we stopped at the the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art. (Note – if you are virulently anti-Wal-Mart, you’ll have to rationalize visiting this museum.) Created by the Walton family, the museum contains an incredible collection of American art housed in stunning architecture. Due to underwriting by Wal-Mart, admission is free to all but special exhibits. I got to see work by artists known to me like Norman Rockwell, Calder, and Warhol, and then was introduced to several artists I was unfamiliar with but found myself drawn to. And something about the museum seems just the right size to keep you interested but not overwhelmed. Arranged chronologically, I’d love to come back and spend a day or more in each gallery, and time lounging in the library and on the grounds. The boys were reluctant, as they are about the trip in general, but the teenager declared it “not fun, but interesting.” I’ll take what I can get.