September 19, 2010: Medieval Fortress and Ozark Mountain Jubilee

As I went to church the evening before, I slept a little later in the morning. But, I had a big day ahead. I wanted to try and see the Ozark Medieval Fortress under construction and work my way up to Branson, Missouri.

The hotel here in Harrison was very nice (and also expensive). It's too bad I could not spend more tme here.

I began with breakfast at the hotel. I noticed one of the hotel staff members was chatting with guests, talking about the Christian faith, including angels, being saved, etc. It was nice to overhear this. It's not the kind of conversation one hears in the Northeast.

The Ozark Medieval Fortress (a 13th century castle being built in northern Arkansas) is in Lead Hill, Arkansas. This is not that far away from Harrison in terms of miles, but it takes time. They had a guided tour at 10:30. By the time I made it out of the hotel there was no way I was going to make that one. I tried to settle for the noon tour.

I was in the "uptown" outskirts of Harrison where the big box shopping areas (the few that existed) are located. The hotel was along US 65, and the easiest route for me was to take US 65 towards Branson and take an exit. The shorter way would be to take Arkansas 7 but I'd have to go through downtown and traffic. The GPS was absolutely no help. It has problems in the Ozarks. As I drove along US 65, which is an interstate style road, it continued to tell me to turn....where there weren't any places to turn.

As I got closer to the Missouri line, I had to take a turn off to Omaha, Arkansas. No, this is nothing like Omaha, Nebraska. It's a small city of a few hundred people at most. The roads were winding with gorgeous Ozark views. Cell phone reception went in and out. After a long drive, I found signs indicating the direction of the Ozark Medieval Fortress. The address was not in the GPS since it was so new. Therefore, I had to wing it.

I was getting very nervous about whether I would actually get the noon tour or have to wait until 1:30. I figured at this point I would just tour the grounds myself and not wait for the next tour.

Finally, I saw the entrance. Just as I did, the cell phone cut out. There was no service on the grounds of the fortress.

The parking lot is large enough to accomodate many cars. It was a Sunday but I was surprised at the number of cars parked.

You have to walk through a narrow path within the forest to get to the visitor center. From there, you can pay for entrance and the tour if you'd like ($1 extra for the tour). Thankfully, the tour had not started, so I was able to join the noon tour. I was strongly encouraged to buy a drink (at a spectacular price) to stay hydrated. As I had already had a lot of water on the trip up, I declined. But I'll agree it was warm outside.

We were greeted by a man in medieval peasant costume (a requirement for all staff and volunteers on the grounds of the fortress). He first brought us to a room of maps. We saw pictures of the site before any work had been done. The property was owned by a couple originally from France. They had visited their native country in 2007 or 2008 and toured a castle built from scratch in 13th century style. The builder had originally purchased an existing medieval castle from what he thought was the 1500s. French law said that when you purchase a castle, you must restore it. The man began working to restore the castle and found that it was actually much older, from the 1300s. He then had the idea to build his a new castle using authentic techniques from scratch. It became a tourist attraction. The couple visiting invited him to do the same here in the United States. In late 2008, he visited and examined the land. He agreed to do it. In fact, he saw the land during the infamous December 2008 ice storm which affected much of the eastern United States. A picture of what he first saw is displayed. He loved the scenery, despite the fact that it meant days of no electricity for residents.

The guide explained that the state of Arkansas was warned that the group behind the building of this fortress was weird and to watch out for them. OSHA kept going in and criticizing various aspects of the project. But as the state began to realize the tourism value, they decided to work with them in the desire to make it authentic. The project began in mid 2009 and opened for tourists on May 1st. In my spring cross country trip, I remember seeing billboards for this when I was in Branson. But I did not realize it was open for tourism at that point.

We then were taken on the path to the fortress. The guide explained that he had been an enthusiast for the medieval time period (of course explaining that to the people living during that time, it was not known as the "Middle Ages") for years. He lost his job in the recession, and became a volunteer. Eventually, they hired him full time.

We first were taken to a wooden structure including a model and then the real thing. I forgot the official word that was used, but essentially it was a lookout post for a real medieval fortress.

There were of course kiosk like items throughout the path like most outdoor historical sites. The guide talked a lot about St. Louis (the saint, not the city) and how he was the model of Christian ideals. He was a king but only wore his royal robes to fit the role. Generally, he lived like a peasant and believed in helping the poor. He talked a lot about Christianity and the Catholic Church as the Protestant Reformation had not happened within the time period covered. This is also focused on Medieval France.

They are constructing an entire medieval fortress, hoping to attract enthusiasts to live on the premises and spend time living the life of a medieval peasant. We were taken to a garden and an area where sheep were kept for their wool. The sheep enthusiastically came over to greet us. But when they learned each person did not have any goodies for them, they moved on to the next. A child had some food to give them and they loved him....while he continued to have food. If they sniffed your hand and found you had nothing, they moved on.

The guide pointed out that he has spent nights there, guarding the sheep. This is a role that would have happened in medieval times, of course. The fortress has a border collie....who protects the sheep from every skunk in the area! In reality, the dog would protect sheep from serious predators.

When a fortress would be built in a particular area in medieval times, it was of course good for the region. It kept people employed for years.

As we walked, the guide talked about the need for self-sufficiency, pointing out how modern trends are pushing this. With tools like the Internet, people are able to obtain information themselves and do projects on their own. In this case, for the castle they are trying to get everything they can from the land. Everything is about authenticity and self-sufficiency.

We continued on to the quarry. The rocks for the castle are being quarried from the land. They are split down for use. You must find a vein in the rock. The man who was doing this (whose face is plastered all over billboards in Branson advertising the fortress, along with our guide) took quite a long time finding a vein in the rock to make it split. He's done quite a bit of this, so it was surprising. They let tourists try it.

The tool used to split the rock is actually 700 years old. It was found in the French castle originally refurbished by the man who is overseeing the project here. I believe this is silly as this kind of tool cannot be replaced. The tool should be in a museum and an exact replica should be made.

Measurements for everything are done with a knotted rope. The guide demonstrated how to do this, though I can't totally remember everything about it.

We continued on, and saw a man with a wagon with a horse (like the horses in beer commercials) and wagon taking rocks from the quarry site to the actual castle. A monarch butterfly seemed to continue to fly around, never landing.

The guide talked about other castles in the area. He said he believed there were at least six. However, this is the only authentically built castle in the United States. They want to make it the place for medieval enthusiasts to come and try to develop authentic crafts, wares, etc., through the inspiration. Other castles have electricity, modern building materials, modern techniques, etc. The Muskogee castle in nearby Oklahoma is just a facade in front of a normal building.

We were then taken to a horse pasture as the last stop on the tour before the castle, which was nearby. The guide warned us not to stand behind the horse and that Arkansas law says that whenever a person dies in a horse accident, the owner is not responsible as long as the victim had been warned. A sign was posted and everyone had the opportunity to read it.
There is a blacksmith shop and various other shops nearby the castle in medieval style. We were encouraged to ask people running the shops questions, as well as ask the questions of the people building the castle. We were warned not to climb the walls or go past any item which was roped off.

The castle had a spinning wheel looking like a giant mouse wheel. People would spin this to generate power to lift rocks. There was a giant slingshot like device nearby. One of the towers that was currently standing has to come down because they determined it would not be wide enough to accomodate the desired height. However, overall the castle was progressing ahead of schedule.

I chatted with some of the builders about possibly moving there. They said it's a wonderful place and would never want to move. People will do whatever they can to help each other when in need.

It was getting hot and I wanted to get out of the sun and move on. I took a number of pictures. I was deeply impressed and decided I need to live in this area to watch this going up. And, I'd like to be involved (though I don't see myself splitting rocks).

I toured the gift shop on the way out. There were books on the time period, toys, etc. There were also clay mugs and stoneware created on the premises. These looked great, though they were a little expensive.

Leaving the castle, I had to drive most of the way I came, back to US 65. The cell phone cut in and out, but I was really excited to talk about my visit. The entrepreneurial idea here and the risk they are taking is amazing. But it's creating a tourist attraction and creating employment for a city with a population of 69 that is a long way from other metropolitan areas.

As I got into Branson, I decided to have lunch. I went to Fuddrucker's. We have this restaurant on Wolf Road, but it's special for me to see it in Branson. I had the usual hamburger and fries meal and added a bunch of free toppings.

I then called to make my hotel reservation. When I called Choice Hotels and mentioned that the hotel is on "Shepherd of the Hills Expressway," the operator knew exactly where I meant without even naming the city. Branson is easily the only place in the United States with a street by that name. I've been to this hotel many times. It's efficient, clean, and saves money.

After resting a bit at the hotel, I went to the Grand Country Music Hall to hear see the Ozark Mountain Jubilee. This is a family that sings country music songs, and only on Sunday nights.

The energy when the curtain rose was amazing. I was thrilled. It had been a few months since I last visited Branson and it was great to see this.

The family includes an elderly couple, their three sons, and wives of two of the sons. I believe in this show they brought out some of the sons' children as well. With the exception of one son who works on multiple shows in Branson, the rest have other careers.

The father is a lawyer and possibly was a politician (can't remember for sure) and the mother is a retired teacher. Their first son had a surprising resemblence to Eliot Spitzer, though not as nasty. He is, you guessed it, a lawyer and a politician. The second son is a teacher. The third was a teacher but left that career to work on several different Branson shows.

At one point, the elderly couple talked about their vacations to Egypt. They wished we had more time as they had fourteen more hours of video and photos. Of course, most people don't like to hear about others' vacations. But this was done as the comedy part of the show.

What I forgot about was the tribute to America and to the troops present in most of the shows. (All shows give a tribute to the military.) This really warmed my heart and made me feel so very good.

I was again reminded about the creativity of this area (which was once the middle of nowhere). It just felt so nice. I was really looking forward to the next few days.