I had heard some months ago that the remains of an abandoned hamlet called Glory Town could be found in the woods on the west side of Lake Maumelle, and yesterday I finally had a free Saturday to go and search for it. I had directions provided for me by a guy who had been there, but after a few sweaty, seed tick-infested hours of exploring, I gave up. I did find the area where a small graveyard was moved, and took some pictures of that (moderately creepy), and I had a nice time sitting alone on some discarded concrete slabs by the lake, but mostly the day was a failure. Driving home I noticed the seed ticks on my arms, so I did my best to pick them off while driving quickly home so I could scrub myself thoroughly and shower. So far I’m not itching, so that’s a good thing. I thought for sure I’d end up with itchy tick bites or poison ivy.
While roaming the woods, I got a call from Elizabeth, who admonished me for going into the woods alone, but I’d hate to have brought someone along on such a dubious adventure (next time I’ll remember to bring Deep Woods Off!®). Plus roaming the forest alone is really quite pleasurable. The path was the old route of Highway 113, so it’s not like I was just lost in the woods with no compass. There are several old highway routes through that area, as Lake Maumelle is a manmade reservoir which required the evacuation of settlements and re-rerouting of roads.
I’ll get some more detailed instructions from my guide and try again soon. If anyone’s interested in coming along this time, let me know.
P.S. Yesterday VH1 Classic played Tears for Fears’ “Closest Thing to Heaven,” from their amazing 2004 reunion album, Everybody Loves a Happy Ending which is unbelievablly fantastic and everyone should own this album because it sparkles like the shiniest of gems and sounds like a million quid. I can’t remember the last time I sang along to the TV. It’s an amazing video featuring a curly brunette “long time Tear for Fears fan” Brittany Murphy. Yum.