We always have the BEST time when we get together, and most of it is just spent chatting and visiting. This girlfriends weekend was the same. Friday night I rolled into town and Margo and I went to dinner at the local Mexican restaurant. The food and margaritas was good, but the mariachi band was the highlight! I hadn’t seen a mariachi band in quite some time and they had the splendid costumes and horns and everything. It was good. We were spending the weekend at Margo’s; Beth rolled in Saturday morning. We all loaded up and just tootled around shopping and lunch at a pizza place. After Margo took us on a driving tour of downtown Benton and their residential neighborhoods. Many of the neighborhood homes ranging in the 1K to 2K square foot homes are being renovated; making this a really delightful area. In fact, if I was looking for a new town to live in that is affordable; I would be considering Benton. That evening, we returned to downtown Benton and dined at their local Italian restaurant. I felt it was a Southern Italian fusion restaurant; yet, it was delicious. The highlight was the homemade desserts: we got tiramisu (my personal favorite), chocolate lava cake, and cannolis. Well, that and the great friendships that we celebrated.

Italy in Town, Benton, AR: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Italian-Restaurant/Italy-In-Town-211084309643222/