September, 2024
Okay, it's actually called Bentonville. But it is where Walmart HQ is located, and you will not find another grocery store chain anywhere near this town. We are in WalmartLand.
Teagan put us in contact with our Hormel liaison, John, who asked us to join him for dinner the day we drove in. The drive was pretty long, but he was willing to meet up with us that evening and took us to a place called Flying Fish and we had some authentic southern fish fry for our first meal in Arkansas.
The walls were covered in photos of people who lied about their "Big Catch" and the other wall was covered from floor to ceiling in Big Mouth Billy Bass - they had a program where if you came in and donated your Billy Bass, they'd give you a free plate of fish. This resulted in dozens of Billy Bass covering the walls.
The next day, was RYAN's BIRTHDAY!!! Katie and I woke up early and headed to (you guessed it) Walmart to buy him a cake and some birthday gifts (Coronas and Redbull LOL). Ryan loves to sleep in, so our plan was to go to Walmart, get the goods, and be outside his room when he awoke. All was going swimmingly until we received a text message from Ryan while we were walking into the store asking to meet up for breakfast!
Of course, he chooses this day to wake up an hour earlier than he normally does.
Katie quickly thought up the white lie, "John asked us to meet up with him really quick, don't worry we'll fill you in" and we were off to the races to run through Walmart as fast as possible, grabbed all the gifts, and zoomed home. Mind you, we're in the NUTmobile, so we also had to make sure we didn't look crazy while doing this.
Ryan was requesting we go to a crepe place for his birthday breakfast and Katie and I were whispering and panicking in my room, quickly signing his birthday card and trying to put together his gift bag and light the candles.🤪
Then we checked our phones, and saw a text letting us know our Birthday Boy is already downstairs, waiting for us outside. King was excited LOL. We ran down to the lobby and achieved the perfect surprise as we came around the corner - the smile on Ryan's face was pretty adorable and we definitely caught him off guard. And he loved his gifts!
We headed out to the crepe place for brunch and then loaded in at our spot for the festival. John had us come pretty early, so after we set up, we walked around the downtown Bentonville area and went shopping for additions to our respective collections (hats and postcards) - for which we found success in both!
We also had a mission from corporate to grab some interviews of folks trying the new Special Reserve peanuts in prep for the launch that was coming up. I was the one interviewing people and it was a brand new experience but I felt like it went pretty well! Sometimes you wing something and it works out - I was definitely appreciative of my theatre degree on this day.
We passed out CornNuts, danced with Mr. Peanut, and overall had a very cute and nutty day in Bentonville. Ryan requested Top Golf that night to conclude his birthday celebration and I was shocked at how much I enjoyed it - I did not realize it was just bowling with golf clubs LOL. I also... won? (Under my mothers name, so she must have brought me some good luck.)
Our server was incredible and brought Ryan a whole free dessert for everyone to share - donut holes with syringes full of jellys and custards and chocolate sauce.
At the end of the night Ryan thanked us for helping to make his birthday special, and it really warmed my heart. Birthdays have always been important to me - it's the one day where people have an excuse to show you how much you mean to them! So the fact that he had a good brithday and Katie and I got to be a part of that really made me happy.
Originally we had that that the event in Bentonville was all weekend. Turns out, it was only for Friday, so we had a surprise couple days off in WalmartLand!
We spent Saturday out and about. First stopped at a cute restaurant for lunch, went shopping for snacks at (you guessed it) Walmart, and then finished off the day in Fayetteville.
This is where the University of Arkansas is, so we hit up the Tin Roof bar where there was live music. I was the honorable DD, so this was a wacky environment to be in stone-cold sober, but I had a pretty good time nonetheless. We were joined by a few younger Hormel employees, Alec and Diego, and it was so cool to get to know them and learn more about what it might be like to work for Hormel after the Peanutter chapter closes.
Alec thankfully had a car, so I did not have to designated-ly drive the NUTmobile through a college town. All arrived home safe and we slumped into bed, anticipating our final day in Bentonville to follow.
John had been asking to show us Crystal Brdiges, an art museum in Bentonville, since we met him on Thursday, so we took him up on his offer Sunday afternoon. I won't lie, we were all so exhausted I wasn't sure how successful this trip was going to be.
Turns out, this was my absolute favorite art museum I have been to - not only on this trip - but in my whole life! The curation of art was so increidble, there were multiple interactive elements that really let you immerse yourself in certain exhibits, and John was an incredible guide. It is truly a hidden gem of Arkansas and I cannot recommend it enough.
On Monday we were headed off to Jackson, Mississippi! From Bentonville, that drive is about 6 1/2 hours Goggle Maps time, which is about 9 hours Peanut time, so we were very anxious to get on the road. Before we left, John asked if we would bring the NUTmobile by the corporate office and pay a visit to all the lovely Bentonville Hormel employees. It was wonderful to meet more people who work for our company! One thing that always make sme laugh is that when we step into Hormel doors, most people do not care one bit about the NUTmobile. Everywhere else we go, we are "shell-ebrities" but in the Hormel offices, we're old news. HAHA to be fair, most of these people have seen the NUTmobile many times - so I guess it's lost their sparkle. However, that doesn't take away from the fact that everyone I have met at Hormel has been incredibly kind and seems to really love working where they do. You can't say that about every company out there!
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