Things to Do in Conway

Profiled in the Arkansas Times and on THV, Rock Town Distillery crafts small-batch artisan spirits using Arkansas materials. Local red winter wheat transform into vodka and gin, corn and wheat become the award-winning clear Arkansas Lightning, and charred white-oak barrels grown from Arkansasian barrel trees cradle young bourbon as it ages. Each Saturday, the distillery hosts warehouse tours, complete with the grain-to-bottle production story of each spirit and tastings of all liquors at the end.

On a January night in 1959, some 600 people packed into the Hotel Marion ballroom for the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame's inaugural induction banquet. The freshly minted organization was to honor the best-of-the-best from the Natural State–individuals who had achieved athletic greatness, and exhibited strong character and leadership along the way. Since that evening more than five decades ago, the Hall of Fame has continued to swell with new members, adding to a trophy case of inductees that already includes the likes of Brooks Robinson, Pat Summerall, and Jerry Jones.

When Ken Goodman survived a car wreck at age 4, his parents feared that his nearly severed tongue would never speak again. After a complicated surgery and months of healing, they found he could not only speak but sing. Years later, he nabbed lead roles in musical-theater classics such as Bye Bye Birdie and The Music Man. His lengthy list of performances also includes operas, pageants, and a concert for the Austrian ambassador to the United States. These days, Ken flaunts his melodious vocals at the Vienna Theatre, the 75-seat performance space he owns with his wife, Stephanie. Here, he adds his tuneful spin to renditions of Broadway standards and folk duets with humming radiators. Nestled within the century-old Simon Mendel building, the theater is one of the few structures to survive the fire of 1928 and the man versus building tickle war of 1987.

The instructors at Green Haven Horse Stables guide riders of all skill levels on the path to proper horsemanship with private and group lessons as well as summer camps for children. Each lesson focuses on safety and building self-confidence, which are of the utmost importance when commanding a steed to jump over fences or ride through an airport security checkpoint. Riders may choose to ride in the styles of English, hunter jumping, Western, or dressage, with intermediate and above dressage lessons conducted by a certified USDF judge. At summer camps, children ages 6–14 receive a proper introduction to horses, spending a full week learning the subtleties of equitation and participating in fun-filled games and activities.

At Sotaira's Organic Spa & Yoga Studio, staff members instill visitors with a newfound sense of confidence by gussying up exteriors and keeping bodies fit with yoga and Pilates classes. Slimming body wraps help to purge inches more effectively than a corset imbued with the force of 10,000 bear hugs, and aestheticians hydrate visages with such organic ingredients as chamomile or antioxidant-rich red grapes. The massage therapists' mental rolodex of modalities includes relaxing and therapeutic techniques as well as maternity treatments for expectant mothers or hatching ostrich eggs. Intent on refining posture, instructors of the center's Vinyasa yoga and Pilates mat classes help to keep bodies and minds trim regardless of students' skill level or age.

At Arkansas Skatium, visitors don ice or roller skates to indulge in family-friendly, frictionless fun atop spacious rinks. During group ice-skating classes, certified instructors show bladers aged 5 and older the fundamentals of gliding before letting them fan across the ice to work through new maneuvers. When the clock strikes 10 p.m., the rink morphs into a broomball stadium where up to 25 athletes take to the ice for sneaker-clad fun.

Arkansas Skatium's snack bar vends sodas, cappuccinos, pizza, and funnel cake to those tuckered out from eight-wheeled and single-bladed maneuvers. The ProShop sells all manner of gliding gear and houses a repair shop for skates dulled by nervous biting before hockey games.