Down in a shallow valley, just a few miles east of Springfield, Mo., the little community of Turners sits in quiet expectation. All that’s left of the once bustling town is Turners Station Mercantile, and while there’s no longer a train station, this one-stop shop still sees trains and visitors pass through almost every day.

Fog-layered hills, shadowed valleys and a chilly calm before the sunrise. My husband Ryan and I were standing on the roof of a three-story castle tower, waiting for dawn. The fog slowly gave way to sunshine, and we could see the valleys before us, stretching and winding through the hills. That was how we began our first morning at Stonehaven, a castle hidden in the woods of Northwest Arkansas.

A dragon, flying pigs, and a giant paint brush were not what I expected to find in Galena, Mo. The eye-catching sculptures were sitting near the large windows of a corner building facing the town square. My husband Ryan and I were just passing through the town, but we were curious to find out more. We went into a nearby diner and asked around. We learned that the building was an art studio, and we decided to see if the owner was inside.