We left shortly after 10 and were at the William Jefferson Clinton Presidential Library in less than 10 minutes. Since the AAA book said to allow 3 hours, we knew we'd take at least 4. We did not get the audio tour, but chose to roam on our own, each of us at our own pace. That meant I was searching for him at times, because there was far too much to read, if we ever intended to leave!
The first thing that struck me was the exhibit saluting the Vice President's achievements. This is my sixth presidential library and the first to do this. The others barely acknowledge that there was a veep.
Since Clinton and Gore did work together so much, and Gore was denied a presidency of his own, this seemed very appropriate.
The second thing that stood out was how often family was referenced, not only his mom and extended family, but Hillary and Chelsea. The exhibits make Hillary much more human than the Republicans would have you believe. There is an entire display devoted to her life pre-Bill right next to one of his pre-Hillary. You really saw that she was his partner.
The first level of exhibits is set up with year summaries in the center with alcoves devoted to various themes. One alcove was dedicated to the problems with the right and the many investigations that lead to the impeachment. Monica Lewinsky is mentioned, twice I believe. So, even though there is the usual presidential library praising accomplishments, this one definitely dealt with the bad stuff better than say, the Reagan coverage of Iran-contra.
At 12:15, we took a break for food in the aptly-named FortyTwo. We love "museum food"- it is always interesting and delicious. It was hard to decide! I finally opted for the 42 Cobb, with its avacodo, chicken, almonds, bacon, etc. and was not disappointed. My husband, who found the building too cold and asked that we sit on the deck, chose a 1/2 Presidential Club and 1/2 Southwest Black Bean and Aroborio soup. He, too, enjoyed his meal. But the best thing we ordered was something that just sounded like it had to be tried- sweet potato fries with smoked strawberry jam. The fries came with sea salt on them and the jam had been warmed to a liquid consistency. Who came up with this? It was amazing!
The day had started grey and cooler, but as we sat at lunch the sky began to clear and it got warmer. So, when we went back inside, pictures out the windows were much improved. The building makes use of lots of natural light, with the west wall all windows. The building itself reminds me of a bridge, perhaps Clinton's Bridge to the Future that he was always talking about. Outside the building, one can see an old railroad bridge that has been turned into a pedestrian zone and there is lots of green around the building.
We were very happy to find the library hosting a Dale Chihuly exhibit. We love his glassworks. This exhibit had a Sea Green and Blue Tower that must be the sibling of the one in the Orlando Museum of Art. The works greeted you on the outside with Red Reeds in the water fountains. There were two spaces devoted to Chihuly, with one showing just the many forms of Milli Fiori. Another piece was with the exhibits about Christmas in the White House.
We enjoyed our visit- all five hours of it. We drove down the street to the off-site museum store, where I relieved them of some inventory, even though I'd bought a few items at the kiosk in the library.
We knew it was too late to visit anything but the Little Rock Central National Historic Site. We drove around the school- it is huge! It stretches an entire city block and the entire campus, including the stadium sits on one square block. Unfortunately, the visitor center across the street was only open until 4:30, giving us just 1/2 hour. However, I'd been to Brown v. Board of Ed in Kansas, so I knew a lot of this. The exhibits also note discrimination against other groups in our history. We've done some fairly cruddy things over the years and it is depressing. Now it is the gays who have to fight for equal protection under the law. I was heartened to hear that Central has a really good academic record now and offers more foreign languages than my own school.
We've come back to the hotel, so that my husband can practice. Unfortunately, our room hadn't been touched and we had to call for towels- at 5 pm!
We plan to go down to the riverfront and find some place that looks appealing for dinner.
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