We took time this morning in Little Rock to deal with email before checking out. It is amazing how much it piles up. Also, it must be a corollary of Murphy's Law or something, that you can go for days on end at home with no important emails, but the moment you leave town something demanding immediate attention shows up in your inbox.
Our first stop of the day was the Arkansas State Capitol. It sits slightly off-center at the top of the hill at the end of Capitol Street. It looks impressive up there. We noticed the dome, which the guide at the Mississippi State Capitol had told us was modeled on theirs. It did Iook similar, but this one is remarkably smooth. Another friendly guard greeted as at security, although this one did the Disney-style search of my bags with the flashlight. No tours were offered to us by the young man at the visitors'desk, but he did give us guide brochures and kindly changed the date and did the stamping of my capitols passport.
As we roamed around with my husband reading out the info and me taking pictures, we ran into a woman who introduced herself to us as Cecile Bledsoe, State Senator from Rogers and asked us if we'd like to see the Senate Chamber! This charming lady took time to chat with two out-of-staters about her state and the legislature. She asked about us, and, upon learning I was a teacher, thanked me. (!) It was an amazing encounter, that is like nothing I've ever experienced in a state Capitol or with a politician before. After she left us, we realized, that had she not come along, we'd have had to just look through glass or go up to the gallery to get a view of the Senate. And it turned out, the House was entirely closed off due to construction. Peering in at the gallery, we could see that the glass had even been removed from the dome.
There isn't much in the way of art in this building. There are only 4 gubernatorial portraits in the rotunda and one of them is of a guy who went to jail! Clinton is one of the four. There are displays about the building of the Capitol, history of the state politically (which read like it had been written by a Republican), Arkansans in all the wars, and state symbols. I'm not thrilled that one of the blue stars on the flag represents membership in the Confederacy. Not being able to decide which it is, the pink tomato is the state vegetable and fruit. They have two state songs. They share their state bird, the mockingbird, with many others.
After the shop, which had Razorback stuff, but nothing from the other schools, we headed outside to see monuments. The guide for this even told us what almost every tree was. Testament: The Little Rock Nine stands quite appropriately in front of Arkansas' Liberty Bell, received for selling war bonds. However, this is on the north side. In front, on the western side acting as a pair of bookends are the Confederate Soldier and Confederate Women memorials. But, what are you going to do? They've been there for ages. The firefighters memorial in the back is quite impressive. The granite and bauxite boulders,while important to the state, seemed a bit odd to me. It was nice to walk around in the clear sunshine, with a nice breeze bringing down the 91degree temperature.
After 2 hours, we headed back to the riverfront. We found a garage that was in a decent location, but had the most confusing payment system. There were numbers for the spaces with little slots. Since 1/2 hour was a dollar, as was each subsequent hour, did they expect you to have that many quarters? We wound up folding $3 in bills as small as possible and shoving them in.
We went to Ottenheimer Market Hall for lunch. It reminded me of Baltimore's Lexington Market, but with just prepared food stalls. My husband went off to get teriyaki chicken, while it went into Boulevard Bread Company at the end of the market and ordered a truly fantastic Rustico Panini. She was out of rolls, so I ordered it on 8 grain bread. The filling was the best chicken salad I've ever had - balsamic chicken salad. So moist, so flavorful. The balsamic vinegar was subtle. I've already texted my younger daughter, who loves to cook, telling her to find a recipe!
I bought a couple of postcards in the souvenir shop, before we left the hall for the Old Statehouse, several blocks away. It was a nice walk and we could check out all the businesses along the waterfront. We spent an hour in the statehouse, reading about the history of the building and its construction. I learned that the first territorial governor was named Pope, the name of the county we lived in 24 years ago. There was an interesting film and large exhibit about Arkansans in the movies- Mary Steenburgen, Alan Ladd, Glen Campbell, Johhny Cash, Billy Bob Thornton, Melinda Dillon and more. Out front, they were getting ready for a wedding. It I would make a nice venue.
More postcards had to be bought before we headed back. There was an interesting used bookstore that I wanted to check out, but time was running out. Partially because we could see know way they'd know when we paid and partially because my husband was irked at the system, he decided we could take some time to stop. It turned out to be run by the library and had a cafe and staff art, as well as lots of books. We relieved them of quite a few. Since we could not reasonably join the friends of the library and get a discount, the clerk gave us a small discount anyway.
We were over a half hour late to the car, but there were no repercussions. We headed out of town at 4:45 and the traffic was not as bad as you'd expect for a city on a Friday night. I dozed off for a while and before I knew it, we could see a mountain ahead. The terrain had certainly changed from two days ago!
At 6:20, we pulled into the hotel, just 8 days shy of 24 years since we moved away from Russellville and 17 since we'd last been here. How the exit alone has changed! when we moved here right after getting married 31 years ago, there was just a Holiday Inn with Cagles Mill restaurant attached. The restaurant is still there but the hotel has changed names and is about to be a Clarion. There must be 6 other hotels here now and many restaurants.
After checking in, we went to an old restaurant that we love, Stoby's. It's in an old railroad car, but even it has changed. A building is now attached and the menu has greatly expanded. I ordered The Stoby, which lets you build your own sandwich. As good as ever! My husband weirdly ordered Portabello Primavera in a place known for sandwiches. It was good, nonetheless. We topped it off with a creamy, scrumptious peanut butter pie.
We decided to drive around town to I see old haunts. I insisted on stopping on Main Street to take a picture of the plaque that reads "On this site in 1897 nothing happened" because it is still there. We took pictures of the house we rented on Inglenook the first year we were here and marveled in the growth of medical facilities related to the hospital. The IGA is now a Cash Saver. We then drove to our old house at 14 Red Oak Lane and found it is for rent, which is also the state we left it in. (It took a year to sell it. ) We didn't like some of the landscape changes, but it was still the same color. The back deck is missing its railings. I still call it "our house".
We continued down Marina Roado to Lake Dardanelle State Park, where we braved the bugs for sunset photos. Some even include Nuclear One, whose evacuation route signs are all over. Of course, I took a picture of one of them. It didn't occur to me to do that 24 years ago.
Tomorrow, we will of visit the university.
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