Out of Louisiana--On to Little Rock

Wow!  I really let a lot of water flow down the Missoui river towards the Mississippi before getting down to this keyboard.  After leaving Shreveport, we spent a few days in Little Rock, Arkansas.  What a pretty little town (city), and we were so glad we took the time to tarry a while.  We have driven through Little Rock several times in our journeys, but stopping this time long enough to take in the local offerings was so worth it.

Little Rock, according to some of the locals I spoke with, suffered the same type of 'vacation' to the downtown area as many other metro areas around the United States.  However, the folks in Little Rock have done something right.  Their "Old Town" is alive, vibrant and so full of life.  The Arkansas river runs through the city, separating Little Rock from North Little Rock, but both sides of the city have been joined by a series of bridges.  Two bridges crossing the river are draw-bridges for the rail system.  They have been converted into bike/jogging trails. One has been retrofitted with glass-enclosure elevators (or stairs for the hardy), because the draw span had to be left in the "up" position to accomodate the river traffic.  The city has made it possible to have your 'event' on the bridge--be it a wedding, photo session, etc., and will close it off for those times.  The other rail draw-bridge is still under constuction, but to accomodate the river traffic on that bridge, a sloping walkway has been built into the "up" part of the bridge, rather than an elevator.

A beautiful Class AA baseball stadium has been built recently, and was within walking distance of our RV park (which was on the river in North Little Rock).  A trolley system will take you between the two cities, and includes a knowledgable driver to inform you of the history/geography/etc. of the area.  He told us when the new baseball stadium was built, they moved the original organ to it.  Quite a difference between hearing the real thing, and the canned music we have heard at other similar size parks.

TenThousandVillages, a small retail store that markets goods from around the world, supporting indigent nations is in downtown Little Rock.  Their world organization offices are located in LR, as is the world center offices for Heifer International.  The Heifer Int'l. offices are located near the Wm J. Clinton Library.  Free tours of HI, and a modest fee to tour the library made an inexpensive way to spend the day!

The photo on the left is from the replication of the Cabinet room in Clinton's library.  Ken thought he should try out the President's chair.  (Note:  The chair for the President is just a little bigger than the other Cabinet member's chairs.)  I thought it was interesting that Clinton put a replica of the Cabinet room, in addition to  the Oval Office reproduction such as we have seen in other Presidential libraries. 

The "gift" items, and so forth that were  displayed throughout the library were not as profuse as some other libraries we have seen, although the "papers" part of it were awesome. 

The photo above, left, shows the stacks of folders with those papers.  The photo above, right gives a closer view of just one section.  Those stacks run on both floors.  In front of Ken are some other displays and collections of notebooks that contain the daily agenda for all the years Clinton was in office. (you can see those displays and cases in the lower left of the other photo).  And of all the gifts given, the "Presidential Seal Cowboy Boots" were an interesting offering!  There was not explanation for reason or from whom the gifts were presented, but what is given to or from dignataries around the world are most interesting, indeed. 

We toured a museum in town -- an entire section of it was devoted to the movie "Gone With The Wind", including a pair of Oscars (yes, they are real).  One is Vivian Leigh's, awarded for Best Actress, and the other is Arthur Arling, who was nominated for his work on GTWW, but the award was for Cinematography in The Yearling (1946).

Amng the other items in the museum, an interesting artifact was the anonymous donation of a KKK hood.  Gee, why would it have been anonymously given?!?  If the explanation card had not said it was circa 1880-1900, I would have been sorely tempted to say it was given by certain racist political pundits I have heard lately on TV, but guess the age-dating removes that thought.

Well, I have played with the photos, script, etc. and let more time get by.  We have really been enjoying time with family and friends, and I have more to share, but will do so another time.