Day 31: Arkansas

As soon as I left Oklahoma City, I started seeing trees again, I continued on 1-40 East until Fort Smith Arkansas, wound through town, heading towards Hot Springs. The area I went through in Fort Smith sure seemed to have a lot of Pawn Shops; I must have missed the nice area.  

When I got to Hot Springs, my first stop was McClard’s Bar-B-Q.  My guidebook said it was a favorite of President Clinton, Willard Scott and the band Aerosmith.  Who I am to drive pass this place?  It was packed inside so I took a to-go rib sandwich and ate in the parking lot.  Hot Springs itself was nice, I saw all the buildings built to harness the hot springs and provide baths for people back in the early 1900’s because of it’s medicinal qualities.  I guess after WW II, it fell out of favor as manufactured medicine became wildly available.  The baths are still open here, just not used as much.

In Little Rock, I stopped at the Clinton Presidential Museum.  It was closed due to Covid, but the building and grounds are beautiful. The Clinton Foundation and the City took over an abandoned railroad bridge over the Arkansas river and made it a walking and biking path.  I walked over the river and enjoyed the view.

Funny story, I noticed at the hotel a couple of policemen standing around in the lobby when I checked in.  I thought that was odd.  When I went out, I saw more and others walking in, could it be a shift change?  When I was walking up the stairs there was a policeman in front of me.  I asked him why there were so many police in the hotel. I was thinking this must not be a safe place, but I couldn’t find anything on Trip Advisor.  Turns out the Little Rock Police Academy doesn’t have enough space to safely distance all the students, so they are using the ballroom at this hotel.

I’m also on Hurricane watch. I haven’t seen rain since Pennsylvania (Day 6). Tomorrow is Memphis but after that I am ready to pivot based on where Hurricane Delta hits and what happens after that.

Song of the Day: Little Rock, Collin Raye

Podcast: Things you missed in in History Class, Mother Shipton (I didn’t get it, I guess people thought she was a witch)

Book on Tape:  The Reckoning

Beer of the Day:  Chicken & Dumplings, East 6th St Brewing

Total Miles: 370